Recently, CBN approved a curious and controversial current account “maintenance charge” of one Naira (N1) per N1000 you collect from your current account. This came on the heel of the extinction of COT charges which ended on January 1, 2016.
You probably have received an email from your bank notifying you of the introduction of this new charge on ALL your debit transactions. However, the banks left out a critical detail in their emails to you.
THE MAINTENANCE FEE IS NOT MANDATORY!
CBN’s circular says the fee IS NEGOTIABLE but the banks will not tell you that!
What can you do?
If you don’t want to pay this fee, write to your bank and let them know that since the fee IS negotiable, you are not willing to pay N1 per thousand. Depending on the volume of transactions you make, you can request for a total waiver or as low as five kobo (5kobo) per thousand.
If you don’t do anything immediately, you will be charged by default. The “Maintenance Fee” is NOT mandatory. You can request for a review or waiver.
CAFON is studying this new directive to determine how to protest these multiple charges on behalf of Nigerian consumers. Until we can do that, you should negotiate the charges by formally writing to your bank immediately!
Protect Your Consumer Right…write your bank today!
Sola Salako
President
CAFON
