Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-The central bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Thursday ordered deposit money banks to refund to customers who have been charged above the N2 per mille as contained in the revised guide to bank charges- commission on turnover (COT) issued on March 27, 2013.
This is contained in a circular titled: ‘’ Implementation of the Revised Guide to Bank Charges- Commission on Turnover’’ with reference number FPR/DIR/GEN/CIR/01/008 dated June 11, 2014 and signed by Franklin Ahonkai for director, financial policy and regulation of the CBN and posted on its official website.
The CBN said information available to it indicates that some banks are charging COT at the rate of N3 per mille-which was the agreed rate in 2013, contrary to the N2 per mille allowed by the guide for 2014.
The Nigeria’s central bank reiterated that the maximum COT allowed by the guide for 2014 is N2 per mille.
‘’The CBN hereby reiterates that the maximum COT allowed by the guide for 2014 is N2 per mille. ‘’Consequently, all banks that have charged excess COT since the effective date of the guide are hereby required to refund same to the affected customers not later than 30 days from the date of this circular,’’ the CBN said.
According to the CBN, section 3.1 of the guide provides that COT is negotiable subject to a maximum of N3 per mille in 2013, N2 per mille in 2014 and N1 per mille in 2015 and that no COT would be charged from 2016.
‘’Consequently, all banks that have charged excess COT since the effective date of the guide are hereby required to refund same to the affected customers not later than 30 days from the date of this circular,’’ the CBN said.
Also, the CBN said its attention has been drawn to the practice by some banks charging fees which are alien to the guide. ‘’For example some banks offer accounts which are supposedly COT-free but impose a maintenance or similar fee- a fee not covered by the guide,’’ the circular said.
‘’For the avoidance of doubt while paragraph 4 of the preface to guide states that the charges on products and services are not exhaustive, it however requires banks wishing to levy charges not covered by the guide to obtain the prior approval of the CBN. Banks that have charged customers maintenance fee ( or any fee for that matter), that is neither covered by the guide nor has been prior-approved by the CBN, are hereby required to refund the fee to the customers not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this circular,’’ the CBN said.
