Date: 2015-06-30

There was chaos at most banks across the country yesterday as customers rushed to beat the mandatory Bank Verification Number (BVN) deadline billed for today.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had given all banks up till today to update their customers' data in a bid to check money laundering and other financial crimes. By the end of June 2015, the about 34 million bank customers in Nigeria are expected to have keyed into the biometric data capture policy and have their bank verification numbers (BVN).

But the CBN said bank customers who failed the BVN deadline would be able to have access to their accounts at the banking hall only while they would be able to do internet banking.

This even as a senior official in the apex bank told one of reporters that the BVN registration has been extended to October.

In Lagos and Abuja, the rush which became noticeable since last week intensified yesterday as customers arrived the financial institutions in crowds as from early as 7am to beat today's deadline .

Daily Trust correspondents gathered that the mad rush for the BVN may have been propelled by threat by some banks to ‘freeze’ the accounts of holders who fail to get registered.

Officials of these banks had an hectic time controlling the huge crowd in their premises, even as customers complained of slow service by the banks.

A bank in the Ikeja area of Lagos had to stop new customers from queuing up for the exercise in order to reduce the number of customers that had lined the premises since the early hour of the day.

An official of the bank told Daily Trust correspondent that they would start attending to new customers who want to register their account numbers today (Tuesday).

In Ilorin, the story is the same as bank customers stormed their various financial institutions to register for the biometric verification number ahead of the deadline.

Daily Trust correspondent reports that in Kwara State, virtually all the commercial banks were unusually crowded as customers scrambled to get registered and beat the CBN deadline.

There were long queues of customers at the bank premises as the halls were already filled to the brim.

The situation forced the banks to put in place stringent measure in order to allow smooth conduct of other banking activities.

When Daily Trust correspondent visited a branch of Guaranty Trust Bank, customers who came for BVN were requested to queue outside while those whose mission is different were allowed entrance into the banking hall.

Some of the customers expressed frustration queueing in the sun and the difficulty registering for the BVN, suggesting that further extension of the deadline would ease their pain.

And in Abuja, Daily Trust reporters report that several customers thronged to verify their accounts to avoid being denied services from tomorrow.

At a first generation bank branch located in Jabi, customers were left stranded as the machine for the verification project had broken down.

Customers who came to the bank were turned away and told to go to other branches to get verified.

One of the customers, Mr. James Yohanna, said he had been in the bank since morning and had not been verified as at 3:00 pm when Daily Trust visited the bank.

Daily Trust correspondent in Kaduna reports that customers including women, thronged to the bank premises as early as 5am in order to get their verification numbers while others besieged Automated Teller Machines (ATM) to withdraw the remaining cash they had in their various accounts.

There was also traffic gridlock on major roads where banks are located due to the human traffic in front of the premises.

At a particular first generation bank branch, over 200 customers besieged the bank yesterday, but they had to be turned down by the bank officials and only a few of them could be registered by that particular branch and were referred to other branches of the bank or other banks entirely.

At another bank along Yakubu Gowon way, a large crowd was seen in front of the building, this is just as the banking hall was full to capacity with customers trying to get their BVN.

"I have no choice now. I have to do the enrolment now as the bank official here said that I will not do any banking transaction unless I do the BVN enrolment. I wanted to transfer money to my brother in school through electronic transfer method but cannot do that unless the BVN is completed", a customer, Maryam Muhammad told Daily Trust

Many banks in Kano were busy yesterday receiving customers for the registration, while some are seen busy with an ATM machine for last minute withdrawal in case they were not be able to register before the dateline.

Bashir said he has escorted a friend to register but he could not because of a long queue "he was asking what will happen if he did not register. I personally wanted to know what will happen if I did not."

Virtually all commercial banks in Oyo State were besieged by customers in their last minute rush to meet up with the deadline to register for and obtain their BVN security code.