Commencing from April 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced its intention to freeze accounts lacking a Bank Verification Number (BVN) or National Identification Number (NIN). In a circular issued on December 1, the apex bank directed financial institutions to impose a “Post No Debit” restriction on all existing Tier-1 accounts or wallets without BVN or NIN, preventing customers from conducting withdrawals, transfers, or any debits.
The circular, signed by CBN’s Director of Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi, and Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustapha, specified that unfunded accounts or wallets would immediately face the “Post No Debit or Credit” restriction until compliance with the new regulations. Furthermore, starting from March 1, 2024, funded accounts or wallets would also be subjected to the same restriction, disallowing any further transactions.
To ensure compliance, the CBN mandated that all BVN or NIN linked to accounts or wallets must undergo electronic revalidation by January 31, 2024. The apex bank highlighted that BVN or NIN verification would be conducted shortly, emphasizing that these measures are part of its initiatives to bolster financial system stability and enhance Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in financial institutions.
The bank will also carry out a “comprehensive BVN and NIN audit shortly” and where breaches are identified, appropriate sanctions shall be applied.
“The process for account opening shall commence by electronically retrieving BVN or NIN-related information from the NIBSS’ BVN or NIMC’s NIN databases and for same to become the primary information for onboarding of new customers, and all existing customer accounts/wallets for individuals with validated BVN shall be profiled in the NIBSS’ ICAD immediately and within 24hrs of opening accounts/wallets.
In cases where a potential customer does not have a BVN or NIN, the CBN advised the regulated financial institution to “commence the process of enrolling the individual onto the BVN database and be guided by the extant protocols issued by NIBSS” the circular read