May 02, (THEWILL) – Enrolment in the Bank Verification Number (BVN) system rose to 57.43 million as of March 31, 2023.
The scheme has also contributed in fighting fraud and crime in the financial services industry.
This disclosure was made by the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, while addressing participants at the ongoing 34th Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Calabar, Cross River State capital.
Emefiele, who spoke through the Director, Monetary Policy, CBN, Dr Mahmoud Hassan, averred that the BVN initiative has become a significant game-changer in Nigeria’s financial services industry.
Giving insight into the role of the BVN in achieving an efficient and secured payment system, Emefiele said the growth of BVN enrolment had helped in combating fraud as it forms part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements..
He said, “The BVN has continued to feature in our KYC requirements as part of plans to ease the constraint associated with poor identification of banking customers.”
“We have continued to support the aggressive enrollment of prospective banking customers in the informal sector onto the BVN system.
“With a total enrollment of 57,431,355 as at 31st March 2023, the BVN is supporting the development of credit profiles for banking customers, which will assist in improving access to credit for credit-worthy borrowers by banks.
“The BVN has also helped the industry in investigating fraud and other related crimes.”
Speaking on the theme of the seminar, “Implementing a Robust Payment Architecture: Prospects, Opportunities and Challenges”, Emefiele said the bank has approach the commitment to improving the payment system as a regulator, an operator and a catalyst.
As a regulator, “The Banks and Other Financial Institutions’ Act (BOFIA) 2020 and other enabling laws empower the CBN to regulate the banking and payments system towards ensuring a safe, stable and resilient systems.
“In this regard, the Bank licenses key operators in the payments system, maintains oversight on the participants and issues policies and regulations to support extant laws in enhancing payments system resilience.”
Emefiele said the CBN has, through its policies and initiatives, successfully repositioned the Nigerian payments system to be highly competitive and acclaimed as one of the most innovative globally.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
