Court Order Required to Reveal Customers’ BVN, CBN Tells Banks, Others

Nume Ekeghe

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has released an amended regulatory framework for Bank Verification Number (BVN) operations and watch-lists for Nigerian financial system, saying a valid court order is a requirement to have access to a customer’s BVN.

The central bank disclosed this in a circular posted on its website yesterday, that was addressed to all banks, switches, mobile money operators, payment solution providers, microfinance banks and others. It stressed that any requests for BVN information must be accompanied with a court order.

The circular signed by the Director, Banking and Payments system department, Mr. Dipo Fatokun titled ‘Amendment to the Regulatory Framework for BVN Operations and Watch-list for the Nigerian Banking Industry,’ takes immediate effect.

On the amendment, it stated that, “Section 1.6 of the Framework, Eligibility for Access to the BVN which states that, ‘The following entities may have access to BVN information, subject to the approval of the CBN,’ is hereby amended to read thus, ‘the following entities may have access to BVN information, after providing a valid Court Order, subject to the approval of the CBN’.

“Consequently, the CBN by this circular hereby informs all stakeholders that the provision of a valid court order is one of the pre-requisites for the release of BVN information to applicants.”