The official USSD code from NIBSS, what a Bank Verification Number is for, and why you should never send it to anyone who asks.
Dial *565*0# from the phone number registered to your BVN. NIBSS, which runs the BVN system, returns the number for a N20 fee. Some banks also show it inside their app or on their own USSD menu. Nobody needs you to type your BVN into a message, a website link or a form sent to you.
The code only answers on the line you gave the bank when you enrolled. If you have changed numbers, update it at your bank first.
This is the NIBSS check-your-BVN service. The number comes back on screen or by SMS.
NIBSS states a service fee of N20.
NIBSS returns no BVN where the phone number is linked to more than one BVN. In that case visit a branch of your bank; they can look it up on your record.
The Bank Verification Number is an 11-digit number, issued once per person through the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS). Enrolment captures your details and biometrics once, and the number then ties every bank account you hold to you, so that the same person is recognised across the whole banking industry. NIBSS describes it as giving account owners a unique identity that can be verified across Nigerian banks and protecting accounts from unauthorised access.
You enrol once, at any bank, and the same number follows you to every account you open afterwards. Nigerians abroad can enrol through the NIBSS diaspora enrolment service.
A BVN alone cannot empty an account, but combined with your date of birth, phone number and a one-time code it is enough for fraud. Treat it like your card PIN. Be wary of anyone who asks for your BVN by SMS, WhatsApp, email or phone, and no legitimate prize, loan or job needs it in a chat. If someone asks, that is the signal to stop.
If you hold USDT, Bitcoin or another coin and want naira in the bank account behind your BVN, Yesa sells it for you: the exact naira figure is on screen before you confirm, Yesa charges zero sell fees, and the payout goes to any Nigerian bank account. Across 1,700 measured bank payouts on Yesa, the median payout time was 4.7 seconds. These are historical measurements, not guarantees. The on-chain part, your crypto reaching Yesa, comes first and depends on the network you send on.
*565*0#, dialled from the phone number registered to your BVN. It is run by NIBSS and costs N20.
No. The service answers only on the number registered at enrolment. Update the number at your bank, then dial again.
NIBSS returns no BVN when the phone number is linked to more than one BVN, and the code does not answer on an unregistered number. Your bank can read the BVN from your record in a branch.
Yes. *565*0# is the official NIBSS service and only shows the number to the registered line. What is unsafe is sending the number to anyone who asks for it.
A BVN by itself does not move money, but with your date of birth, phone number and a one-time code it can be used for fraud. Never share it in a chat, a form sent by link, or over the phone.
No. One BVN covers every account you hold at every bank. You enrol once; your bank can retrieve your existing BVN rather than enrol you again.
The Yesa Team. Details checked 27 October 2026. Codes and figures come from the institutions' own websites on the date shown; they change, so the bank, operator or regulator is the final word.