How to do BVN change of name in a Nigerian bank account

The federal government has mandated through the central bank of Nigeria (CBN), that all bank holders adopt and get registered on the BVN platform. Without this verification, account holders will not be able to access their money.

Bank verification number (BVN) is a bio-metric identification system implemented by the central bank of Nigeria to reduce the number of illegal banking transactions that occur in Nigeria.

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The implementation of the BVN is a welcome development, but it has also come with its own set of problems, as some bank account holders have complained of not being able to access their money as a result of one BVN error or the other.

In this post, am going to show you how to change your bank bvn name. Now, there are basically three reasons, why you might want to change your bvn name:

* Irregular names in accounts

* False date of birth

* Marriage

Irregular names in accounts: The whole point of bvn is to link all your accounts to be one. If for example, you own both a UBA and a Gtbank account, which you intend to link.

If the name you used on the UBA account is JOHNBULL PAUL, and the name you used on the Gtbank is JOHNBULL PETER, you can see that the names are not the same, this as a result will require you to make a bvn change of name in order for your accounts to be linked.

The reason for this, is because many fraudsters use different names to conduct different banking transactions. With the bank verification number (BVN), this practice is curbed to a level.

If you are one those people who used different names on their bank accounts, you will need to change your bvn name. You can do that by following the instructions below:

1. Do a newspaper publication with the correct name accompanied by an affidavit.
2. Get an affidavit with the preferred name, the name should also be published on a national daily.

NOTE: You also need to provide a copy for the bank.

False date of birth: Some bank account holders provide different date of birth for their bank accounts. In some cases, it might be as a result of some fraudulent practices or it may be a mistake on the part of the bank holder.

I had this issue when I tried to link my bvn, my first bank account and my GTbank account had different date of births. Here’s how I solved the issue:

1. You are to go to the bank with an affidavit and an identification card with your correct date of birth.

Marriage: In this part of the world, when a woman gets married, she usually adopts the husband’s surname.

If for example, a woman who just got married decides to open a new bank account, and instead of using the name she used on her previous bank account, she instead uses the one in which she answers her husband’s name.

This will become a problem when she wants to link her accounts. But the problem can be easily solved by doing the following:

1. You are required to provide your marriage certificate bearing your new name and an already newspaper published copy. They could require an ID card at some cases.

How to change bvn name in Nigerian bank accounts

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If for some reasons, you have some irregularities with your bank account and you need to change your bvn name, you can do so easily by following the below process:

1. You need to obtain an affidavit and you can do that by going to a court of competent jurisdiction with a suitable ID card.
2. Publish same in a national daily newspaper for a token, buy the paper and you can go to the bank.
3. In the bank, you will be given a BVN correction form to fill and customer information update as the case apply.
4. The change of bvn name should be effected in not more than 24 hours.

The process is fairly easy and straightforward. Once this is done, you can access your money.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Can I change my bvn number?

No, you can’t change your bank verification number. Not even your bank can change it, once you are given one, it will remain the same.

What is a bvn correction form?

A bvn correction form is the form that will be given to you by the bank to effect a change of name, or change of date of birth.

How long does bvn change of name take?

Once you provide all the necessary documents, the process should not take more than 24 hours.

Can I have two bvn with different names?

Usually, you use a single bvn for any number of accounts you open. This done to reduce the number of fraudulent individuals who use different names to carry out banking transactions.

How can I check my bvn details online?

To do this, just use the code *565*0#, it will attract a charge of 20 naira for every time you do it. So it is better to write it somewhere, so you don’t have to check every time.

What is my bvn data?

Your bvn data is made up of your first name, last name, middle name, date of birth, address etc.

Can someone steal my money with my bvn?

Probably, but if you keep your bvn to yourself, you should be fine.

Conclusion

With this post, you should now know how to change bvn name. So, next time when you are about to open a new bank account in a different bank, make sure that all your details correlate i.e your name, date of birth etc.

This is so that your bvn can easily be linked and you won’t need to go through the stress of changing bvn name.

If you have questions about how to change bvn name in Nigeria, you can leave the questions below and I will tend to them as soon as I can.

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