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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that banks will pay a penalty of N2million for every breach of the provisions of its Guide to Bank Charges.
Recall that after the CBN earlier in the week revised downwards bank charges on electronic transfers, many had expressed worries that the banks may not comply fully or may treat customers’s complaints with levity.
But the apex bank on Wednesday every breach will earn the bank a N2million fine.
And in order to ensure that banks actually attend to every customer’s complaints, the CBN directed banks to log every complaint received from their customers into the Consumer Complaints Management System (CCMS) in addition to generating a unique reference code for each complaint lodged, which must be given to the customer.
A statement by the bank reads: “To guard against excess, unapproved or arbitrary charges by banks and other financial institutions, the Guide to Bank Charges stipulates a penalty of N2,000,000 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 emphasizes that failure by any bank to comply with CBN’s directive in respect of any infraction shall attract a further penalty of N2,000,000 daily until the directive is complied with or as may be determined by the CBN from time to time.
“In order to ensure that banks actually attend to every customer’s complaints, CBN has directed banks to log every complaint received from their customers into the Consumer Complaints Management System (CCMS) in addition to generating a unique reference code for each complaint lodged, which must be given to the customer.
“CBN has also warned that failure to log and provide the code to the customer will amount to a breach and is sanctionable with a penalty of N1,000,000 per breach.”