This campaign was triggered after Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria (CAFON), declared March 1 a ‘No banking day’ to protest the alleged arbitrary charge, banks imposed on their customers.
![Zimbabweans have 21 days to exchange old banknotes for new ones (image used for illustration) [Reuters]](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg'%20width%3D'100'%20height%3D'100'%20data-ring-placeholder%3D'1'%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E "Zimbabweans have 21 days to exchange old banknotes for new ones (image used for illustration) [Reuters]")
The campaign will involve a peaceful protest across major and towns in Nigeria.
Recently, CBN in a statement said that all customers who have been victims of the alleged illegal arbitrary charge should forward its complaints to the Consumer Protection Department of the apex bank.
Read statement below;
“The CBN rolled out the cashless policy with a number of options in the electronic payment systems, including the mobile banking.
“To achieve this, the CBN had enlisted electronic and telecom service providers to ensure convenience and safety.
“In addition, the CBN also set up the Consumer Protection Debarment saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that bank customers are not unduly short-changed by the commercial banks.
“It is equally expected that while the regulators are doing their own bit, bank customers must not only insist, but persist in demanding that their respective banks give them good service and at affordable charges.
“Nigerians should note that the bank-customer relationship is personal and contractual and should seek for redress when short-changed.”
In order to ensure a mutual and beneficial bank-customer relationship, the statement said the CBN had issued guidelines on bank charges, which it said had been widely circulated.
The guidelines, it stated, would ensure standards as well as assist bank customers make informed decisions regarding any unjust charges.
“It therefore remains the obligation of the bank customers to ensure that they are not short-changed, no matter how small.
“In the event that customers failed to stop their banks from cheating them, the CBN had again gone further to provide contact centre with telephone lines, email address to enable customers to lodge their complaints with its Consumer Protection Department.”
“While the CBN should continue to ensure that all parties in financial transactions are adequately compensated and protected, it is only fair that the Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria in organising the planned protest take cognisance of value creation by the enablers of today’s convenient financial transactions process.
“They should also get involved in encouraging Nigerians to take complaints that are related to wrongful bank charges to the appropriate quarters.”
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