Bank customers still stormed banking halls on Wednesday to be verified, despite the four months extension for the Bank Verification Number (BVN) by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
In Enugu, Enugu State, many of the customers insisted they want to be verified in spite of the extension.
Some of them declared that they would not want to be caught unawares again by the October 31 deadline to avoid last minute rush.
A customer at First Bank, Mr Chukwuma Agbo said that he was at the bank on June 30 but could not be captured due to a large crowd.
“My number as of yesterday was 757 so, it could not reach me and they asked us to go and come back today, that is why I arrived early and my number is 129.
“This time around, I believe that it will reach me as they have collected my form,” he said.
Another customer at the bank, Mrs Celestina Agwu, said that she had been coming for the exercise since June 26.
“I came here on June 26 and met a large number of people, the same thing happened on Monday, Tuesday but today my form has been collected which shows that I will be verified.
“CBN extension of the verification will give room for those who have not done their own to do so and it will be a thing of joy if everybody will be captured before the deadline of Oct. 31.
“I also heard that anybody who failed to do the exercise will no longer have access to his or her money, talk less of any banking transaction,” she said.
A customer at Fidelity bank, Mr Sunday Madukwe, said that he had not been able to do his verification because of the large turnout of the people for the exercise.
“We were asked to wait outside owing to the large crowd of customers inside the bank, irrespective of the extension.
“I have to wait to do the verification as instructed to avoid coming back here another day for the same exercise,” he said.
Mr Innocent Nwafor, a customer at the Ecobank, said that they were asked to go on June 30 and come back on July 1 after writing their names.
“Today, they are telling us that they are experiencing poor network that we should wait, of which we have patiently waited for more than one hour.
“The BVN exercise has been delayed in this bank because it is just a staff that has been attending to hundreds of people that are coming here everyday.
“Once I fail to do this verification today, I will not find it easy another time to come here because I am still a student and I cannot sacrifice my studies for this,’’ he said.
The deadline extension did not reduce the crowd at the various banks visited as they were all struggling to be verified.
Meanwhile, some bank customers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State heaved a sigh of relief over the extension
Some of them said the extension would avail customers opportunity to be captured in the exercise.
A businessman, Mr Emma Uko, said the rush by customers to beat the deadline caused a lot of inconveniences and crippled transactions in banks.
“I commend the Central Bank of Nigeria for extending the registration deadline. It is one thing to extend the deadline, it is also another thing for customers to use the opportunity,’’ he said.
A housewife, Mrs Amma Igwe, also commended the CBN extension of the BVN exercise, saying it would reduce the stress experienced by many nursing mothers.
She said the extension would give them the opportunity to take part in the exercise without much stress.
The Branch Manager of a commercial bank in Port Harcourt, who craved anonymity, said the extension of the BVN registration exercise was a welcome development.
“I can inform you that less than 40 per cent of active bank customers were not captured for the BVN before the extension.
“It’s a good decision taken by the CBN and it is expected that customers will use the opportunity to complete their registration,’’ he said.
