In a recent statement on Wednesday night, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked claims that the Bank Verification Number (BVN) has an expiry date.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that CBN’s spokesperson, Dr. Isa AbdulMumin, made the clarification in response to media reports suggesting that the BVN expires after 10 years.
AbdulMumin emphasized that the BVN issued in Nigeria is valid indefinitely and has no expiration date. The CBN representative therefore urged the public to disregard any information to the contrary, and assured Nigerians that the BVN remained a vital instrument for financial transactions in the country.
He said: “The attention of the CBN has been drawn to reports suggesting that the BVN issued by the bank in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System, NIBSS, expires after a ten-year period.
“Contrary to these claims, we wish to clarify that the BVN issued in Nigeria has no expiry date.
“Once a customer’s biometrics have been captured and enrolled in the database of NIBSS, the BVN remains for life. However, the Regulatory Framework for BVN issued by the CBN in 2021 stipulates that customers can only change their records due to certain conditions spelt out in the document and after being cleared by relevant authorities.
“Therefore, we urge bank customers in the country, especially those whose biometrics have been captured by the system, to continue using their unique identifiers as they last their entire lifetime. “Be guided accordingly.”
The BVN is a biometric identification system introduced by the CBN to curb fraud and ensure that all bank accounts are linked to a unique identification number tied to an individual’s biometric data.
