Introduction to the Bank Verification Number
(BVN)
a presentation at the March 2015 meeting of the CCCOBIN
Presented by
Oluseyi Adenmosun
(Project Manager, BVN Project)
[email protected]
Highlights
 Identity Verification and issues with existing
Identity Management Systems
 Background to BVN
 Framework of the BVN initiative
 Objective
 How to get the BVN
 Benefits
 Features of the BMS
 BVN Matching System (BMS) Architecture
 BMS Application Modules
 The role of the Bank’s Risk officer
 Journey so far
 BMS Verification Module and BVN Validation
Portal
 Next steps
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Identity Verification: A Common Challenge to Nigerian Banks &
Financial sectors in general
Desired scenario
Existing scenario
Bank A
Credit Bureaus &
others
Bank B
??
Bank C
VPN
142 983 740 42
Issues with existing Identity Management systems
I.
Non-centralized, Unreliable / Incomplete? Regular
updating not possible;
II. No centralized and irrefutable way of tying
individuals to transactions
III. Reliance on two-factor identity authentication
which is still challenged with effectively
managing identities
TWO FACTOR AUTHENTICATION SYSTEMS
What you know - pin/password
Can be guessed, stolen, forgotten
What you have - card/token
Can be stolen, lost
Background to BVN
I.
The Bankers Committee in collaboration with the Central Bank Of
Nigeria launched a centralized Bank Verification Number (BVN)
project for the banking industry on February 14, 2014.
II.
The BVN involves the use of biometric technology system for
verification and secure authentication of the identity of individual
customers of banks.
III.
All individuals will have their Biometric (fingerprints & face) &
Demographic data captured into the central database of the BVN
Matching System (BMS).
IV.
A unique ID (BVN) will be issued to every customer after an
enrolment and may be linked to every account that the customer has
in all banks.
Framework of the BVN Initiative
•Access to
individual’s credit
information with
respect to ratings
and total exposure
Credit
Check
•Extraction of KYC
details from a
centralized
database during
account opening
KYC
BVN
Fraud
Transaction
Management Processing
•Identification of
blacklisted
customers
•To authenticate
transactions using a
2 or 3 factor method,
one of which must
involve biometrics
Objectives of BVN
To use Biometric information as a means of first
identifying and verifying all individuals that have
account(s) in any Nigerian bank and consequently, as a
means of authenticating customer’s identity at the point of
transacting.
To reinforce and standardize the Banking Industry ‘Know
Your Customer’ procedure.
To provide a uniform and industrially accepted unique
identity for all banks’ customers.
To be able to clearly identify suspected fraudsters across
the banking industry.
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How to get a BVN - the enrollment process
ENROLMENT PROCESS
1
2
Complete and submit the BVN Enrolment form
3
4
Provide an acceptable means of identification –
which should have a photo (may be waived for
account holders)
The Enrolment Officer proceeds to capture your
data - Biometric and Demographic data
5
6
Walk into any branch of your Bank
Collect an acknowledgement slip with your
Ticket Id/number
Your BVN will be generated and an SMS will be
sent to you within 24hours
8
Benefits
To the Nigerian Banking Industry
The BVN gives a unique identity that can be verified across
the industry (not peculiar to one bank).
The BVN reduces emphasis on all other means of
identification for banking purpose.
The BVN will enhance chances of being able to identify
blacklisted bank customers.
The BVN increases the traceability of fraud and increases the
credibility and reliability of credit checks and similar reports.
The BMS will interface with regulatory and security agencies
– CBN and NFIU.
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Benefits… Continued
To the Customer
The BVN provides banks’ individual customers with a
unique identity and a means of identification across ALL
Nigerian banks.
The BVN will protect customers’ bank accounts from
unauthorized access.
Protect against identity theft and fraud.
The BVN is easy, simple and convenient to use as it does
not come with the associated stress of forgotten password
or password reset.
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Features of the BMS
The proposed system has 6 categories
Enrolment - each customer to be given a unique
identification number at the point of enrolment
Identification and verification
Credit checks
Customer information update
Fraud management
Authentication for transaction processing
BVN Matching System (BMS) Architecture
Workstation
@Branch
Bank
Branch
Workstation
@Branch
Workstation
@Branch
CBA
Bank
Branch
Workstation
@Branch
CBA
Bank HQ
Server
Bank HQ
Server
CENTRE
(NIBSS)
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BMS Application Modules
The application itself consists of 6 (six) modules:

User Management

Enrollment

Enrollment Correction

Approval

BVN Handout

Verification
The role of the Bank’s Risk Officer
Each bank has nominated a Risk Officer to review
email alerts emanating from suspected fraudulent
enrollments.
The alert is sent to a group email address provided
by each bank.
The Risk Officer is to investigate the alert using
tools such as the BVN Validation Portal and the
Enrollment forms completed at the Branch where
the customer attempted the suspected fraudulent
enrollment.
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Sample email alerts
Incidentno: 218862
The following enrolment request possibly attempted a duplicate enrolment:
Ticketno: 5126335
Bankcode: xxx
Firstname: THOMAS
Lastname: OYERINDE
Date of Birth: 17/04/1989
Gender: Male
Branch: MOKOLA
Hit with existing Data:
Firstname: THOMAS
Lastname: OYERINDE
Date of Birth: 04/05/1989
Gender: Male
Incidentno: 218860
BVN: 22214603305
The following enrolment request possibly attempted a duplicate enrolment:
Ticketno: 5125935
Bankcode: xxx
Firstname: MUKHTAR
Lastname: LAWAN,
Date of Birth: 01/10/1989
Gender: Male
Branch: YOLA
Hit with existing Data:
Firstname: MUKHTAR
Lastname: LAWAN
Date of Birth: 01/10/1989
Gender: Male
BVN: 22191571851
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Journey so far
BVN Count
7,206,988
BVN COUNT AS AT 22-032015
1,366,284
1,244,143
969,603
952,804
403,059
298,291
279,347
277,716
274,259
225,312
195,614
185,664
150,682
102,077
87,945
80,302
59,029
27,976
12,412
5,505
4,239
3,740
872
110
3
UBA
FIRST BANK
GTB
ACCESS BANK
DIAMOND BANK
ECOBANK
STANBIC IBTC
ZENITH BANK
SKYE BANK
UNION BANK
FCMB
FIDELITY BANK
WEMA BANK
STERLING BANK
UNITY BANK
KEYSTONE BANK
MAINSTREET BANK
ENTERPRISE BANK
SCB
CBN
HERITAGE BANK
JAIZ BANK
CITIBANK
NIBSS
FSDH
Grand Total
BVN Count
1,366,284
1,244,143
969,603
952,804
403,059
298,291
279,347
277,716
274,259
225,312
195,614
185,664
150,682
102,077
87,945
80,302
59,029
27,976
12,412
5,505
4,239
3,740
872
110
3
7,206,988
UBA
FIRST BANK
GTB
ACCESS BANK
D I A MO N D B A N K
ECOBANK
STANBIC IBTC
ZENITH BANK
S K YE B A N K
UNION BANK
F C MB
FIDELITY BANK
W E MA B A N K
STERLING BANK
UNITY BANK
K E YS T O N E B A N K
MA I N S T R E E T B A N K
ENTERPRISE BANK
SCB
CBN
HERITAGE BANK
JAIZ BANK
CITIBANK
NIBSS
FSDH
GRAND TOTAL
Bank
16
Journey so far… Branch readiness & installation report as @ 20-03-2015
BANKS
READINESS
AS
NUMBER OF
NUMBER OF
INDICATED NUMBER OF
BRANCHES
BRANCHES
PILOT BY BANK
BRANCHES
SCHEDULE
SCOPED
CHAMPION INSTALLED
D
ON WEB
PORTAL
Difference
NUMBER OF
(Portal
Readiness & BRANCHES
CHAMS
Installed
COMPLETED
Branches)
TRAINING
TOTAL
NUMBER OF
BRANCHES
CURRENTLY
ENROLING
CUSTOMERS
ACCESS
CBN
CITIBANK
DIAMOND
ECOBANK
ENTERPRISE
FCMB
FIDELITY
FIRST BANK
GTB
HERITAGE
JAIZ BANK
KEYSTONE
MAINSTREET
SKYE
STANBIC
312
36
12
189
510
153
250
193
614
200
6
7
200
206
177
179
304
37
12
287
484
155
255
193
703
191
7
7
178
188
179
180
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
299
35
8
236
189
144
230
181
561
196
4
4
155
184
173
180
300
35
8
231
182
143
223
177
556
196
4
4
156
184
165
172
-1
0
0
5
7
1
7
4
5
0
0
0
-1
0
8
8
297
34
8
230
176
127
219
176
547
194
4
4
155
183
160
165
299
36
10
232
178
129
221
178
549
196
6
6
157
185
162
167
SCB
STERLING
UBA
UNION
UNITY
WEMA
ZENITH
FSDH
RAND
36
161
546
339
238
129
339
3
1
39
169
471
292
237
127
339
3
0
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
0
0
32
159
478
270
220
124
278
1
0
32
156
461
249
216
124
276
1
0
0
3
17
21
4
0
2
0
0
31
155
449
247
197
123
273
1
0
33
157
451
249
199
125
275
1
0
BMS Verification Module and BVN Validation Portal
Each customer will be verified at the point of transacting
with the Bank across the counter using the BMS
application.
The customer has to provide the BVN and any
of the fingerprints at the time of enrollment
It is important to note that the customer has to
be the correct individual for there to have a
match
NIBSS has also provided a portal for Validating the BVN
provided by a Bank’s customer via alternate channels
The URL for the Validation portal is:
http://172.18.192.100/bvnvalidation/login
The search criteria is the BVN
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Coming soon…
ATM transactions
POS transactions
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Next Steps
Ensure that all Risk Officers investigate the email
alerts being received in a timely fashion.
Educate customers to ensure a customer has only
one enrollment in any Bank and/or branch of
choice.
Put a process in place to ensure quality of data
being enrolled
Assist to sensitize all staff to the benefits of the
BVN so we don’t end up spending so much money
and benefitting little.
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Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc
… improving the Nigeria Payments System
1230B Ahmadu Bello Way Victoria Island,
Lagos, Nigeria
Tel: +234 1 2716071-4
www.nibss-plc.com
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