The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that with the Bank Verification Number (BVN) in place, biometrics will soon be used for transactions on the Automated Teller Machine (ATM) instead of the existing pin code.
Disclosing this at the 2017 annual retreat of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) held at Iyaganku, Ibadan over the weekend, Chairman of NeFF, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, said: “Operationalising a four sided approach to preventing fraud” were top officials of the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), U.S Consulate, Lagos, Consumer Protection Council, Union Bank of Nigeria Plc , Access Bank, First Bank, Mobile Money Operators among other stakeholders in the financial sector of the nation’s economy.
According to Fatokun, introduction of biometrics into banking system is part of the effort by the CBN to ensure successful fight against electronic fraud in the banking sector.
Fatokun said although sharing of pin code with a third party is against the policy of banking sector, it could not be avoided in some circumstances.
He said in a situation whereby the account owner is not literate or is incapacitated, he/she may be forced to disclose his pin code to a third party.
He said: “Your pin and account details are not supposed to be disclosed to a third party, but as you rightly said, we have some people who are not literate or incapacitated and that makes them to disclosing their details to a third party.
“What we are canvassing is that in a time soon to come, with the BVN in place, biometrics will be used for transactions on ATM.
“That means if you want to transact with your ATM, you will need to use your biometrics. There is no way you can give your finger to a third party. If that is enabling, it will make our system more secure and make all our transactions to be validated.
“Biometric electronic devises are very expensive because of the technology involved, but I am sure we shall get there soon,” he said.