CBN orders banks to access cheque deposits into savings accounts

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed banks to accept deposit of cheques into savings account and to begin to embed Bank Verification Number, BVN, in payment cards.

The CBN, in a circular signed by Director, Banking & Payments System Department, Dipo Fatokun, and sent to all banks and financial institutions yesterday, said: “The CBN in furtherance of its efforts at strengthening the Nigerian payments system hereby issues the following directives:


“The removal of fixed interest rate on credit cards; Discontinuation of actual address verification in account opening for customers with customers with the BVN; Banks should begin to embed BVN biometric data in payment cards issued henceforth, to facilitate offline BVN verification and biometric based customer authentication on such payment devices as Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, Point of Sales Terminals, POS, Kiosks, etc.”


Other directives by the CBN to banks include: “Approval of BVN Watch-listing modalities and release by CBN of necessary Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) data, to facilitate its use for enriching the BVN watch-list; savings account customers with BVN should be allowed to deposit cheques worth not more than N2,000,000.00 (Two million naira) into their accounts, per customer, per day.‎”