What Does It Mean When Your BVN Is Flagged in Nigeria?

Have you ever received a notification that your BVN is flagged? Here's what it means and how to clear it.Your Bank Verification Number (BVN) in Nigeria is a crucial part of your financial identity. So, when you receive a notice that your BVN is flagged, it’s natural to feel worried. It may affect your ability to get loans, open bank accounts, or complete financial transactions.

So what does it mean when your BVN is flagged? And how can you fix it?

What Is a BVN?
The Bank Verification Number (BVN) is an 11-digit number issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to anyone with a bank account. It links your identity across all banks, helping to prevent fraud and track financial transactions more easily.

What Does "BVN Flagged" Mean?
When your BVN is reported, it signifies a negative record against your bank profile. It may be brought about by numerous issues such as unsettled or defaulted loans, abnormal or suspicious transactions and fraudulent activities, plural loan requests or abuse of online lending websites and court judgments and regulatory alerts. Once your BVN is flagged, banks can restrict or deny services linked to your name while your account is active.

Who Can Flag Your BVN?
Your BVN can be flagged by banks (for fraud, bounced cheques, or suspicious transactions), loan apps or digital lenders, credit bureaus, and regulatory agencies, like the CBN or EFCC, in extreme situations These institutions can flag your BVN in a central database.

How is Being Flagged on BVN Affecting Me?
Being flagged on your BVN may lead to denial by banks or loan apps, restriction to open a new account, failing credit score, reputation is being harmed across the financial system, it could also prevent you from having your salary credited to your account, and it can also restrict you from financial inclusion programs.

How to Verify and Clear Your BVN if Flagged
There isn't any public portal yet where you can verify if your BVN is flagged. However, you can request your credit report from any credit bureau to see if defaults or loans are linked to your BVN, call your bank and see if there is an alert on your BVN, and call any loan apps you have used to see if they have flagged your account. To clear a flagged BVN, do these:

• Identify the issue, and know which institution reported your BVN and why.
• Clear any outstanding debts – If there are outstanding loans, settle or negotiate a settlement with the creditor.
• Request confirmation, once corrected, request in writing that they confirm they have corrected their records and credit bureaus or regulators.
• Follow up with the credit bureau or bank, and insist that your status has been corrected on all systems.
• Dispute mistakes if needed. If you believe your BVN was incorrectly flagged, you may dispute the matter with the institution. A flagged BVN is an issue, but not a permanent one. Be mindful of your credit conduct, avoid multiple unpaid loans, and always check your credit score regularly on Scorewise.

To stay updated on your credit score, you can constantly check by downloading Scorewise on the on Apple store or playstore to check your credit score, see where you stand, and how to improve it.