Ways to Remove Your BVN from a Loan Shark in Nigeria

Loan apps have a traditional way of bringing in customers, and usually it’s their low interest rate or longer repayment term offers. However, some of them hide important information from us, and what you will find in the app may be different from all the promises. It’s events like this that trigger you to want out and look for a new lender.

But you’d worry about your BVN (Bank Verification Number) on your way out, and of course, other submitted bank information like your card details.

It makes sense if you’re ending this relationship with a loan Shylock or shark you don’t owe. But if you owe them, leaving is not an option until you clear the debt. Our focus now is on those predatory lenders or any legit but annoying loan app you no longer want to do business with.

How to Remove Your BVN from Loan App in Nigeria

You need just 3 steps to get it over with any loan app.

1. Review Your Credit Report or Score

Don’t just close your account without making sure everything checks out. If you had any misunderstanding with this lender in the past, it may still be on your record, so you want to be sure it’s resolved before moving on. However, if your relationship has been nothing short of “you lend me, I paid back completely”, then you probably should skip this step.

Get yourself a credit report! If you find any inaccurate information, you can dispute it and win. What happens is that it’ll be taken off your record, which also helps your credit score. You can obtain your credit report from the CRC Credit Bureau. However, you only get ONE free report per year. All you have to do is add the report to cart, then enter ‘FREEREPORT’ in the promo code field.

If you are concerned about your credit score, go firstcentralcreditbureau.com to find out. Alternatively, dial *565*8# on your phone for an instant Credit report from CRC Credit Bureau. Unfortunately, only MTN users can use this USSD feature.

2. Contact the Lender

Some of the legit ones will get back to you but others just take forever or never respond to your messages since it’s not about you borrowing more of their money to pay back twice the amount. But if you borrowed from a legit, licensed quick loan service, you shouldn’t have any trouble contacting its customer support.

Let the representative know that you wish to delete your account if their app does not have an option for that. If you have any loan being processed, they can help you cancel the review process and delete the account.

Some of them don’t have proper account management facilities, so they only manually remove accounts, which makes sense why you contact them.

But beware of predatory instant lenders. They could still go ahead and process your loan, credit you the amount, and give a short deadline to pay back—just because they want to take your money. You might face this experience if a lender determines that you have a good credit history/score.

3. Delete your loan account

Many of the loan apps’ privacy policies say that once you delete your account, it automatically removes all your data, including your BVN. This should be the case if you don’t have any outstanding debt.

Moreover, you have the right to withdraw consent from a loan app you no longer wish to store your information.

And then we’ve also seen some that claim that merely uninstalling the app will get rid of your information stored on their base. This isn’t true, at least for most of them. You don’t delete your account by uninstalling a loan app. Instead, you have to first delete your account in the app, and then remove the app from your device.

Is Your Bank Account Safe if a Loan App Has Your BVN?

A loan app, licensed or not, can’t use your BVN to withdraw money from your account, but can tell a lot about you, including all your other bank accounts.

When a loan app asks for your BVN, it’s only to verify if you are the same owner of the submitted bank account. BVN has really helped to stop third parties from using your details to apply for a loan without your authorization.

That said, whatever auto debiting you may have experienced is due to the debit card information (card number, name, expiry date, and CVV) you submitted at the time of your loan application. You absolutely have nothing to worry about but it still makes sense to remove it from a loan app you no longer want to use.

What Happens to Your BVN if You Fail to Pay Back a Loan App?

If you default, a lender will report you to the credit bureau with your information, including your BVN. The consequence is that it’ll be difficult for you to obtain a loan from digital money lenders, commercial banks, microfinance banks, etc., in the future. It’s more like the common term we come across often ‘Blacklisted’.

As long as you owe, you only have to pay back to clean up your record, though it’ll remain in your history that you defaulted.

Sometimes, you might think, what if I just canceled my debit card and stopped funding this particular bank account linked to the loan app? It still won’t help because legit loan apps will come after your other bank accounts with the help of your BVN.

Some Healthy Borrowing Tips for You

• Only take loans from reputable loan companies with longer repayment tenure
• Go for low interest lenders
• Pay your loans on time

Make it a habit not to borrow more than you can afford to pay back. And if you think the interest rate is too high, it means you already have a problem with the loan—don’t take it for the sake of your credit history.