Some banks in the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT) have said that they were impressed by customers’ response to Bank Verification Number (BVN) as directed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
A check in some of the banks by The Tide source showed that customers were seen doing the verification.
Some of the banks visited were First Bank of Nigeria, Zenith, Guaranty Trust, Access, United Bank for Africa and Diamond Bank.
At one of the First Bank branches at Central Business District, an official, who preferred anonymity, told reporters that customers had been responding to the BVN.
He said that the BVN was a good idea by the CBN to harmonise activities in the sector, adding that the method was also customer-friendly.
“The method of registration has been programmed in such a way that if a customer registers in a particular bank, it covers for other accounts.
“This is because after the registration, a unique code is given to the customers which can be used for all the customer’s accounts in other banks.
“A customer who has several bank accounts is saved the stress of going to all the banks to perform the registration,’’ he said.
At GTB in Area 3, reporters observed an encouraging exercise, although one of the workers complained that most customers were yet to come forward for verification.
However, at the Zenith Bank, a worker who pleaded anonymity, said the turnout of customers for the BVN was not so encouraging.
“The turnout is not very high. I think that most customers are not aware of the BVN; more sensitisation needs to be done about the registration.
“We want to believe that this will reduce the incidence of fraud in the banking sector because the biometrics of customers have been taken and most customers are yet to understand this,’’ he said.
A customer, Miss Philomena Nwachukwu at the Access Bank, said she was yet to do the verification.
According to her, she has not had course to go into the banking hall because she mostly uses ATM to make withdrawals.
Another customer at the bank, Mr. Jacob Chile, said he was approached by a worker to do the verification but did not understand what it was all about.
The BVN is part of CBN’s cashless policy to capture customers’ data and check fraud in the banking system.
CBN recommended that customers of Nigerian banks registered for a BVN, a code that would represent a customer’s identity and could enhance security for a variety of financial transactions.
They are created through the use of biometric data capture machines that relied on data such as fingerprint and facial recognition technology.
The deadline for the registration is June 30, 2015. After the deadline, customers who were not captured might not be able to do any financial transaction in the country.