How to Know If Your BVN is Blacklisted in Nigeria
How to know if your BVN is blacklisted in Nigeria
So many young people are taking the risk of their lives. They are trading their future for a piece of bread. Don’t be like them if you truly believe you have a future to protect. I mean no matter how tough things might be looking today don’t let it lead you to activities that could jeopardize your future. Personally I believe that you have greatness waiting for you if you are here. So don’t endanger it. What am I talking about? I am talking about all those people that kept borrowing short term loans from one app to the other. You run a risk of having your BVN blacklisted in Nigeria if your continue without any plan of paying.
Maybe you have be doing it in ignorance. You probably thought you were catching cruise. Or you were just in a very tight corner and felt you had no option. But today I will share with you how to know if your BVN is blacklisted already.
What Does it Mean to Blacklist One’s BVN in Nigeria?
What does it mean to have one’s BVN blacklisted in Nigeria? And who blacklists the BVN? These are valid questions we have to start with before proceeding to how to know if your BVN is blacklisted in Nigeria or not.
But maybe, I should actually start by explaining what a BVN is. So BVN which is an acronym for Bank Verification Number is a code introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria which everyone that has or intends to run an account with any bank in the country must have. It is an 11-digit code generated by your bank when you wants to open your first account assuming you don’t have one already.
The code is not optional. It is compulsory if you want to access bank services. It is the roadmap to all transactions that will ever be done in your name under the entire Nigeria’s financial infrastructure.
As an individual you can only have one BVN. Even if you have multiple account numbers all of them will be linked to that same BVN. Moreover, your BVN works with your fingerprints. And since you can’t have two fingerprints it is therefore impossible to have two BVN.
Then talking about blacklisting one’s BVN. What it means to blacklist one’s BVN is to place a restriction on it. A red flag is on such a BVN and it is circulated to all the financial institutions in Nigeria.
Credit Bureau Association of Nigeria is the body that blacklists a BVN when necessary.
Why Will Someone’s BVN Be Blacklisted in Nigeria?
So why will someone’s BVN be blacklisted? Is there an offense that an individual can commit to warrant that? And is there a way to avoid that? Actually there are a couple of reasons that could lead to one’s BNV been blacklisted in Nigeria.
Some of the reason why one’s BVN can be blacklisted in Nigeria are:
1. Issuing a Bounced Cheque
Unfortunately many people don’t know that this is a serious issue in banking. To issue someone a cheque when you know that your account balance is not up to the amount written in that cheque can land you into serious trouble. And one of such trouble is that it can lead to your BVN been blacklisted, especially when you have done such repeatedly. So whether as a joke, or you want to play smart on a creditor avoid issuing a cheque that is likely to bounce.
2. Defaulting on Loan Repayment
This is more straightforward and I am glad it is in public knowledge today, thanks to multiple loan apps here and there. So if you are the type that goes around collecting loans from different loan apps, you are taking a huge risk if you have no plans to pay. Once or two commercial banks or loan apps flags your BVN as a loan defaulter you run the risk of having you BVN been blacklisted in Nigeria.
So be careful how you collect loans even when they are chasing you around with it. And if you must collect be sure to pay back according to the terms of the loan.
3. Been a Guarantor to Someone Who Defaults on Their Loans
This is a very unfortunate one. And that is also why banks usually warn that it is risky to accept to be a guarantor to someone you don’t know very well. But of course I understand that in Nigeria we have this natural tendency of wanting to help. But in your helping just know that there are risks associated with been a guarantor for someone taking a loan from a bank. One of such risks is that if the person fails to pay, you will have to pay. And if you don’t pay your BVN may be blacklisted in Nigeria.
4. Been Associated With Fraudulent Financial Transactions
Another very unfortunate situation because many people get into this in ignorance. But unfortunately, ignorance is not an excuse in the court of law we are told. EFCC can track any suspicious financial transaction across any of your accounts. And if after investigation it is found to be involved in fraud whether you know it or not they can get a court order to have the bank blacklist your BVN. Sometimes it might even go beyond that to having your account totally frozen.
What Happens When One’s BVN is Blacklisted?
The most obvious repercussion of one’s BVN been blacklisted is that such a person will not be able to access further loan facility in any financial institution in Nigeria. But you see it is much bigger than that. When we say you won’t get further loans, it is not just about today or tomorrow. And it does not matter how big or how small that loan may be. It can come back to hurt you in 20 or 30 years time when you will need bigger loans to facilitate serious business transactions.
The central checking system does not forget. So be careful how you take careless loans today.
How to Get a Credit Bureau Report in Nigeria
There are four registered Credit Bureau Blacklisting in Nigeria. So you can get your credit report from any of these four.
There are basically two ways to get a credit report in Nigeria:
- Contact a licenced credit bureau in Nigeria
- Use CRC Credit Bureau USSD Code
Contact a Licensed Credit Bureau in Nigeria
A credit bureau is a private company with a licence by CBN to keep a database of loan defaulters in Nigeria.CBN as an institution does not keep a record of Nigerians’ credit report. Instead it outsources that service to private companies that can show you of request but for a fee. So if you want to know if your BVN is blacklisted in Nigeria or not you need to visit the website of any of these companies and follow the steps as outlined.
And the three main companies licenced to offer this service in Nigeria are:
- Credit Registry (Credit Connection Nigeria)
CreditRegistry is Nigeria’s largest credit bureau and pioneer of the industry serving members since 2003. CreditRegistry is officially registered as CR Services (Credit Bureau) Plc and fully licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
- CRC Credit Bureau Limited
The credit bureau duly incorporated and licensed under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was established by a consortium of Ten (10) leading financial institutions and Dun & Bradstreet with the purpose of delivering credit bureau services in Nigeria.
- FirstCentral Credit Bureau
FirstCentral Credit Bureau Limited is part of an emerging global brand that is committed to designing and deploying solutions that turn data into strategic tools for information and risk management.
CRC Credit Bureau USSD Code
Actually each person can get a free credit report and CRC Credit Bureau offers that services. To access that service, simply dial *556*8#.
How to Know if Your BVN is Blacklisted
From our discussion above I guess you already know the answer. So the easy and sure way to know if your BVN is blacklisted in Nigeria or not is to request for your credit report from any of the Credit Bureau Agencies.
But even without this report you can get a hint (speculation though) when you you are unable to access certain financial services. Or when you can obtain loan facilities any longer.
How Long Does BVN Blacklisting Last?
The blacklisting of your BVN usually will be there until you find out why it was blacklisted in the first place and address it. For instance, if your BVN was blacklisted for loan defaulting, you need to pay up that loan. However, if you feel your BVN was unjustly and unfairly blacklisted you can challenge it in court and if you win the case the blacklisting will be removed.
Conclusion
To have your BVN blacklisted in Nigeria is not something to be proud of. You might not feel the impact much today depending on the level you are operating. But it could hurt you in the future. If you have any issue with any bank or loan app find a good way to address it. However, what we are talking about here does not apply to fake loan apps or loan sharks that threaten and blackmail you when you take a loan from them. Those ones are actually running illegal businesses and have no legal ground to do anything to you.
If you are a business owner and you are in need of business loan or even grants or equity funding kindly check out business funding for what suits your need. You can also get an investment plan and attract any amount of money you need for your business through any available funding options.
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