Attaining goals of bank verification number

The banks themselves have taken to advertising the advantages of customers having a BVN and advising each of them to come forward and obtain one. According to the CBN, every bank customer must obtain a BVN by the end of June 2015.There are concerns, expressed through newspaper commentaries mostly, that the required biometric registration for […]

The banks themselves have taken to advertising the advantages of customers having a BVN and advising each of them to come forward and obtain one.
According to the CBN, every bank customer must obtain a BVN by the end of June 2015.
There are concerns, expressed through newspaper commentaries mostly, that the required biometric registration for a BVN would be a duplication of previous exercises done to bring the Nigerian banking system up to the minimum international standards. These were followed by the introduction of automated teller machines (ATMs) and other electronic banking platforms that have enhanced financial transactions in the country and between it and the outside world.  
The convenience that these measures have meant for the banking community, particularly the customers, can be seen in the ease with which huge volumes of money are moved across boundaries from the comfort of the home or office by the use of a smart-phone. Such ease has brought with it many challenges, like identity theft and other kinds of fraudulent activities.
The BVN is expected to address and minimise such risks. That is why the CBN’s initiative is timely for the customers and good for the economy.
Concerns over mining of the personal information of individual bank customers have been raised, but this should not be a major issue, because even under existing rules, certain bank lodgements and transactions of a certain nature have to be disclosed to state authorities. This is a healthy and necessary requirement that is beneficial to the overall health of the financial services agencies.  But there is a limit to the nature of information of customer that the banks can provide to state authorities without a court’s warrant.
The BVN could have another advantage that for some reason has not been advertised, although it is very important this be emphasised. Because the BVN is a unique personal identification number (PIN), it is attached to one customer, regardless of the number of accounts the customer has in one or multiple banks. This means that fraudulent officials, whether in the private or public sector that operate multiple accounts but distribute them in the names of relations or children to avoid detection, would now be forced by the BVN requirement to be recognised as a single customer.
In the past, public office holders have been known to have huge sums of money in banks in the name of persons that turned out during inquiries to be their underage children and even newborns. The BVN would eliminate such shenanigans and make it easier to trace dubious funds.
More enlightenment should therefore be undertaken to inform customers of the need to go to the nearest branch of their bank and go through the BVN registration process, which must not take an unduly long time, before the June 30 deadline.
 One of its unique features is that the BVN, once given to a person by one bank will apply to that same person for any bank in Nigeria, thus helping the banking system identify customers who have been blacklisted by one bank because of fraudulent activity, and who may move to other banks to continue their nefarious conduct.
It is important to keep the banking system updated, but the less frequent biometric registration exercises that the banks require to do that the better.