BVN Not Expiring Next Year, Says CBN

Contrary to information being bandied around on the social media that the Bank Verification Number (BVN), which was introduced into the Nigerian banking industry in 2014, will expire next year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that the initiative has no expiry date.

Videos had surfaced on various social media platforms on Wednesday, suggesting that those who enrolled for BVN in 2014 will have to re-enroll for fresh BVN again next year as the BVN expires after 10 years.

The video had surmised that because facial features as well as names and addresses could have changed within the 10 years span, bank customers will have to re-enroll for their BVN to remain valid after 10 years.

However, the apex bank in a statement issued by the Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Dr Abdulmumin Isa, noted that the BVN that was issued in Nigeria has no expiry date, saying that its attention had been drawn to reports suggesting that the BVN issued by the bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) expires after a 10 year period.

It said, “contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.

“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life. However, the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities.

“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime.”

LEADERSHIP could not reach the spokesperson of NIBSS which is the custodian of BVN in the country.

As at March 31, 2023, BVN enrollment stood at 57.43million,  with the Governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, noting that the BVN has continued to feature in KYC requirements as part of plans to ease the constraint associated with poor identification of banking customers.

“We have continued to support the aggressive enrollment of prospective banking customers in the informal sector onto the BVN system. The BVN is supporting the development of credit profiles for banking customers, which will assist in improving access to credit for credit-worthy borrowers by banks,” CBN added.