NDIC Urges Customers to Petition Banks’ Excess Charges

Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), has asked customers who discover that they have been overcharged on their accounts by the banks as account and card maintenance charges among others to petition the CBN or the NDIC in order to facilitate a refund.

This is coming as 12 banks in the first half of this year made N120.49 billion as income realised from electronic transactions.

Besides account and card maintenance fees, other charges that bank customers still have to contend with include: stamp duty charges, SMS alert charges, ATM charges, electronic transfer charges and so on.

Hassan Bello, managing director/chief executive officer, NDIC, said that  most of the concerns about bank charges have been significantly handled, promising that issues concerning consumer complaints would be treated in a timely manner.

Bello, spoke at a 3-day Workshop organized for Business Editors and members of the Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN).

“The charging concerns have been mainly addressed.” That is why we are holding this session, so that the Finance Correspondents can assist us in disseminating the information. Customers who have been overcharged should file a claim, and a refund will be made available following an investigation.

He advised further: “All we need to do is start educating the banking public so that they are aware that such documents exist so that they are not unduly overcharged by banks, and where customers discover that they have been overcharged, they can petition the CBN or the NDIC and it will be investigated, and if the bank is found to have overcharged the customer, they will be directed to make appropriate refund.”

“It has happened multiple times, and banks have refunded clients who were overcharged.”

He also spoke on the importance of enlightenment to address the issue, as he noted that the CBN already has a guide on bank charges which is available for the view of the entire public.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has previously produced a bank charges guide that rigorously governs how charges should be made to clients inside the banking system.

” So it is now up to us to teach the banking public so that they understand what these costs are. The document may be seen on the CBN website. You may view it and see what the fees are in accordance with those criteria. It has previously been standardized and addressed.”

Last year, despite the pandemic and the downturn in economic activities, 12 commercial banks jointly made N933.16 billion in profit and made N216.52 billion from charges on electronic transactions, as customers continue to complain of excessive fees that they are being charged to make the banks richer.