By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Monday it has extended the Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolment for Nigerian Bank customers in diaspora to January 31,2016 to enable them complete the registration exercise and the attachment of the BVN to their bank accounts.

“As part of the overall strategy for ensuring successful implementation of the BVN Project, CBN issued a circular stipulating that by October 31, 2015: all Nigeria Banks’ Customers should have the BVN attached to their accounts,” the CBN said in a circular signed by Dipo Fatokun, director, Banking & Payments System Department.

The Central Bank says that any bank customer without the BVN would be deemed to have “Inadequate KYC”.

It affirmed it has observed with satisfaction, the progress made so far in the implementation of the BVN Project, especially for accounts operated by Nigeria residents.

The CBN directed all banks to operate on “No Customers Initiated Debit” basis
Nigerian resident’s bank account without the BVN until the account holder obtain and attach a BVN to the account.

Also, it directed that Nigerian resident’s bank account without the BVN will still continue to receive credit inflows (in cash and electronically) and will neither be deactivated nor confiscated.

Banks are to educate their customers on the aforementioned clarification and remind them of the need to link their BVN with their accounts if they have done the registration in another bank, the CBN said.

The Central Bank further directed banks to send returns on the number of accounts that are linked on monthly basis, those belonging to customers in Diaspora and those that are restricted.

“The schedule must be available at the banks Head Offices for on-site examinations and review,” the CBN added.

The CBN further affirmed that it is the responsibility of each bank to ensure that this exemption is utilised by the targeted customers (those in Diaspora) only.