Nigeria: What to do When You Are Unnecessarily Charged by Your Bank

[LequteMan]

Current bank account owners in Nigeria have at one time or the other been faced with heavy excessive debits from their banks.

Most Commercial Banks in Nigeria are fond of charging their customers fictitious and excessive charges which sometimes go unnoticed by depositors.

The end of these punitive charges may well be in sight as the Central Bank of Nigeria has intervened.

The apex bank has issued a press release confirming that it “has received series of complaints from customers of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) alleging excessive and in some cases illegal charges from their respective banks.”

The CBN also confirms that it has investigated over 6000 complaints relating to unauthorized bank charges brought to its notice, following which banks have been compelled to refund the sum of over N6.2 billion to affected customers in 2015 alone.

If you are interested in getting heard and getting a refund as well the CBN says you should report cases of infringement to enable it investigate and apply sanctions on any erring Deposit Money Bank (DMB).

You are also requested to forward complaints to: Director, Consumer Protection Department; email: [email protected]

The Banking industry is one of the most regulated industries in Nigeria and the CBN has been known to enforce its rules and apply sanction where applicable. You have got nothing to lose

 

[kreshiba]

"Fictitious and excessive charges", quite bogus, don't you think?


While I believe that certain individuals have been erroneously charged, the fact is as you stated, the banking industry is well regulated by CBN, which means that the charges experienced by the majority, have been mandated by CBN.


A lot of bitterness was expressed when the charges for withdrawal were "increased", however, I read this and I'm more inclined to believe it given its source - '...Although the cashless policy only penalizes those who exceed the daily limits placed on cash withdrawals, it remains largely misunderstood. For individuals, the charge is 2% of the excess amount withdrawn over N500,000 while for corporate accounts, a charge of 5% is applicable on the excess of over N3million. In other words, contrary to popular opinion, the policy does not prevent anybody from withdrawing above the stipulated limit. You are only required to pay handling charges for "excess luggage"...'


Sometimes, these issues are not surface deep, a little more digging can be quite helpful.