BVN enrollment hits 20m customers - NIBSS

The Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) says over 20 million customers have been enrolled by banks in the ongoing Bank Verification Number (BVN).

The organisation said in a statement issued on Sunday in Lagos that the milestone was achieved in the quest to ensure the success of the exercise.

It said NIBSS had already begun  collaboration with telecommunication firms to create a platform through which bank customers could confirm their registration status.

The statement stated that, ''Already, NIBSS has collaborated with one of the country's telecoms service providers, Etisalat, to roll out the BVN Query Service.

''The service, unveiled at the NIBSS headquarters recently, is designed to help the banking Nigerian public query their BVN on-the-go via their mobile phones.''

According to a statement, the initiative is due to the extended deadline for the BVN registration which ends on Oct. 31 nationwide.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that the BVN registration was a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN's) directive to all commercial banks to register all customers' biometrica data in furtherance of the Know Your Customer (KYC) policy