Don't Miss

Banks step up biometric registration of customers

By BusinessNews Staff on February 12, 2015

Deposit Money Banks under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee have stepped up the biometric registration of customers across the country in an effort to reduce the rising cases of banking-related frauds in the country.

The biometric registration of bank customers will lead to the issuance of a unique identity called Bank Verification Number to all members of the banking public.

It is one the key initiatives introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee to tackle the spate of frauds including those involving customers in the financial sector.

Banks issue the BVN to every customer they have registered in the financial system, using the biometric technology.

The unique number helps customers’ bank account to be more secure as transaction will have to be carried out with the use of a fingerprint.

The BVN is an initiative aimed at protecting bank customers and further strengthening the nation’s banking system.

It is an initiative of the CBN, in conjunction with the Bankers’ Committee, to address issues relating to the safety of customers’ funds, identity theft and other criminal activities in the sector.

According to a paper by the Bankers’ Committee, the BVN will also encourage financial inclusion as those who have typically stayed away from mainstream banking due to low literacy levels will be able to open and access their bank accounts using their biometric information rather than traditional identification methods.

The paper reads in part, “The BVN is a unique identifier for each bank customer across the financial industry, making it possible to build and track customer financial history and activity.

“It will allow banks to have access to more reliable information that could inform decisions on customer loan and credit applications and other complex transactions. In addition, banks are also now able to reduce identity fraud within the financial industry and increase accountability levels.”

As part of efforts to encourage enrolment on the BVN, the CBN recently directed banks to only honour transactions over N100m from customers with BVN effective March 2015.

Such transactions according to the central bank include but not limited to, money transfers, loans, and contingencies, among others.

The CBN has been advising bank customers to register and get the BVN by June 2015, warning that customers without the BVN would be deemed to as having inadequate Know-Your-Customer requirement at the expiration of the deadline.

[Punch]

headline