By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said 19 million bank customers have been given the Bank Verification Number (BVN), according to Musa Jimoh, deputy director, Banking and Payments System Department of the CBN.
Jimoh made this disclosure while representing Dipo Fatokun, director, Banking and Payments System Department at the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) Bi-Monthly Forum held August 28, 2015.
According to him, the Payments System Vision 2020 launched in 2013, was meant to achieve the re-organisation of the National Payments Governance Structure, check fraud and encourage more people to embrace e-payment transactions.
“The BVN initiative is aimed at protecting bank customers and further strengthening the Nigerian banking system by uniquely identifying all bank customers and acts as a stop-gap, prior to the full implementation of the National Identity Card system,” he said.
Jimoh explained that the absence of a unique identifier in the banking industry has negative consequences on the growth of e-payments and that the need to resolve the challenge prompted the CBN, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee to launch the BVN project which would help build confidence of customers on the e-payment channels and enhance integrity of transactions.
Also, the CBN mandated all Banks, Switches and Processors to comply with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCIDSS) and subsequently conducted an oversight on compliance which showed that most banks had been certified.
He affirmed the certification lasts for one year and banks are currently at various levels of re-certification. He explained that PCIDSS is a global compliance standard for any entity that stores, transmits or processes card payment data.
Jimoh added that the CBN also directed banks to set up systems that will enable the automatic refund of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) dispense errors to customers. “The regulator has also issued guidelines for card issuance and usage meant to provide minimum standards and requirements for the issuance and usage of payment cards in the country,” he said.
“Its implementation enables issuing banks, other financial institution, processors and cards schemes upgrade and maintain their card operations to ensure optimum security, efficiency, cost effectiveness and customer friendliness,” he said.
He further affirmed the platform also serves as a tool for banks and other financial institutions to assess their card issuance portfolio and ensure consumers that carry Nigerian -issued cards operate within acceptable standards.
“From a regulatory perspective; the CBN acknowledges that less than optimal, inefficient or poorly designed systems will ultimately have a negative impact on systemic stability, economic development and growth. It has therefore consciously pursued the growth of a payments system that is safe, efficient, cost effective and reliable,” he said.
He noted that payment systems have moved from the backroom to the boardroom of organisations given its strategic importance in today’s globalised world.
“A well-functioning payment system plays significant role in supporting the economy and such significance prompted the CBN to promote a payment system where the underserved and non-served are integrated into formal financial services sector,” Jimoh added.
