The Central Bank of Nigeria claims the Bank Verification Number (BVN) given in Nigeria is valid for life and has no expiration date.
Alhaji Isa Abdulmumin, the company’s Acting-Director of Corporate Communications, stated this in a statement on Wednesday according to national publications.
He stated that the assertion was absolutely incorrect and recommended bank clients to proceed accordingly.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria’s attention has been drawn to reports that the Bank Verification Number issued by the Bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) expires after ten years.”
“Contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.
“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life.
“However, the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities.
“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime,” he said.
The media reports that the BVN is an 11 digit number that acts as an individual’s universal ID in all banks in Nigeria.
It ensures a customer can engage securely in transactions at any Point of Banking operations.
