‘Why We Are Not Keeping Our Money In Banks’

A cross section of Nigerian bank customers have stated why they are not keeping their money in banks

The complaints are coming on the heels of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last January, making moves aimed at improving the saving culture amongst Nigerians.

The bank customers who spoke to NAN, say their reluctance centre on the several charges which the commercial banks levy on customers, saying it was affecting their operations.

Mrs Helen Agodo, a customer with First HoldCo Plc, said that daily debits from her account was becoming unbearable.

Agodo appealed to the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN) to engage the CBN and other relevant regulatory bodies with a view to ending the unauthorised deductions.

“In fact, I do not blame some people who decide not to put their monies in a bank.

“There was a day I calculated the debit alert charges that I received from my bank, it was up to N800 just for a day.

“You will now imagine the total amount the bank will get if they do the same deduction from like 1,000 to 2,000 of their customers,” she said.

Miss Cheta Ugochukwu, a customer of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCo) Plc, described the charges as unfair.

She listed some of the charges to include SMS alert charges, Value Added Tax (VAT), Stamp Duties, Commission on NIP transfer, among others.

Ugochukwu said the development was not a good or sincere business model.

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“Personally, I do all my transactions electronically and I thought that is the basis for the cashless policy of the CBN.

“My bank charged me about N996 for SMS alert in one month, this to me is too much.

“I wanted to disable my bank SMS when the amount was increased and rely only on my app receipt but on a second thought, I decided to leave it but now, my mind is made up.

“I wonder how they calculate this because it is unfair with the current state of the economy,” she said.

Mr Usman Idris, a customer of Fidelity Bank Plc, said that charges had discouraged him from depositing money in his account.

Idris explained that the decision followed his ugly experience when his business money was short by N1000 due to charges from the bank.

“I deposited money into my account but when I wanted to withdraw, I couldn’t withdraw all because of bank charges.

“This occurrence really discouraged me because at some point, I was stranded,” he said.

Mr Andrew Adejoh, a customer of Zenith Bank Plc, said there was a need for the CBN to review and shelve some bank charges.

Adejoh said the review had become necessary to reduce the burden on customers.

“I think that olden days’ attitude of people keeping money in their houses has started again.

“People now prefer to keep money in their safe at home rather than the banks because of charges.

“In fact, I have lost count of the charges that my bank collects,” he said.

Mr Tunde Bello, an Access Bank customer, called on CBN to heed to the complaints of customers by checking the excesses of banks.