The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday directed banks and other financial institution to allow customers operating savings accounts to lodge in cheques.
CBN Director, Banking and Payment System Department, ‘Dipo Fatokun, who disclosed this in a circular, said savings account customers with Bank Verification Number (BVN) should be allowed to deposit cheques not more than N2 million in value into their accounts, per customer per day.
The CBN said the decision to allow cheques in savings accounts is in furtherance of its efforts at strengthening the Nigerian payments system.
The apex bank removed fixed interest rate on credit cards and discontinued the actual address verification in account opening, for customers with BVN.
The apex bank also asked banks to begin to embed BVN biometric data in payment cards issued henceforth, to facilitate off-line BVN verification and biometric-based customer authentication on such payment devices as Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Point of Sale (PoS), kiosks, among others.
It says approval of BVN watch-listing modalities and release by the CBN of necessary Credit Risk Management System (CRMS) data, to facilitate its use for enriching the BVN watch-list.