Bank Customers Get N76.75bn, $20.90m Refund in 7 Years, Says CBN
UMORU ABDULKADIR
Bank Customers across the country get a total sum of N76.75 billion and $20.90 million refund from their various banks after the intervention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in several complaints to the apex bank over unnecessary deductions.
This was disclosed on Thursday by a Director in the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) of the apex bank, Kofo Abdulsalam Alada at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) workshop for Business Editors and Finance Correspondents in Yola, Adamawa State.
According to him, the refund was as a result of several financial related complaints made to several commercial banks.
Represented by Tyoden Nanfwang, a member of the CPD, Alada stated that about 16,263 complaints were received against banks and successfully treated between 2012 and Nov 30 2019.
“The cumulative number of complaints against Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) that were resolved or closed from 2012 to the end of November 2019 is about 257. We resolved over 13,000 complaints, obtained refunds of N76.75 billion, 20.90 million dollars, among others to bank customers as at Nov. 30,” Alada said.
He stated that the refund is in accordance with the mandate of the CPD of the CBN, which promotes consumer confidence in the financial system.
The CBN said it had resolved and established a guide for banks and other financial institutions to charge customers, correcting the power imbalance between banks and customers.
“There was an extraordinary imbalance of power between the service providers and the consumers. The department has also developed a consumer protection framework and established a guide to charges by banks and OFIs,’’ he said.
Though it is the responsibility of the CPD to mitigate this power imbalance, and also ensure fair and responsible practices among financial service providers through its various regulations, CBN urged customers to report any financially related complaints to it at any time.
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