Crisis is brewing in the Nigerian banking sector over the imposition of controversial charges by banks on their customers. Complaints over these charges have reached a level that can no longer be ignored, so the monetary authorities must act immediately to address the issues involved.

Anecdotal evidence from Nigerians shows that many bank customers are being discouraged by the incidences of these charges. The charges come in different categories. There are charges for electronic transactions; there is a maintenance charge, there is a stamp duty charge, and there is a service charge.

Some customers claim that they are being charged every month by the bank on accounts that they have not been operating for some time. In some cases, the bank calls a customer to pay additional money into an account because the amount previously standing to the customer’s credit has been exhausted from such monthly deductions.

The customers allege that the banks, in some cases, are not being transparent in the manner they impose these charges. Sometimes a customer may not receive an alert after a transaction, but that does not mean that the bank is not deducting the charges from the customer’s account. So, when the charges come at the end of the month, the customer is unable to match them with the transactions or whatever services the bank rendered.

To the average bank customer, these charges are getting too much. Indeed, they are crowding out the little money that people earn and deposit with the banks. In some cases, the charges are accumulated and deducted from the customer’s account at the end of the month, when they have a significant impact on the small balances that poor Nigerians look forward to at the end of the month.

Unfortunately, the charges are not commensurate with the quality of service that the banks are rendering to Nigerians.

This has led to some individuals beginning to question the benefits of operating bank accounts.

The truth is that these charges now constitute a disincentive to bank customers and a threat to the financial inclusion programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is designed to draw more Nigerians into the formal financial system. Do the banks realise the impact of these deductions on a poor woman’s account and what it means to her? Do they realise the enormity of the pain they inflict on low-income people when they see their bank balances, and there is so much difference arising from the deductions? The average person expects that money kept with the bank is safe. How come then that the same money is now being gnawed at by these insidious charges that make no sense whatsoever to most of the customers?

There are also questions about the banks’ commitment to remittance of the taxes (especially withholding taxes) that customers pay through them to the Federal Inland Revenue Service. Some customers suggest there should be evidence of payment to them so that they could tender it to relevant authority when there is the need.

Interestingly, all these things are going on even against the existence of a document, Banks’ Customers’ Bill of Rights, which stipulates, among others, the customer’s right to be informed by his or her bank. How much do the banks inform their customers of these extra costs to them, unless the customers complain?

There is also CBN’s “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Bank Financial Institutions,” which, according to the regulator, provides a basis for the application of charges on various products and services offered by Financial Institutions in Nigeria to their customers.

In the edition that came into effect on January 1, 2020, CBN explained that the 75-page document applies to all financial institutions licensed and/or regulated by it. It explains further that the charges prescribed in the Guide were arrived at after extensive consultations with stakeholders. Its intention, CBN said, is to enhance flexibility, transparency, and competition in the Nigerian banking industry.

Nigerian banks’ customers are complaining, and they have every right to do so. They are asking for clarity on the barrage of charges they have been inundated with. Are all these charges authorised by the CBN?

In light of the above, we call on the Central Bank of Nigeria to rise and speak out on this matter. Granted, it has received hundreds of complaints from offended customers; the matter has gone beyond dealing with it on an individual basis. It stated banks that breach of the provisions of the Guide attracts a penalty of N2 million per infraction or as may be determined by it from time to time. Now is the time to show evidence that it has carried out this threat concerning the charges.

Nigerians should not continue to be punished for just keeping their money in the banks. (Daily Trust Editorial)