The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to increase the number of bank customers registered on the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system from over 40 million to 100 million in the next five years.
According to the CBN Update released recently, it was said that increase in BVN enrolment would address the constraint that poor identification has on the availability of credit to prospective banking customers, particularly, those in the informal sector.
According to recent figures released by Nigeria Interbank Settlement Systems (NIBSS), over 40 million active banks accounts are currently linked with BVN and the CBN has pledged to increase the figures within the next five years through its provident measures, the Nation reports.
The BVN project, which captures the uniqueness of every bank customer, is one of the most-innovative projects introduced into the Nigerian financial system in 2014. The BVN scheme, which gives each bank customer unique identification, is to revolutionise the banking and payment systems while ensuring safety of depositors’ funds.
CBN boss, Mr Godwin Emefiele has continued to take steps to deepen banking services in the economy. The hope for Nigeria to achieve 80 per cent financial inclusion rate come the year 2020 received a major boost, when the Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) released its 2018 survey figures. The survey showed that 63.6 per cent of Nigeria’s adult population now has access to financial services and only 36.6 per cent are financially excluded.
