Igbo Traders Association Petition CBN See Why

Igbo Traders Association Petition CBN See Why

The South-East Amalgamated Markets Traders Association (SEAMATA) has filed a case with the Central Bank of Nigeria, saying that commercial banks are imposing indiscriminate bank charges.

iexclusive News Nigeria reports that the group stated its discontent with the bank charges in an open letter to the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele, signed by the association’s President-General, Chief Gozie Akudolu, and Secretary-General, Mr Alex Okwudiri.

The group requested that the CBN intervene to stop what it termed as indiscriminate and numerous charges and deductions on customers’ accounts.

“We know that one of the key obligations of commercial banks is to accept money deposits from clients and keep safe custody of them, as well as to undertake such other transactions for and as directed by the customer using various bank instruments,” the open letter continues.

“We also know that the majority of the transactions are the banks’ social duty. Today, however, banks deduct and impose fees for practically every transaction, from deposits to signature confirmation.”

The CBN’s cashless economy strategy, according to the organisation, has been tremendously advantageous to its members, particularly in decreasing armed robbery instances to a bare minimum.

“When a customer makes an online transfer of funds, the transfer is charged a set amount of money removed from his/her account, and the recipient’s account is likewise charged and deductions made for receiving the money,” it said, citing “indiscriminate levies and deductions” as an example.

“In addition, charges and deductions are imposed for SMS that were not received the majority of the time.” Finally, charges and deductions will be made on the same account as the service charge at regular intervals.”

The group stated that its members had individually addressed banks to convey their discontent, but that they had been unsuccessful.

As a result, it has asked the CBN governor to push banks to stop making “arbitrary charges and deductions” and, if feasible, to reimburse all deductions.

The CBN Governor had previously stated at the most recent MPC meeting that the CBN had released rules on bank charges and that commercial banks should be alerted if they violated these criteria.

Customers who realize they have been overcharged can petition the CBN or the NDIC for a refund, according to the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).