The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on Friday directed commercial banks to bar customers without Bank Verification Numbers and National Identity Numbers from having access to their accounts from March 2024 by putting a “post no debit” restriction on such accounts.
The CBN directive was contained in a circular issued to all Deposit Money Banks on Friday.
The circular was jointly signed by the Director, Payments System Management Department, Chibuzo Efobi, and Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Haruna Mustapha.
The apex bank said the directive was part of efforts to promote financial system stability and strengthen the ‘Know Your Customer’ procedures in all financial institutions.
However, bankers said that the directive would likely lead to a rush by desperate customers to regularise their accounts in the coming weeks and months, adding that this would put pressure on employees to register the customers for the BVN, while the National Identity Management Commission offices and centres would face a similar situation for the NIN registration.
A senior official of a Tier-1 bank in Lagos told one of our correspondents that the directive would sanitise the industry although it would exert considerable pressure on the banks.
