The Bank Verification Number commonly called BVN is a biometric identification system implemented by the

Central Bank of Nigeria The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the central bank and apex monetary authority of Nigeria established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on 1 July 1959. The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN Act are t ...

to curb or reduce illegal banking transactions in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. It is a modern security measure in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria Act 1958 to reduce fraud in the banking system. The system works by recording fingerprints and a facial photograph of the client. The BVN or Bank verification number is an 11-digit number that is unique to each individual, but the same across all bank institutions for the same individual. There have been some controversies about the security implication of having all bank accounts in different banks linked to one number, but the BVN has come to stay. Issues arose where fraudsters attempted to use the launch of the system to

phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

for customers' bank details.

References

Biometrics Banking in Nigeria {{Computer-security-stub