Economy
BREAKING: CBN Extends BVN to Microfinance Banks, Gives July 31 Deadline
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Heeding several calls by the Federal Government, Nigerians and experts in the financial institutions in the country, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the Bank Verification Number (BVN) exercise to microfinance banks.
This was disclosed in a circular dated April 21 with reference number OFI/DIR/CIR/GEN/17/139 and signed by the CBN Director in charge of Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department, Mrs Tokunbo Martins.
The apex bank gave July 31, 2017 as deadline for this exercise, warning that any account not linked with the BVN “shall not be allowed to make withdrawals.”
In the circular titled ‘Letter to all Other Financial Institution (OFIs): Bank Verification Number (BVN) enrolment for customers,’ the CBN explained that the move became necessary because of the “absence of a unique identifier in the Nigerian banking industry,” describing this as a “major challenge inhibiting the effectiveness of the Know Your Customer (KYC) principle.”
“To address this challenge and complement the existing means of identification of customers, which include: the Driver’s License; the International Passport; the National Identity Card; and the Permanent Voter’s Card; the CBN, in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, launched the Bank Verification Number (BVN) Project in February 2014.
“The BVN is expected to also minimize the incidence of fraud and money laundering in the financial system, as well as enhance financial inclusion.
“The implementation of the BVN initiative, which started with the customers of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), has been very successful.
“However, to avoid a broken identification link in the banking system, it has become necessary to extend the BVN enrolment to the customers of Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) especially as some OFIs are located in the rural areas of the country, and have customers that may not have enrolled with the DMBs.”
OFIs include microfinance banks, Primary Mortgage Institutions (PMI) and others.
CBN pointed out that the “BVN enrolment will support the achievement of the zero default credit targets set for the Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF).”
It added that this exercise will “open opportunities for credit to millions of Nigerians without a standard means of identification.”
In the circular, the banking industry watchdog said OFIs are required to enrol their customers on or before July 31, 2017; conspicuously display notices sensitizing customers on BVN in the banking hall; ensure that all new customers have BVN; and forward to the Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision Department schedule of customer accounts with BVN on August 7, 2017.
“Effective August 1, 2017, all customers without BVN linked to their account shall not be allowed to make withdrawals from those accounts,” Mrs Martins said.
She emphasised that the CBN “will monitor compliance with the requirements of this circular, and defaulters will be appropriately sanctioned,” warning them to be “guided accordingly.”
You would recall that recently, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, had in a correspondence to the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, noted that the introduction of the BVN has immensely improved the integrity of the Federal Government payroll, from which more than 50,000 ghost workers had been detected.
However, the Minister lamented that operating bank accounts in MFBs without requirement for BVN had left a huge loophole for those who hide and launder proceeds of crime to escape detection by law enforcement agencies.
According to her, “Our ongoing efforts to verify the integrity of Federal Government personnel costs and purge the system of fraud and error has made extensive use of the BVN as a means of identifying recipients of multiple salaries, and salaries paid into accounts with names that differ from those held on our payroll records.
“The success of this effort has to date yielded the removal of over 50,000 payroll entries.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of MRS Oil and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Friday, June 5.
MRS Plc lost N19.00 during the session to sell at N171.00 per share compared with Thursday’s value of N190.00 per share, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N8.70 to finish at N181.68 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N190.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N22.59 billion to close at N2.607 trillion versus the N2.630 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 37.76 points to settle at 4,358.32 points, in contrast to the previous day’s 4,396.08 points.
The alternative stock market closed the last trading day of this week with a price gainer, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained 6 Kobo to quote at N78.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N78.34 per share. However, it could not prevent the market from going down at the close of business.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors went down by 50.0 per cent to 140,345 units from the preceding day’s 280,714 units, the value of stocks decreased by 16.5 per cent to N17.9 million from the previous session’s N21.5 million, and the number of deals carried out by market participants fell by 35.7 per cent to 27 deals from the 42 deals recorded on Thursday.
When trading activities closed for the day, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed interest in financial stocks and others lifted the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.15 per cent on Friday.
Customs Street closed higher yesterday despite the 1.37 per cent loss recorded by the consumer goods sector as a result of profit-taking.
This was offset by gains in the other key sectors of the local bourse, as the insurance counter chalked up 1,14 per cent. The banking space appreciated by 0.90 per cent, the industrial goods segment grew by 0.46 per cent, and the energy sector expanded by 0.01 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 366.00 points to 242,593.31 points from 242,227.31 points, and the market capitalisation gained N235 billion to close at N155.594 trillion compared with the previous day’s N155.359 trillion.
The trio of International Energy Insurance, Abbey Mortgage Bank, and DAAR Communications improved by 10.00 per cent each yesterday to N7.26, N9.35, and N1.98, respectively, while Zichis advanced by 9.39 per cent to N32.38, with Sovereign Trust Insurance up by 8.70 per cent to N2.50.
On the flip side, Academy Press lost 9.84 per cent to quote at N8.25, University Press depreciated by 9.73 per cent to N5.10, Africa Prudential dipped by 2.63 per cent to N12.95, Chams crumbled by 2.44 per cent to N4.00, and International Breweries slipped by 1.59 per cent to N12.35.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive during the session after recording 37 appreciating equities and 14 depreciating equities, implying strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity chart with a turnover of 164.1 million units worth N1.5 billion, Ellah Lakes sold 76.7 million units for N767.2 million, Access Holdings transacted 44.8 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Linkage Assurance exchanged 23.0 million units worth N41.2 million, and The Initiates traded 20.2 million units for N562.1 million.
At the close of trades, market participants transacted 608.5 million units worth N32.0 billion in 53,826 deals versus the 588.5 million units valued at N27.9 billion executed in 57,352 deals in the previous session. This showed that the number of deals eased by 6.15 per cent, the volume of transactions rose by 3.40 per cent, and the value of transactions soared by 14.70 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar by N3.46 or 0.25 per cent to N1,362.21/$1 from N1,358.75/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 5.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window during the session by N4.47 to trade at N1,823.59/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,828.06/£1, and gained N7.00 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.58/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,581.58/€1.
For another trading session, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market and the GTBank forex counter on Friday at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.
The Naira is expected to remain strong in the near term, backed by a rise in external reserves, which are nearing $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about its outlook in the second half of 2026.
Heightened global uncertainty has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices remained depressed following a strong US jobs report that spurred markets to price in higher-for-longer interest rates, sending Treasury yields and the dollar up while hammering stocks, especially AI-related names. Crypto markets saw heavy leverage washouts with about $1.6 billion in positions liquidated over 24 hours.
Ethereum (ETH) gave up 4.9 per cent to trade at $1,584.68, Solana (SOL) fell by 3.3 per cent to $63.22, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.9 per cent to $61,333.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 1.8 per cent to $0.0821, and Ripple (XRP) moderated by 1.8 per cent to $1.09.
Further, TRON (TRX) dropped 1.6 per cent to sell at $0.3197, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.0 per cent to $581.18, and Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.4 per cent to $0.1589, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) gained 0.07 to sell at $0.9997, and US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $0.9998.
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