The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed that as from August 1st this year, all transactions consummated by Bureaux De Change (BDCs) operating in the country must have their customers’ Bank Verification Number (BVN). This directive was contained in a circular issued to all BDCs yesterday and signed by the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department at the CBN, Mr. Kevin Amugo. The apex bank also stated that the customers’ BVN should be included in the returns that the BDC operators submit to it.
For corporate customers, the BVN of a Director or an authorised signatory of the firms must be provided. In addition, the banking watchdog directed all licensed BDCs to provide the BVN of all their Directors before 15111 August 2015, as failure to meet this requirement may affect their continued participation in the foreign exchange market.
Said CBN, “To ensure a hitch-free implementation of this directive, the list of all licensed BDCs would be provided by the Central Bank of Nigeria, to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBBS), to enable the company provide the necessary hardware token that would be used by the BDC in accessing the NIBSS website.”
Besides, the regulator stated, “NIBSS has been directed to make a portal available on its website to facilitate access for the confirmation/validation of the BVN number of the BDCs ‘ customers. This is to ensure that the correct BVN is recorded by the BDC and included in the returns to the CBN. A token transaction fee of N100 would be paid for each access on the portal. NIBSS will also provide the necessary training manual for an “easy to use “operation of the system.
The banking watchdog warned that BDC operators that fail to provide the required information in its returns , or provides a wrong BVN, would be penalised. “First offenders will be required to pay a fine of N1,000,000.00 while any subsequent violation of the requirement may lead to the revocation of the operating license of the BDC,” the apex bank stated.
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