NIN Linking, as the deadline for banks to link all bank accounts to National Identification Numbers (NIN) passed last Thursday, many banks in the country have not yet complied with the directive. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had instructed commercial banks to block tier-1 accounts without proper Biometric Verification Numbers (BVN) and NIN by March 1st, 2024. Approximately 91 million bank accounts were at risk of being frozen if not linked.
Investigation revealed that while some banks were expected to block accounts not linked to NIN/BVN, few banks focused only on blocking accounts without BVN, allowing customers who hadn’t linked their NIN to continue accessing their accounts. Additionally, customers who hadn’t linked their SIM cards to their NIN were barred from using their SIM cards by network providers, affecting their mobile transactions.
NIN Linking
Lagos State showed partial compliance with the CBN directive. Among the banks visited, only Zenith Bank had started implementing the directive. Customers at Zenith Bank were seen filling out NIN update forms to have their accounts unblocked, and an official confirmed that several accounts had been blocked due to non-linkage with NIN.
Source: guardian.ng
