Again, CBN Slashes E-transactions Charges

BY CHINYERE OBIORA, LAGOS – In response to mounting complaints by banks’ customers, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a downward review of charges for electronic banking transactions in its revised guidelines to charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Non-Bank Financial Institutions.

CBN’s Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, Chibuzor Efobi, who announced the fees reduction in its published guidelines to banks and other financial institutions on Thursday, 27 January 2022, said the review was in response to “further evolution in the financial industry in the last few years’’.

A circular signed by Efobi for the apex bank said the new guidelines, first published in 2004 and revised in 2013, 2017, and 2020, include a review of other bank charges to align with emerging market developments in the country.

The circular further stated that the review also addresses new sections on accountability/responsibility as well as a sanction regime to directly address instances of excess unapproved, (arbitrary) charges by the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

Adopted for operations effective January 1, 2022, the revised guidelines provide a basis for the application of charges on various products and services offered by banks and other regulated institutions under the CBN’s supervision.

With innovations in products and channels, as well as new industry participants, the following are the existing major electronic charges:

• The annual cost for Foreign Currency (FCY) denominated cards has been cut from $20 to $10.

• ATM fees are reduced from N65 to N35 following the third withdrawal within a month.

• The fee for hardware tokens is based on cost recovery, with a maximum charge of N2,500, as opposed to the previous maximum charge of N3,500.

• The fee for SMS obligatory alerts is based on cost recovery from the previous maximum of N4.

• Bill payments made through e-channels will incur a maximum fee of N500 based on 0.75 percent of the transaction amount up to a maximum of N1,200.

• A pricing scale for electronic transfers replaces the N50 flat cost. Transactions below N5,000 incur a maximum fee of N10; transfers between N5001 and N50,000 incur a charge of N25, and transfers above N50,000 incur a charge of N50.