CBN Orders Banks to Place PND on Accounts Without BVN, NIN

By Adedapo Adesanya

All bank accounts without Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) will from April 2024 have “Post No Debit (PND)” placed on them.

This is the latest directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to financial institutions operating in the country.

In a circular issued by the apex bank and sent to all deposit money banks (DMBs) on Friday evening, the CBN said all the BVN or NIN attached to and/or associated with AL accounts/wallets must be electronically revalidated by January 31, 2024.

In the circular seen by Business Post, the central bank said the move was part of its effort to promote financial system stability, and as a result, it is necessary to strengthen the Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures in financial institutions under the purview of its as contained in Section 1.5.3 of the Regulatory Framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN).

As a result, “It is mandatory for ALL Tier-1 bank accounts and wallets for individuals to have BVN and/or NIN,” adding that, “it remains mandatory for Tiers 2 & 3 accounts and wallets for Individual accounts to have BVN and NIN.”

Also, the process for account opening shall commence by electronically retrieving BVN or NIN-related information from the NIBSS’ BVN or NIMC’s NIN databases and for the same to become the primary information for onboarding of new customers.

The directive noted that all existing customer accounts/wallets for individuals with validated BVN shall be profiled in the NIBSS ICAD immediately and within 24 hours of opening accounts/wallets.

The statement noted that where a BVN or NIN exists for a new customer, the regulated financial institution shall use the same to electronically check the BVN database at the NIBSS portal and NIN at the NIMC portal ii. electronically retrieve and retain the underlying details (Names, DoB, Gender, Phone No, etc) as the authentic customer’s details, and where authentication is successful, other procedures and customer information required to complete the onboarding process can continue.

Additionally, the CBN noted that regulated financial institutions are required to profile ALL their customers’ accounts/wallets on NIBSS’ ICAD, and tag them with their unique identifiers within 24 hours of generating and assigning an account number to a customer (new or existing).

Other requirements of the Guidelines and related regulations remain valid and applicable, it said in the circular.