Yemisi Izuora
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has bowed to pressure for the extension of deadline for the registration of Bank Verification Number (BVN) for customers of microfinance banks (MFBs), mortgage banks and other financial institutions (OFIs) under its regulation to December 31, 2017.
Earlier deadline expired 31st July 2017.
The CBN, in a circular signed by its Director, OFIs, Mrs. Tokunbo Martins, explained that part of its reasons for the extension was to support better compliance and avoid further financial exclusion.
It added: “As you are aware, the deadline expired 31st July, 2017, and consequently several OFIs are in breach of this regulatory directive.
“However, the CBN is disposed to acceding to the appeals received from the Financial Inclusion Secretariat, the National Association of Microfinance Banks, and members of Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria, soliciting for a shift in the deadline to support better compliance and avoid further financial exclusion.
“The various challenges encountered in the early stage the deployment of the joint CBN/NIBSS support to members of the NAMB have also informed management decision. In this regard, management has approved an extension of the timeline to December 31, 2017, to enable all OFIs to continue with the BVN enrolment and report progress,” the statement said. Among other things, the central bank urged OFIs to ensure that all customers are enrolled on the BVN platform utilising appropriate KYC requirements before the expiration of the fresh deadline.