Banks flout committee’s directive on N100 ATM transaction charge

Two weeks after the decision of the Bankers’ Committee to stop inter-bank automated teller machine (ATM) charges, some banks are still charging customers for inter-bank ATM use.
While the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have indicated their resolve to monitor compliance, some bank workers, who spoke to Daily Sun, said the process of adjusting the machines to reflect the new order may take some time. Bank customers, who received the cheery news scrapping inter-bank ATM charges two weeks ago, found it hard to believe that banks were not to comply with the new directive, after it was unanimously agreed by their directors.
When Daily Sun visited some banks along Airport Road Ikeja, Marina Lagos and Maza Maza branches of some banks, it was discovered that using cards at another bank’s ATM still attracts N100 charge, as ATMs still advise that “this transaction attracts N100, do you wish to continue?
“While other ATMs read: “Be informed that N100 charges apply for these transactions.” Other respondents said greed by the issuing banks to get a N25 share from the N100, was responsible for their non-compliance.
Director, Corporate Communications of the (CBN), Ugo Okoroafor, was reported as saying that the apex bank would continue to remind the banks to honour their decision and encourage them to abide by it in the interest of the customers.
He said that the decision by the bankers’ committee was a welcome development as the directive was not directly from the CBN but “they thought it wise to scrap the charges,” adding that the apex bank would deploy examiners to monitor compliance with the directive.
Earlier, the Managing Director of the NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, at a recent conference in Jigawa State told newsmen that the decision taken by the banks at the last Bankers Committee meeting was voluntary and that anybody who suspects that he or she is being charged should lodge complaints with appropriate authorities.
He said the CBN and NDIC have an uphill task in improving financial inclusion given the relatively low level of penetration of financial services in the country. The NDIC boss said the rising trend in bank customers’ complaints is a source of worry to the regulators, stressing that such complaints arising mainly because of poor customer service, high bank tariffs, frauds and forgeries as well as bank distress could threaten confidence in the banking system. Ibrahim said banks are aware of whom their customers are but many of them do not appreciate the need to determine their expectations and how to manage them.
“The inability to manage customers coupled with the serious corporate governance issues could explain the high frequency of complaints among bank customers in Nigeria.
To determine the causes of customer complaints and design appropriate strategies for preventing and controlling it, the need to determine customer expectations and how to effectively manage them cannot be over emphasized,” he said.