As the deadline for the verification of customers’ bank accounts ends today, June 30, customers in Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria, on Monday besieged banks trying to have their accounts verified.

Surprisingly, with less than 24 hours to the deadline, not many of the customers were aware of the process or the deadline.

Customers, who were yet to enrol had been gripped by fear that their bank accounts would be frozen and the insistence on the BVN by bank cashiers before attending to customers also heightened the fears, leading to unusually large turnout of customers at banking halls in the state capital on Monday.

Channels Television correspondent, who visited some banks in the state capital, reports that customers had a hectic day trying to register their account numbers due to poor network and insufficient bank officials to attend to them.

Some customers trooped to the banks as early as 7am to ensure they register their account numbers. Sadly, the entire process seemed to be epileptic as only a few of them were able to have their account numbers verified, forcing them to spend over six hours waiting to be verified.

Reacting to the development, most of the customers called for the extension of the deadline for a period of two months to enable them register their numbers. Some of them, however, called on banks to simplify the process by making it possible for them to be verified over the internet.

Some bank customers in Abuja who have not obtained their BVN have also asked the Central Bank of Nigeria to extend the deadline set for the registration.

Also in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital, it was a last minute rush at different commercial banks as customers tried to collect their BVN ahead of the proposed dead line.

Some customers who spoke to Channels Television said it is a good idea to gather data but wondered if the time frame for collection would allow many people to meet up with the deadline. They expressed frustration at the process involved in the BVN registration.

According to the CBN during a meeting of the Bankers’ Committee in Abuja about three weeks ago, customers who are not enrolled in the system by June 30, could be cut off from some services.

The BVN gives each bank customer a unique identity across the Nigerian banking industry. The goal of the Bank Verification Number is to uniquely verify the identity of each customer.

•Photo shows CBN Headquarters.

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