Nigerian banks record 117% increase in customer complaints

The volume of customer complaints rose year-on-year, from 3,156,704 as of the same period in 2022, to 6,865,217 in June 2023.

The five reviewed banks as seen in the reviewed lenders’ reports obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Limited include United Bank for Africa (UBA), Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).

The increasing complaints in the banking sector during the period in review have been traced to the naira redesign policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) earlier this year.

The decision of bank customers to turn to cashless transactions during the period led to an increase in the volume of electronic transactions on the back of a cash crunch.

This was corroborated in the e-payment data of the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) released in April which revealed that year-on-year, the value of electronic payment transactions rose by 298% from ₦34.04 trillion in Q1, 2022, to ₦135.52 trillion in Q1, 2023.

As of June 2023, the value of financial claims from the various complaints stood at ₦326.11 billion. This indicated an increase of 289% compared with ₦83.78 billion paid in claims in June 2022.

UBA recorded the highest volume of customer complaints during the review period.

As of June 2023, customers’ complaints to UBA rose to 1,930,518 from 475,121 recorded in the same period in 2022 while the value of complaints increased from ₦4.39 billion as of June 2022, to ₦125.26 billion in June 2023.

The percentage of customer complaints to UBA increased by 306.32% year-on-year.

Access Holdings followed closely, witnessing a 132.25% jump in complaints between June 2022 and June 2023. 

Customers’ complaints to Fidelity Bank also witnessed a 77.69% increase while complaints from Zenith Bank Plc customers rose by 12.55% from 220,067 as of June 2022 to 247,685 in June 2023.

GTCO on the other hand, witnessed a decrease in the volume of customer complaints during the period in review as complaints reduced from 505,076 in H1 2022, to 453,575 in H1 2023.