TheCable

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the deadline for Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) of Nigerian bank customers in the Diaspora to January 31, 2016.

Ibrahim Mu’azu, the bank’s director of corporate communications, confirmed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

Mu’azu explained that the extension was to enable the customers in Diaspora to complete the enrollment as well as link the BVN to their respective accounts.

He said the extension was only for customers in the Diaspora and advised Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to ensure that the exemption was utilised by the targeted group only.

“The CBN has also expressed satisfaction with the progress made in the implementation of the BVN project, especially for accounts operated by residents of Nigeria,” the statement read.

“However, with the expiration of the October 31 enrollment deadline, the CBN has directed that bank accounts of Nigeria residents without the BVN would henceforth be operated as `no customers initiated debit’.

“That is until the account holders obtain and attach BVNs to the accounts. This means that a customer may not be allowed to withdraw money from his or her account until the BVN has been acquired and linked to the account.”

The statement clarified that accounts of Nigeria residents without BVN would continue to receive cash and electronic credit inflows and would neither be deactivated nor confiscated.

It therefore advised the deposit money banks to educate their customers accordingly and also advised the banks to remind their customers of the need to link their BVN with their accounts if they had done the enrollment at another bank.