Central Bank Revises Timelines for Refund Complaints Across Electronic Channels

• Central Bank Revises Timelines for Refund Complaints Across Electronic Channels

In a bid to enhance service quality in the financial sector, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revised timelines for reversals of refund complaints on electronic channels, effective June 8, 2020.

In a statement signed by Isaac Okorafor, the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN and released on the apex bank website on Friday, the central bank said:

“Failed “On-Us” ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three (3) days. Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.

“Refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions (where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATMs) shall not exceed 48 hours from the current 3-5 days.

“Resolution of disputed/failed PoS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five (5) days.

“All banks are directed to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020.”

The central bank added that top service providers in the financial sector have promised to establish an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry.

It said, “key service providers in the Nigerian payments system have also committed to establish an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry and enhance their payment system infrastructure and processes to reduce incidences of transaction failure.”