Excess Charges: CBN Returns N60bn to Banks’ Customers

• Excess Charges: CBN Returns N60bn to Banks’ Customers

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday said it had returned over N60 billion excess charges deducted by banks from the account of customers back to them.

The apex bank said it received 13,000 complaints from customers over illegal charges being imposed on their accounts by banks. Therefore, the CBN’s Consumer Protection Department commenced an investigation immediately and unraveled N60 billion of such charges in total.

Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, said the banks involved in the dubious charges have been penalised by the apex bank, adding that CBN was determined to ensure no bank customer was cheated.

Since the apex bank insisted on 70 percent loan-to-deposit ratio, increased cash reserve ratio to contain rising inflation rate and lowered ATM withdrawal charges, banks across the country have resorted to illegal charges to sustain profitability.

Banks’ customers are complaining that most banks have capped ATM withdraw limit to N10,000, forcing customers from other banks to withdraw multiple times in order to charge them several.

James Moneme, a bank customer, said, “I went to a Polaris Bank ATM to withdraw N150,000 with my GTBank card but the ATM had been configured to dispense only N10,000 at once.

“I withdrew N10, 000 up to 10 times before I could withdraw N100, 000 after which the ATM stopped dispensing cash. It was time-wasting.

“I had to go and look for a GTbank and entered the banking hall and used my ATM card to withdraw the remaining N50, 000 from the PoS over the counter.

“If I knew I would still have to go the bank, I would not have wasted time withdrawing 10 times from the ATM machine.”

In December, the central bank lowered ATM charges from N65 to N35 following the introduction of the new Finance Act that raised Value Added Tax from 5 percent to 7.5 percent and reduced business income tax from 30 percent to 20 percent.