The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced guidelines for registration of Bank Verification Number (BVN) by Nigerians abroad who own local accounts.
The apex bank made two options available to Nigerians in the Diaspora, who wish to participate in the BVN exercise as long as they reside in the locations covered at present.
In a circular signed by the Director, Banking and Payment System, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, Nigerian bank customers in the diaspora can now present themselves for BVN enrollment, without travelling to the country.
The first option, is for customers of Nigerian banks to present themselves to the offshore branches/subsidiaries of any Nigerian bank (where such facilities have been made available), for the BVN enrollment.
According to the CBN, “The deployment of scanners and other devices to these locations have started in earnest. Nigerian banks abroad are expected to capture necessary data, generate a BVN and communicate same to the customers.
"Thereafter, the customers are expected to forward the assigned BVN to their banks, for linkage with their accounts."
To make the process seamless, the CBN said “A web portal to achieve this linkage to bank accounts has been developed and deployed, while the process of such linkage will be made available by the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to all those enrolled abroad.”
The second option is to carry out the exercise through a company called Online Integrated Solution (OIS), at a cost of £30 to be paid by the customer.
The company will then capture necessary data for online transmission to the NIBSS, who would thereafter, generate the BVN and communicate same to the customer.
“The customer may approach OIS for BVN, where the communication from NIBSS is not received within 48 hours after the enrollment." the apex bank said.
"Thereafter, Nigerian bank customers in the diaspora are expected to forward their BVN to their banks for linkage with their accounts as in option one above,” the CBN further added.
Nigerians in the following locations can now register:
•England: London, Leicester
•USA: New York, Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston
•South Africa: Johannesburg
•China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guanghou
•UAE: Dubai
•India: New Delhi
The CBN has assured that more locations will be added based on demand and online feedback
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