MFB customers can get BVN from commercial banks —Bankers committee

As the August deadline for Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolment approaches for Customers of Microfinance Banks (MFBs), the Bankers’ Committee has said that such customers can walk into any commercial bank in Nigeria and get registered.

The committee comprising the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and managing directors of commercial banks agreed that it will sanction banks who charge fees from such Customers of MFBs seeking BVN enrolment.

Rising from its latest meeting , the Committee revealed that this is against the background of some feedback received at the meeting, that some banks charge such MFB customers when they try to register for BVN.

Nnamdi Okonkwo, managing director/CEO of Fidelity Bank Plc, who addressed the media along with Demola Sogunle, chief executive officer of Stanbi IBTC Bank, and Isaac Okorafor, acting director, corporate communication, CBN as well as Ahmed Abdullahi, banking supervision, CBN, said “We looked at one issue that will jeopardize the financial inclusion and anything that will stop more and more people from being included into the formal financial sector, we will work jointly as banks to make sure that bottleneck is removed.

According to Okonkwo, “One key issue that came up today was the issue of customers of microfinance banks who do not yet have BVN registered. Some feedback we got at the committee was that some banks charge such customers when they try to register BVN. The Bankers Committee decided today that microfinance banks customers can walk into any bank and register their BVN free of charge”.

CBN, in April, directed microfinance banks, MFBs, mortgage banks and all other financial institutions, OFIs, to enroll their customers for the BVN, before August this year.

Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision department, CBN, Mrs Tokunbo Martins, gave this directive in a circular to all other financial institutions titled: “Bank Verification Number, BVN, enrolment for customers.”

The circular had stated: “The implementation of the BVN initiative, which started with the customers of deposit money banks, DMBs, has been very successful. However, to avoid a broken identification link in the banking system, it has become necessary to extend the BVN enrolment to the customers of other financial institutions especially as some OFIs are located in the rural areas of the country, and have customers that may not have enrolled with the deposit money banks.”