Bank customers call for extension of BVN deadline

Bank customers, on Monday, called for the extension of the deadline for the ongoing Bank Verification Number (BVN), which would end on June 30.
The only two operating banks in Pankshin, Plateau State, United Bank of Africa (UBA) and Unity Bank Plc, were crowded with customers jostling to beat the deadline.
Some of the customers appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the deadline.
Hajiya Hadiza Yusuf, a housewife, said she was not aware of the ongoing verification till last weekend.
“My friend and I left our children at home in Dengi, Kanam Local Government Area, to Pankshin for the exercise but we are afraid if we can register,“ she said.
Mr Litpan Ezra, a student of the Federal College of Education, Pankshin, appealed to CBN to consider those yet to register.
Ezra said many would not be able to register, adding, “The authorities should extend the deadline and equally go on massive enlightenment campaign to enable those in the remote places register,“ he said.
Mr Jacob Guwong, a farmer, said it was a friend who intimated him of the ongoing exercise, adding, “I wouldn’t have known let alone be at the bank to verify my account.“
CBN introduced the exercise in 2014 to enable banks check fraudulent practices by customers.
In Owerri, Imo State, customers besieged banks trying to beat the deadline.
Due to the large crowd, bank officials and security operatives had a tough time controlling the customers.
Reacting to the development, some of the customers called for the extension of the deadline.
A customer at First Bank, Mrs Catherine Okwuosa, said a lot of people spent the whole day queuing for the exercise without being verified.
“If this exercise ends as proposed, it will be unfair as many of us will not be captured. I plead that they should extend it by another one month,’’ she said.
Another customer, Mrs Cordelia Nwaiwu, also complained of the large crowds at the bank, and urged the bank management to increase the number of service points.
“You cannot believe that as early as 5.30 am, a lot of people have already gathered to write their names, to be captured when the bank opens by 8.am.
“Unfortunately, when they started, they said they will complete those left the previous day. I had been trying for the past three days to see that my account was verified, to no avail,” she said.
At Fidelity bank, the story was the same as a customer, Mr Mike Nwachukwu, called on banks to simplify the process by making it possible for customers to be verified over the Internet.
“If people are allowed to be verified on-line, it will reduce the number of customers that queue at banks for the exercise,’’ he said.
In his reaction, Chief Caleb Orji, a businessman, noted that the initiative was laudable to check the increasing cases of bank fraud, but said it should be a continuous process.
A civil servant, Mrs Blessing Ugochukwu, expressed the fear that civil servants, whose accounts had not been verified, could find it difficult to access their salary.
She called on the Central Bank to extend the deadline to allow more people complete the verification process.
An official of one of the banks, who pleaded for anonymity, said that at the end of the exercise, those not verified would be captured whenever they came for any bank transaction.
He lamented that “the exercise had been going on since last year, only for people to rush now”.