Etisalat Nigeria Partners NIBSS to Roll Out BVN Query Service

(L-R) ED, Technology & Operation, NIBSS, Niyi Ajao; 

CMO, Etisalat Nigeria, Francesco Angelone and 

MD, NIBSS, Ade Shonubi during the press conference

Etisalat Nigeria has scored another first in its quest to drive transformational services that touch customer’s lives through its collaboration with Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) to roll out Bank Verification Number (BVN) Query Service.

The service, which was unveiled at the NIBSS headquarters on Thursday, is designed to help the banking Nigerian public Query their BVN on-the-go via their mobile phones. This is coming on the heels of the extended deadline for the Bank Verification Number registration which ends on October 31 nationwide.

The BVN registration was a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all Deposit Money Banks (commercial banks) in the country to register all their customers biometrically in furtherance of the Know Your Customer policy.

Francesco Angelone, Chief Marketing Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, said the partnership with NIBSS on USSD BVN Notification Service was in line with the telco’s commitment to continue to create

value for the consumers across all sectors including the banking and telecoms industries.

“We are happy to be the first to offer this product among the operators because we believe that innovation is the way the telecoms industry must lead. We also think going in this direction of offering value to the banking public is another way Etisalat can show the telecoms industry the way to go. The integration with the banking industry is a pillar for development. Etisalat subscribers can check their BVN registration status and number by dialing the code *565*0# for an instant response at a cost of N10 per Query,” he said.

Ade Shonubi, Managing Director of NIBSS, said the initiative was in response to growing public demand for confirmation of BVN status by those who have enrolled on the platform, just as he added that the BVN Query Service will boost such efforts like Know-Your-Customer for banks.

The Query Service is based on instant request- instant response and aims at providing utility for those who have enrolled on the BVN platform of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The current BVN enrolment figure is put at 20 million by NIBSS.