I was having a conversation with someone earlier and the person narrated to me how a Nigerian bank has been charging him incessantly for debit card maintenance fees on a monthly basis.
Unfortunately, I share the same experience. I opened an account with a bank with the intention of depositing money into it and saving it for the long term and I had no plans of making withdrawals from the account. Due to the fact that I had no intention of using or servicing the account regularly, I specifically gave an instruction to the account officer that I do not want a debit card on the account because I know that there are charges for debit card issuance and quarterly maintenance fee.
Since the time that the account was opened, I have constantly received unexplainable debits on the said account and also debits for debit card quarterly maintenance which is absurd because I have no debit card on the account and I did not at any time request for the debit card on the account.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 14 (June 3 – Sept 2, 2024) begins registrations; get massive discounts with early registration here.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
I have gone to my branch to make complaints and inquire why I’m being charged maintenance fee for a product that I do not use, and never requested. The account officer promised to look into it but to my utmost surprise, I still get debits; I received the last debit alert for the quarterly card maintenance fee on 14/10/2022.
This fraudulent act of the bank has raised some questions in my mind and in the mind of other customers who may be facing this same ordeal in the fraudulent hands of Nigerian banks:
- Can a customer be charged for a product he does not use, never requested, and was never issued?
- Can the bank on its own (willy-nilly) issue a product to a customer when the customer specifically gave the instructions that he does not want the product and never requested it?
- Is this act of the bank constantly charging a customer for a product he does not use and never requested for not fraudulent, illegal, and unethical?
Moreover, based on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s revised Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Bank Financial Institutions which took effect on January 1, 2020; in its S.10(4)(2) which provides for Fees for Card Maintenance, banks are to charge Naira Debit/Credit Card linked to savings account N50 for quarterly maintenance fee ie, debit card maintenance fee are to be charged quarterly and not on monthly bases and the amount to be charged is N50 if the customer operates a savings account but if the customer operates a current account he is not to be charged for maintenance fee on Debit card linked to the account.
I am being debited more than N50 for the card maintenance fee which is above the stipulated charge by the CBN and the person who complained to me is being charged monthly which is also fraudulent, illegal, and criminal.
It’s high time Nigerian banks stop ripping customers off in order to make unscrupulous profits, acts like these are not just unethical but also fraudulent.