CBN’s New BVN Rules Linking Phone Numbers And Others Kick Off Friday

According to IReporter Online, account holders in Nigerian banks have been given a final window to comply with new banking regulations introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the fresh rules set to take effect from Friday.

The apex bank, in a recent circular, disclosed that customers will henceforth be allowed to change the telephone number linked to their Bank Verification Number (BVN) only once. The measure is part of broader reforms designed to strengthen the BVN system and curb rising incidents of financial fraud within the banking sector.

The CBN further restricted access to the BVN database strictly to licensed financial institutions, in a move aimed at improving data protection and identity security.

In addition, banks and other financial operators have been directed to introduce temporary watchlists for BVNs suspected of involvement in fraudulent transactions. Any BVN placed on such a list may remain under observation for up to 24 hours, during which the affected customer must be contacted to clarify the transaction in question.

The regulator explained that this approach is intended to enable swift action against potential fraud while still giving customers the opportunity to verify legitimate transactions before further steps are taken.

The new framework also introduces a minimum age requirement for BVN enrolment, limiting registration to individuals aged 18 and above, except in special circumstances permitted under existing regulations.

According to the CBN, the restriction on repeated phone number changes linked to BVNs is aimed at tightening identity verification processes and reducing vulnerabilities often exploited through SIM swap fraud and multiple number alterations.

In a related development, the apex bank released additional operational guidelines for instant payment services as part of efforts to enhance digital banking security and customer protection. Under the new rules, customers will be able to voluntarily deactivate instant transfer services on their accounts for a specified period, during which electronic transfers will be disabled, although physical branch transactions will still be permitted.

The CBN also mandated multi-factor authentication for any request to activate or deactivate instant payment services, ensuring only account holders can authorise such actions.

Furthermore, customers will now be allowed to set lower personal transaction limits than the existing thresholds of ₦25 million for individuals and ₦250 million for corporate accounts, subject to enhanced verification and risk assessment.

Banks have also been instructed to deploy advanced fraud detection systems capable of real-time monitoring, strengthen identity verification for online account opening and reactivation, and conduct liveliness checks against national identity and BVN databases.

Under the new mobile banking guidelines, each banking app will be restricted to a single device at a time, requiring fresh authentication when accessed on a new device. Newly activated apps will also be subject to a ₦20,000 transaction limit for the first 24 hours.

The CBN stated that the new minimum standards for instant payment services will become effective from July 1.