A Critical Analysis of the Bank Verification Number Project Introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria

PURPOSE - The Bank Verification Number (BVN) project was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria due to increasing incidents of compromise on conventional security systems (password and PIN) and a high demand for greater security for access to sensitive or personal information in the Banking System.This paper seeks to determine whether or not the project can achieve its core objectives?DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH - This paper critically analyses the centralized biometric identification system tagged Bank Verification Number (BVN).The analysis would be done under the following headings: Identity Theft, Beneficial Owners, Financial Inclusion, Direct Discrimination and Blacklisted Customers.This paper relies mainly on primary and secondary data drawn from the public domain. It also relies on documentary research.FINDINGS - This paper determined that the BVN project could achieve its objectives if the following recommendations are implemented:i. Automated Teller Machines should request for biometric identification.ii. All Directors and shareholders of companies should enrol.iii. Customers who are unable to enrol at banking premises should be allowed to enroll online. Since it may be impossible to capture their biometric data online, banks could use the biometric information already captured during the voter's registration process.Alternatively, banks could use FreeSpeech voice biometrics solution to automatically confirm and identify such customers.