Mixed compliance trail CBN’s revised bank charges

Although some Nigerian banks have startedimplementing the new Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) revised Guide to Bank Charges (RGBC) for customers on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and electronic transfers, others have remained adamant.

Specifically, Fidelity Bank Plc and a few other lenders, for instance, recently issued a notice to its customers about the CBN’s directive and its compliance with the new charge regime.

It stated: “In line with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive to implement provisions in the Revised Guide to Bank Charges (RGBC), we wish to inform you about the reduction in charges for the following transactions effective January 01, 2020.”

However, it seems they have all gone out of their way to include an extra 50 kobo on such transactions. The banks have taken the liberty to charge NGN 10.50 on every transaction that should cost NGN 10.00.

Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that, apart from banks like UBA that still charges N52.50 for transfer to other banks as of January 10,2020, for an amount below N50,000, other lenders that have complied went further to add the 50 kobo to the new charges.

Also, transactions that should attract charges of NGN 25.00 and NGN 50.00 now go for NGN 25.50 and NGN 50.50, respectively. It appears the banks have conveniently slipped in an extra small amount as part of the charges with the mindset that it doesn’t change much.

Additionally, retail outlets in the e-payment value chain are still collecting N50 Point of Sale (PoS) Stamp Duty fee from customers, despite the directive stopping it.

Further checks revealed that some outlets have refused to comply with the directive and continued to deduct the charges from customers.

Some other merchants have been encouraging their customers to pay with cash, complaining that the network was bad on the PoS.

The Nigerian Tribune enquiries in Lagos, showed that some filling station operators, supermarkets among others, have continued to collect the illegal fee on PoS transaction by customers as they  now add the fee to the customer’s purchases.

In an earlier interview with newsmen, the President of the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, UjuOgubunka, condemned the continuous collection, in spite of the CBN’s directive.

He said the apex bank should ensure full compliance across retail shops, adding, “I expect the CBN to move beyond its directive that bank customers reject the fee and fight for customers. Another option is for the customers to carry cash and avoid the fee where the risks are minimal.”

The CBN had earlier clarified that the stamp duty is a fee regulated by an Act, stressing that, it has been misinterpreted by merchants, urging the public to stop paying same.

The apex bank guideline said: “The debit should be passed to the merchant accounts at the point of PoS/Web merchant Credit/Settlement to mitigate against the inability of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to successfully secure these daily stamp duties charges and remit as expected.

But perhaps no other directive resonated with customers as much as those related to e-transfers and ATM withdrawals”.

The CBN had directed that effective from January 1, 2020, banks will no longer cream off N52.50 from their customers’ accounts every time they use electronic channels to transfer funds of any amount.

Also, the banks were no longer going to make their customers lose N 65.00 every time they withdraw cash from an ATM that belongs to other banks but theirs after making three of such ATM withdrawals in a month.

In the document titled: ‘Guide to Charges by Banks and Other Financial Institutions’, the CBN also touched upon several other areas, including card maintenance fees, PoS transaction fees, and reactivation/closure of bank accounts.

But technically, the banks haven’t really complied with exactly what is laid out in the CBN’s new directive given that they (the banks) all appear to have ‘modified’ the directive to suit their interests.

Consequently, the Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, had earlier said customers should not always be too much in a hurry to let some grievances go away, but should take a further step by reporting to the regulator.

“We have actually helped a lot of displeased depositors to get monies from their banks after they complained,” he said

Between January and September 2019, CBN’s e-payment statistics show that interbank e-payments in Nigeria eclipsed 800 million in transaction volume, valued at over N75 billion.

When the CBN issued the directive late last year, it also dropped a warning stating that unapproved or arbitrary charges by banks and other financial institutions would attract a penalty of N2million  per infraction or as may be determined by the CBN from time to time for financial institutions that breach any provision of the guide.

The guide also emphasized that failure by any bank to comply with CBN’s directive in respect of any infraction shall attract a further penalty of NGN 2 million daily until the directive is complied with or as may be determined by the CBN from time to time.