The Central Bank of Nigeria introduced the Bank Verification Number (BVN) – a biometric identification system – in 2014 for the unique identification and verification of each bank account holder in Nigeria. The major purpose of BVN is to curb or reduce illegal banking transactions among Nigerian banks.
Kuda Bank is Nigeria’s foremost online bank that has simplified banking for its users. When it comes to opening a new bank account with regular banks in Nigeria, BVN is a requirement. But do you also need BVN to open a new bank account with Kuda Bank? The answer to this question is what this article aims to provide.
Does Kuda Bank Require BVN?
This answer to this question is both NO! & YES!
NO! In the sense that BVN is not required to open a Tier 0 Kuda Bank account.
YES! Because BVN is required to open both Tier 1 and Tier 3 Kuda Bank accounts.
A Tier 0 Kuda Bank account doesn’t have a confirmed BVN (Bank Verification Number) and a valid means of identification (a driver’s license, permanent voter’s card, international passport, national ID card or NIN slip). As a result of this, what you can do on the account is very limited. Below are the limitations associated with a Tier 0 Kuda Bank account:
- You can’t add money to your account with a card
- You can only receive #50,000 at once.
- You can’t send money from your account to another Kuda account.
- You can’t send money from your account to other banks.
- You can’t make payment for a bill from your account
- You can’t buy airtime or data from your account
- The maximum fund your account can hold is #300,000.
- You can’t request for Kuda card.
As you can see, the limitations on a Tier 0 (Lite) account are much all because the account wasn’t opened with a Bank Verification Number (BVN). A Tier 0 account is just like an account to only save your funds because you can’t make transfers, pay for utility bills or even buy airtime/data. Also, there’s a restriction on maximum single deposits and account balances.
To upgrade your account and cut off almost all of the limitations associated with a non-BNV-linked account, you’ll have to provide Kuda Bank with your Bank Verification Number. This will upgrade your account to a Tier 1 (Basic) account. The following benefits are attached to a Kuda Basic account:
- You can only receive #50,000 at once.
- You will be able to send up #50,000 from your account to another Kuda account.
- You will be able to send money from your Kuda account to other banks.
- You can make unlimited payments for bills from your account
- You can buy unlimited airtime or data from your account
- The maximum fund your account can hold is #300,000.
- You can request for Kuda card.
Even after you’ve supplied Kuda Bank with your BVN, the Tier 1 or Basic account you have been upgraded to has two limitations that apply to the Tier 0 account. The restrictions are that you can’t add money to your account with a card, your account is limited to a maximum of #50,000 on both a single transfer and a single deposit, and lastly, #300,000 maximum account balance.
Note: Tier 2 doesn’t exist in Kuda Bank account types.
In order to remove all restrictions from your account and enjoy Kuda’s full benefits, you’ll need to upgrade your account to Tier 3 or Premium account. The following benefits are attached to Tier 3 (Premium) account:
- You can add money to your account with a card
- Unlimited amount on single deposit.
- You can send up to #1 million from your account to another Kuda account.
- You can send money from your Kuda account to other banks.
- Unlimited bills payment from your account
- Unlimited airtime or data purchase from your account
- Unlimited maximum account balance.
- You can request for Kuda card.
To upgrade to Premium account, in addition to your BVN, you’ll have to provide Kuda Bank with a valid ID. A valid ID can be your NIN slip, International Passport, Driver’s License, or Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).
Conclusion
You can open an account with Kuda Bank without BVN. But a Kuda account without BVN is known as Tier 0 (Lite) and has a lot of restrictions that you won’t like to continue with. After you provide Kuda Bank with your BVN, your account will be upgraded to Tier 1 (Basic) and this still has some restrictions. To remove all the restrictions and for you to enjoy the full benefits of Kuda Bank, you’ll have to upgrade your account to Tier 3 or Premium by providing Kuda Bank with BVN and a valid ID.