In Nigeria, the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and the National Identification Number (NIN) serve important, though distinct, roles in the country’s identification and financial systems. The need for both systems and the ongoing discussions about their harmonization have raised questions about their purpose and whether there will be a unified solution in the near future. Here’s an overview of both identifiers and the status of their harmonization.
Why BVN and NIN?
- Bank Verification Number (BVN):
- Purpose: Introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2014, the BVN is a biometric identification system designed to curb fraud and improve security in the financial sector. It helps track financial activities across multiple bank accounts, ensuring transparency and accountability. A BVN is required for anyone operating a Nigerian bank account.
- Functionality: The BVN uses biometric data such as fingerprints and facial recognition to create a unique identity for each bank customer. This helps banks link all of a customer’s accounts, even if they are spread across different financial institutions, providing a centralized identity database for the banking sector.
- As at September 2024, NIBSS reported that 63.5 million people have enrolled for their BVN
- National Identification Number (NIN):
- Purpose: The NIN, managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), is the broader national identification system for all Nigerian citizens and legal residents. Its goal is to unify identification under one number for various government services and transactions.
- Functionality: NIN is used for a variety of purposes, including passport applications, tax identification, voter registration, and other civic and legal activities. It is part of the larger National Identity Database that is expected to streamline government services and improve national security.
- As of Friday, May 10, 2024, over 107 million Nigerians have been registered in the NIN database
The Need for Harmonization
Many Nigerians are frustrated with the duplication of efforts, as the BVN and NIN both require similar biometric data but are used for different purposes. The current system means citizens need to enroll separately for each identifier, creating inefficiencies.
Harmonizing these systems would involve integrating the BVN with the NIN database, ensuring that a single identifier could serve multiple purposes, from banking transactions to accessing government services. Such a move would not only reduce the burden on citizens but also improve the efficiency of identity verification in Nigeria.
Challenges to Harmonization
- Data Management: Both systems are managed by different institutions—the BVN by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NIN by the National Identity Management Commission. Coordinating the merging of these databases involves technical, legal, and administrative hurdles.
- Security and Privacy Concerns: Integrating these systems would require rigorous data protection measures to ensure that personal and financial information is not misused. There are concerns about who would control the unified database and how secure the system would be against potential breaches.
- Technical Infrastructure: Harmonizing the BVN and NIN requires the right technological infrastructure, which may not be fully in place yet. Nigeria’s national identity system is still evolving, and ensuring that both systems can be integrated smoothly is a significant challenge.
When Will It Be Harmonized?
The Nigerian government has made several pronouncements about harmonizing identity systems, including the BVN and NIN, but there has been no definitive timeline. In recent years, there have been efforts to merge identity databases to improve efficiency. For instance, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced in 2021 that it was working with NIMC on aligning BVN with NIN to create a seamless identity system. However, full harmonization is yet to be realized.
In the meantime, citizens are required to maintain both identifiers, though there is hope that with ongoing reforms, the harmonization of the BVN and NIN will eventually happen. Once the systems are merged, it is expected that the NIN will be the primary identifier for both financial and government services.
