OPay Complies With CBN’s Directive, To Remove Accounts Without BVN, NIN

One-stop mobile-based payment platform, OPay, has vowed to remove accounts without Bank Verification Number (BVN) and/or National Identification Number (NIN), effective from March 1, 2024.

This is coming on the heels of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) new directives on Know-Your-Customer (KYC), mandating all accounts and wallets for individuals to have BVN and/or NIN before March 1, 2024. CBN also directed that no new accounts or wallets should be opened without BVN or NIN.

The director, Card Business, OPay, Priscilla Olayemi, at a media parley on Wednesday, in Lagos, averred that OPay, in adhering to these new directives, has commenced the first two stages of the KYC.

Explaining further, Olayemi stated that, users under tier one account, cannot login to carryout financial transactions without providing their BVN or NIN. “As for new account, we demand for BVN or NIN, during the registration stage,” she added.

The director, partnerships, OPay, I.K Odiase posited that any fraudulent account will be removed from OPay platform, beginning March 1, 2024, while pleading with OPay customers to confirm that the information provided while opening their accounts matches the information in their NIN and BVN. “We are adhering strictly to CBN’s instructions. Accounts whose information differs from the BVN/NIN submitted at registration will be terminated,” Odiase affirmed.

In terms of security, head of marketing and communications, OPay, Adekunle Adeyemi said that OPay is sensitizing its customers periodically, through in-app messages and social media platforms, for them to be fraud aware. “We understand that inasmuch as we have put the necessary security infrastructure in place, fraudsters are also improving their games, so we try to consistently improve on what we do and more importantly sensitize our customers.

“Beyond putting infrastructure in place that ensure our platform is secured, we have the USSD codes that customer can dial, if they feel their accounts are compromised. For instance, if your phone was stolen, there are numbers you can dial that will prevent anyone from getting access to the account. The objective is to ensure that regardless the situation, our customers are adequately protected,” Adeyemi averred.