Last few months have left many bank customers complaining how their money are getting missing from their bank accounts.
While some have gotten resolution from their banks, many others are yet to have their money returned back to their them the issues may be out of the control of the banks and require further investigation.
Bank customers have become victims of unauthorized transactions or missing money from their bank accounts.
Especially in the last three months, there have also been hundreds of reports of PoS fraud and customers making transfers but the money did not reach the receivers’ bank accounts.
Note that sometimes, the banks may not be culpable in some of these issues, as it may have been the fault of the customer who fell prey to scammers by disclosing vital information, misplacing their ATM card or phones that have direct access to their bank accounts.
In case your bank have failed to refund your money then the steps below is meant to help you attract the attention of the CBN
Whatever the issues may be, it is only fair that all avenues to get your money back is explored. If you have exercised more than enough patience with your bank and have exhausted other options, it is only normal to escalate it to the apex bank for a possible final resolution.
When to make a complaint about your bank to the CBN
This article is based on the premise that you have already lodged your complaint before your bank and do not seem to have gotten a resolution.
The CBN expects the customer to direct his/her complaint to the bank/branch where the issue originated and then allow for a period of 2 weeks to a month, depending on the complaint to be resolved.
If the bank fails to engage the customer or resolve the complaint within 2 weeks or 30 days as the case may be, then the complaint must be reported to the Consumer Protection Department (CPD) of the CBN.
The CPD attends to all financial-related complaints against financial institutions including commercial banks, microfinance banks, discount houses, and primary mortgage institutions.
The CPD can be contacted via the following channels:
Email: cpd@cbn.gov.ng
Phone call: +234 7002255226
Customers can lodge a complaint directly on the CBN website via this link.
Letter: Director, Consumer Protection Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, Central Business District, Abuja.
Note: Your letter can be submitted at the CBN headquarters mentioned above or at any of its branches nationwide.
How to write a concise and effective complaints letter to CBN
The CBN recommends that your letter must be concise and direct, containing the following information:
Name, Address, Contact Phone Number & E-mail of the Complainant;
Name of your Financial Institution;
Personal banking details (Do NOT include PIN & Passwords, please;)
History/Date of the transaction in dispute;
Amount claimed (if any);
Attach relevant documents to support your claim and;
Evidence to show that you have first lodged the complaint at your bank.
Interestingly, the CBN does not give a timeline for which your complaint will be resolved, but it is believed this will be done within the most reasonably possible time.
Even as the CBN attempts to resolve a customer’s complaint, it also has the power to penalise a bank for failure to effectively resolve the complaint.
Nigerian banks with the highest number of customers’ complaints
Ten Nigerian banks 5.7 million customer complaints in 2021. The figure accounts for more than double the number of complaints received in the previous year of 2020 which stood at 2.69 million.
According to an earlier report by Legit.ng, the figure was sorted from an analysis of the 2021 financial reports of the banks as published on the website of the Nigerian Exchange Group.
The surveyed banks include First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Unity Bank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, Wema Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Sterling Bank and Fidelity Bank.
The analysis showed that Access Bank led the list with about 2.1 million complaints. Fidelity Bank and GT Bank followed with 907,715 and 673,772 received complaints respectively
