BVN: Customers call for extension

Customers in commercial banks operating in Asaba, the Delta State capital have appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline for the registration of the mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN) which officially ended yesterday.

The customers who thronged respective branches of their banks making frantic efforts to get enrolled into the system, blamed their failure to register on faulty equipment by the operators of the system.
They lamented that each time they come forwarded to be enrolled, the excuse by the operators was that the machine was faulty and that they should come back on a later date, noting that it was always going to be difficult to wait for last minute rush.
However, an Assistant Director in the department of Banking and Payment of the apex bank, Mr. Sola Agboola though did not completely rule out any possible extension, stated that customers should wait for further pronouncement from the CBN and the bankers’ committee on the issue.
Mr. Agboola said the implication of failing to enroll was that the affected customer will no longer have the leverage of convenience in making bank transactions, noting that such customer would have to be physically present to authenticate his or her account.
He spoke during an interactive session at the day two of the on-going CBN stakeholders’ sensitization forum tagged: ‘Promoting Financial Stability and Economic Development,’ in Asaba.
He said: “As far as the CBN is concerned, today (yesterday) is the deadline for the BVN registration. However, if you have not registered, it does not mean that you will not have access to your account. The convenience will no longer be there. You have to be physically present to authenticate your account in any transaction.”
Meanwhile, the Director of Corporate Communications of CBN, Mr. Ibrahim Mu’azu who explained that the forum was to get feed back from customers, disclosed that the apex bank will no longer tolerate the attitude of neglecting customers’ complaints by some commercial banks.

Mu’azu said the CBN would not hesitate to sanction any commercial bank that fails to address customers’ complaints within two weeks, urging affected customers with genuine complaints to register such at the Customer Protection Department (CPD) of the CBN for proper action.