CBN recovers $22.8m, ₦115.5b banks deducted from customers' accounts

After numerous complaints by bank customers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken action by recovering some amounts deducted from customers' bank accounts by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

This was disclosed by the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Dr Isa Abdulmumin, during the 2023 CBN Fair with the theme 'Promoting Alternative Payment Channels as Tools for Financial Inclusion.'

Abdulmumin, who was represented by Esu Imo, noted that the sum of $22.8 million and ₦115.5 billion were recovered from the defaulting DMBs for unlawful charges imposed on customers over the period of 11 years.

He also said the apex bank decided to spring into action following complaints made by customers about the excess charges being deducted from their accounts by some of the banks.

Abdulmumin revealed that between 2012 and 2023, the Consumer Protection Department of the bank received 35,453 complaints and 33,437 of those were resolved.

The department was created in 2012 to follow up and sort out all pending issues related to illegal deductions from customers' accounts.

He also threatened to sanction any financial institution that breached the provision of the consumers’ protection legal framework.

The apex bank in its Revised Guide to Bank Charges specified allowable charges for all banking services.

Part of the CBN's guide reads, "Details of all fees and charges applicable to a transaction shall be disclosed to the customer at the point of consummation (where applicable) and transaction receipt/alert/confirmation for any charge shall contain a description of the charge."

The CBN noted that the defaulting financial institutions would be surcharged a penalty of ₦2 million per infraction while failure to log every customer complaint into the Consumer Complaints Management System (CCMS) would amount to a breach and would attract a penalty of ₦1 million per breach.