Abuja residents had yesterday shunned the ‘No Banking Day’ protest against what other Nigerians termed exorbitant deductions by banks, among other reasons. Some of the banks visited by Vanguard yesterday afternoon, observed the usual queues inside the banking halls, such as UBA, Zenith, Eco, FCMB, Diamond and Union banks who opened and had their normal banking activities.
March 1 was announced a “No Banking Day” to protest against excessive bank charges. In a statement which called on Nigerians to shun banking activities on the appointed day read in part as thus, “Dear Nigerian Banks’ Consumers, for many years now, consumers of banking services have been subjected to series of poor and unsatisfactory transactions and relationship terms.”
Nigerians argued that they had endured excessive charges, illegal fees and unfair contracts that only protect the bank but do not protect the consumers. However, an official of one of the banks told Vanguard that customers have been trooping the bank since they opened for business at around 8am up till when the banks closed to the customers although, Abuja residents did not obey the boycott but were angry about the charges banks debit from their accounts.
A customer said, “Banks debit our accounts at will for charges we never agreed to or were not aware of; they charge us for every little service; we pay for getting our statements; introduction letters; and now, some banks are charging N200 for the use of deposit and transfer forms.” He went on, “But for some of us who needed money to do one or two things, we had no choice but to come and withdraw”
Other charges claimed the banks charge include COT, also known as Commission on turnover. In simple term, COT are charges a customer incurs for debit transactions (transaction involving withdrawals and/or operating cost to the bank) from his current account. This serves as a secondary source of income for banks since they pay interest on customers’ deposits.
Other demands are that banks must clear fees with consumers before debiting their accounts and that CBN must review the new Stamp Duty Charge, Account Maintenance Charge and Debit Card Maintenance Fees.
March 1 was announced a “No Banking Day” to protest against excessive bank charges. In a statement which called on Nigerians to shun banking activities on the appointed day read in part as thus, “Dear Nigerian Banks’ Consumers, for many years now, consumers of banking services have been subjected to series of poor and unsatisfactory transactions and relationship terms.”
Nigerians argued that they had endured excessive charges, illegal fees and unfair contracts that only protect the bank but do not protect the consumers. However, an official of one of the banks told Vanguard that customers have been trooping the bank since they opened for business at around 8am up till when the banks closed to the customers although, Abuja residents did not obey the boycott but were angry about the charges banks debit from their accounts.
A customer said, “Banks debit our accounts at will for charges we never agreed to or were not aware of; they charge us for every little service; we pay for getting our statements; introduction letters; and now, some banks are charging N200 for the use of deposit and transfer forms.” He went on, “But for some of us who needed money to do one or two things, we had no choice but to come and withdraw”
Other charges claimed the banks charge include COT, also known as Commission on turnover. In simple term, COT are charges a customer incurs for debit transactions (transaction involving withdrawals and/or operating cost to the bank) from his current account. This serves as a secondary source of income for banks since they pay interest on customers’ deposits.
Other demands are that banks must clear fees with consumers before debiting their accounts and that CBN must review the new Stamp Duty Charge, Account Maintenance Charge and Debit Card Maintenance Fees.
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