It appears that Nigerians, specifically bank customers, usually wake up to comply with directives that will affect their finances when it is few minutes to the deadline. That time, they scramble to the banks as if such policy or directive was issued the same day.
This is what happened on June 30, 2015 when the deadline given for the enrollment for Bank Verification Number (BVN) expired. There was last-minute rush to register which led to long queues in the banking halls, while a lot of people requested for extension of deadline.
Samson Olufemi Oyedeji, an ardent reader of BusinessDay, said in a comment on a BusinessDay article, “While we agree that Nigerians do not take instructions seriously at times by our nature, I want to appeal to the CBN and BVN committee to please grant extension for the registration, please.”
Another BusinessDay reader, Raphael Okala, said, “CBN should please extend the BVN. Deposit money banks have also contributed to the failure of the exercise. In most DMBs you will find only one person attending to a large number of customers, coupled with the crowd and the security challenge in our country, people find it difficult to come out to register. CBN should also increase its publicity through the various means of communication that are available.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) responded to the requests by extending the deadline to October 31, being next month. On announcement of the deadline extension, bank customers relaxed and the queues in the banking halls disappeared. They are waiting for another last-minute rush.
Over 19 million Nigerians have been issued with BVN as at last week, according to the apex bank.
Dipo Fatokun, CBN director, Banking and Payments System Department, who spoke at the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) bi-monthly forum in Lagos, said customers who do not register for BVN will not be able to access their accounts.
The BVN is an initiative of the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee, launched on February 14, 2014. It is a unique identifier for each bank customer across the financial industry, making it possible to build and track customers’ financial history and activity.
The CBN had last year issued a directive to all banks to ensure that their customers register for BVN before June 30th, 2015, but further extended it to October 31, 2015, so as to protect all e-banking transactions from fraudulent attacks.
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
