Banks Set to Begin Biometric Registration of Customers

    Deposit money banks will begin the roll-out of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) registration of customers by next week. This marks the end of the first phase of the project during which over 7,000 BVNs were issued by 21 deposit money banks and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System PLC (NIBSS) to existing internal bank customers. The enrolments and BVN issuances were achieved across 44 bank sites to include 21 bank headquarters. As the roll-out starts, bank customers are expected to follow some listed processes for enrolment. Such processes include: walking into selected bank branches, filling and submitting the BVN enrolment form and presenting themselves for data capturing (fingerprint, facial image, etc). An acknowledgement slip with the transaction ID will be issued to the customer and within 24 hours, the system confirms the application, the BVN is generated and the customer receives an SMS for pickup. Starting with Lagos State, the roll-out of the BVN solution for the identification and verification of bank customers in June preceded the nationwide roll-out. Mr.  Ade Shonubi, Managing Director, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc and the head of the BVN project management team said, “The pilot phase of the BVN registration of bank customers served as a model and basis for the roll-out of the solution to existing bank customers. All Nigerian banks have their headquarters servers configured, deployed and tested and had their staffs trained before engaging in enrolment and the verification of end users who are mainly internal customers. Feedback from application usage and experience were collated, analysed and shared with solution providers to ensure seamless service delivery during eventual roll-out.” He continued, “We are adopting a phased out roll-out approach starting with Lagos State. It commenced on June 16, 2014 at 1,000 bank branches after taking out the pilot branches out of the 1,410 bank branches in the state. Across the nation at full roll-out, 10,000 enrolment sets will be deployed across 5,000 bank branches, implying the deployment of two enrolment sets per bank branch.” He added that, “In line with the commitment of the CBN and the Banker’s Committee to the financial enlightenment of Nigerians, all possible knowledge gaps will be closed through bespoke awareness programmes, customer education and engagement initiatives to ensure massive uptake of BVN by existing bank customers. The BVN initiative involves the capturing of an individual’s basic biometric data information which includes the facial image, the 10 finger print as well as other unique features of that individual. It will utilise the biometric technology system for verification and secure authentication of the identity of bank customers and ultimately be used as a means of authenticating customer’s identities at the point of banking transactions.” He stated further that, “It gives the bank customer a uniform and single identity called the BVN that will be acceptable across the Nigerian Financial System as all other bank accounts operated by this individual will be tied to that BVN. The solution is to ensure accountability, check identity theft, reduce exposure to fraud, enhance credit advancement to bank customers, protect bank customers’ account from unauthorised access and also encourage financial inclusion. This initiative is to guarantee the safety of the Nigerian financial system and it is in the interest of all Nigerians.”