At least 6,047 bank clients’ Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) have been added to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) surveillance list for possible fraudulent transactions.
Similar to this, according to the CBN Financial Stability June 2022 report, which was released in December 2022, 11,871 BVNs have been watch-listed as deceased persons this year.
The Apex Bank assessed 28 banks and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to determine compliance with the Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations and Watch-List for the Nigerian Banking Industry throughout the review period, according to the Stability report.
It also mentioned that there were 2.72 million enlisted in the first half of this year, bringing the total number of enrolled BVNs to 54.65 million. However, it also mentioned that the assessment identified some breaches and that regulatory steps were taken.
Out of 148.46 million active accounts, 130.57 million were linked to BVN, according to the research.
Additionally, 2,722,518 BVNs were added, bringing the overall number of enrolled BVNs to 54,651,086, which represents an increase of 5.24 percent over the 51,928,568 enrolled BVNs at the end of December 2021.
“The number of accounts linked with BVNs was 130,569,656 out of 148,462,947 active customer accounts, while the number of watch-listed BVNs associated with fraud and deceased persons stood at 6,047 and 11,871, respectively.” The report.
Based on this information, it can be said with certainty that the total number of BVNs that have been flagged for fraud increased by 13.09% from 5,347 in December 2021 to 6,047 in June 2022.
