Some bank customers in the Federal Capital Territory have appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to improve its monitoring on banks to ensure strict compliance to the new guidelines.
Some of the customers who spoke in Abuja on Monday also commended the apex bank for the downward review of charges and fees on banking services.
Mr Emmanuel Atama, the Executive Secretary, the National Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria (CFAN) said the new guideline was a welcomed development which would facilitate financial inclusion.
Atama said: “I see it as a Christmas gift from CBN to ordinary Nigerians because at this point, you see a lot of Nigerians on ATM queues to withdraw their money. If the charges are excessive, it goes a long way to impede on their purchasing power.
“For us at the financial inclusion end, it is a welcome development because when you are talking about inclusion, a lot has to do with technology.
“A situation where people are being charged at every point in time, then the urge to keep money in the bank will no longer be there.
“But on the maintenance charge, it is uncalled for. Why are they charging maintenance fee while at the point of the card collection, customers pay for it. What are they maintaining?
“Banks are not bearing any cost. All the costs are being transferred to customers. So slashing down on ATM charges is a welcomed development.”
The executive secretary said he expected the Apex bank to continues with more directives that would more Nigerians become financial inclusive.
“We hope that more will come so that we can achieve full financial inclusion especially now that 2020 is when we at the cooperatives side are leading the committee for financial inclusion are hoping to achieve 80 per cent of the adult population to be fully included.
“I believe that anything done in that direction will greatly impact the people,’’ he said.
Mrs Patience Akeem, a public servant and a bank customer with one of the new generation banks, appealed to the CBN to improve its monitoring on banks to ensure strict adherence with the guidelines.
Akeem, who explained that some banks paid deaf ears to some CBN guidelines, noted that effective monitoring would force banks to implement the guidelines.
Mr Ibe Onyema, an artisan, who was visibly happy with the new guidelines, commended the apex bank for the move.
Items said: “My bank charges me N65 for any transfer I make. This is good news for me because those small monies mean a lot when you calculate them monthly,’’ he said.
The apex bank on Dec. 22 released new guidelines for banks, other financial and non-bank financial institutions through its Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr Isaac Okorafor.
Okorafor said the guideline would take effect from Jan. 1, 2020.
He said the step was in furtherance of the bank’s quest to make financial services more accessible and affordable to various stakeholders in the economy.
Okorafor explained that the guideline involved reduction in the amount payable for cash withdrawals from other banks’ Automated Teller Machines as Remote-on-Us transactions.
The director said the reduction was from N65 to N35 after the third withdrawal within one month and maintenance fee on cards linked to savings account had been reduced to a maximum of N50 per quarter from N50 per month amounting to only N200 per annum instead of N600.
