Nigeria’s apex bank, the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday issued modalities for enrollment for Bank Verification Number (BVN) by Nigerian banks’ customers in the Diaspora to reduce their difficulties in getting registration.

By the modalities, interested customers could present themselves for enrollment for the BVN from any part of the world without necessarily travelling to Nigeria.

CBN’s Director of Banking and Payments System Department, Dipo Fatokun, who made this known in Abuja, noted that apart from presenting themselves to the offshore branches/subsidiaries of their Nigerian Deposit Money bank, DMB, for the enrollment, Mr. Fatokun said a consultant, Online Integrated Solutions, OIS, has been engaged to establish locations for data capture and generation of BVN at a fee of £30 or equivalent per transaction from the customers.

“A web portal to achieve the linkage to bank accounts has been developed and deployed, while the process of such linkage will be made available by NIBSS (Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System) to all those enrolled abroad,” Mr. Fatokun explained.

He directed all DMBs to ensure that all their branches/subsidiaries abroad worked closely with the NIBSS to ensure seamless implementation of the arrangement to ease the difficulties currently being faced by customers abroad over the enrollment process.

On the appointed consultant, Mr. Fatokun said it was expected to take the responsibility of capturing the necessary data for online transmission to NIBSS to generate the BVN and communicate same to the customer.

Where the communication from the NIBSS was not received within 48 hours of enrollment, Mr. Fatokun said the customers may equally approach OIS for the BVN, while they would be expected to, thereafter, forward their BVNs to their banks for linkages with their accounts.

He said the CBN has concluded plans to roll out the first phase of the operations in 12 locations, with possible dates and locations the exercise was expected to commence attending to customers.

The locations include London, which is already ongoing at Fleet Street; Leicester (The Peplum Centre); Johannesburg (Rose Bank); Atlanta at Holcomb Bridge Roswell, from September 14.

The schedule for New York and Houston roll out are yet to be determined.

The roll out in Beijing would be at Kun Sha Building in Chaoyang District; Shanghai (Catic Building in Jing’an District; Guagzhou (R&F To-Win Building in Tianhe District) and New Delhi at Institutional Area, Chanakyapuri, all on September 7, while the roll-out in Dubai is planned to begin from August 19 at Platinum Tower Cluster. Lake Towers, and Washington DC at Park Lawn Drive, Rockville from August 24.

The second phase of the roll-out, the director said, would include locations with high demand for the service based on online feedback received, while remote locations with lower concentrations of Nigerians would be accommodated through scheduled sessions for defined periods.