Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolments by Nigerian bank account owners reached 62.7 million in July 2024, an increase from 61.87 million in May 2024, according to data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). This indicates that 854,267 account holders registered for BVN in the past two months.
As of December 2023, the total number of registered BVNs stood at 60 million, marking a growth of 2.7 million so far this year. Despite this increase, the number of active bank accounts in Nigeria was reported at 219.6 million in March 2024, highlighting that a significant portion of account holders still lack BVNs.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had mandated all financial institutions, including banks, to freeze accounts without a BVN or National Identity Number (NIN) by March 1, 2024, reinforcing an earlier directive from April 2023.
This measure aims to clean up the sector and curb the rising incidence of fraud. The directive also requires commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, as well as other financial institutions and mobile money operators, to mandate BVN or NIN for all accounts and wallets.
