Bank charges in Nigeria are generally regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The CBN sets all of the commission charge rates at fixed and others as negotiable or flexible rates within competitive bounds of profitability for financial institutions.
Bank Charges in Nigeria :
The Central Bank of Nigeria generally releases a circular with a “Guide to charges by banks, other financial institutions and non-bank financial institutions”(Click to View).
The Guide to Bank Charges provides a basis for the application of charges on various products and services offered by banks and other regulated institutions under its purview.
Most Frequent Bank Charges in Nigeria
The most frequently applied bank charges to customer accounts as required by CBN regulations and guidelines are listed below.
Current / Savings Account
- Maintenance Fee – Negotiable subject to a maximum of N1 per mille (i.e. N1000) for current. No charges for savings accounts
- Outward Telegraphic/SWIFT and other transfers – Swift cost recovery, 0.5% commission on transfer plus associated offshore bank charges (where applicable)
- Commission on Withdrawals from Domiciliary Accounts (whether savings or current account) – 0.05% of transaction value or $10, whichever is lower
Electronic Banking Charges in Nigeria
- Hardware Token – Cost recovery subject to a maximum charge of N2,500
- Software Token – One Time Password (OTP) – No Charge, However, where the OTP is sent to the customer via SMS, charges will be on cost recovery basis.
- Bills Payment (Including Bills Payment through other E-channels) – Negotiable subject to a maximum of N500per beneficiary payable by the sender
- Electronic Funds Transfer Charges
- Below N5,000 charge N10
- Within N5,001 – N50,000 charge N25
- Above N50,000 charge N50
Card Maintenance Fee
- Foreign Currency Denominated Debit/Credit Cards – $10 p.a. (or its equivalent)
- Naira Debit/Credit Card
- Current account – No charge,
- Savings accounts – maximum of N50 quarterly maintenance fee
- Issuance / Replacement / Renewal Fees – N1,000
- Remote-On-Us (from other bank’s ATM) in Nigeria – maximum of N35 after the third withdrawal within the same month
ATM Transactions
- On-Us (withdrawal from issuing bank’s ATM) – No Charge
- Not On-Us (withdrawal from other bank’s ATM) in Nigeria – N35 after the third withdrawal within the same month
- International Withdrawals (per Exact cost by international acquirer (cost recovery)transaction) whether debit/credit card
Merchant Service Commission (MSC)
- General Merchant (Including Domestic, International Travels and Entertainment) – 0.50% of transaction value but not more than N1,000
Transaction Alerts
- SMS Alert (Mandatory) – Cost recovery (on customer-induced transactions) , No charge (for bank-induced transactions
- However, where a customer opts not to receive SMS alert, the customer should issue an indemnity (for losses that may arise as a result) to the bank.
- Email notification – No charge
- Use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) – Current NIP charges apply
- Purchase with cash-back N100 per N20,000 subject to cumulative N60,000 daily withdrawal
Verification of Customers’ Documents with Government Agencies
- CAC – Cost recovery
- Certified True Copy (CTC) – Cost recovery
Cost of Cheque Books
- Cheque Books – Cost recovery
- Counter Cheque – N50 per leaflet
Cashless Policy
Individual
- Cash deposit – 2% for transactions above N500,000
- Cash withdrawal – 3% for transactions above N500,000
Corporate
- Cash deposit – 3% for transactions above N3,000,000
- Cash withdrawal – 5% for transactions above N3,000,000
Interest on Deposits
- Current Account in Credit Balance – Negotiable
- Savings Account – Minimum of 30% of MPR p.a. (not applicable if a customer makes more than 4 withdrawals in a month)
- Term Deposit Accounts – Negotiable
- Domiciliary Accounts – Current Accounts Negotiable
- Savings Accounts – Negotiable
Penal Rate on Loans/Advances/Excess Overdraft/Credit Limit
- Naira loans and advances: Maximum of 1% flat per month of unpaid amount in addition to charging current rate of interest on outstanding debt.
- Foreign currency loans and advances: Maximum of 0.25% flat per month of unpaid amount in addition to charging current rate of interest on outstanding debt
Bank Charges Compliance and Accountability Standards in Nigeria
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Accountability and Responsibility by Banks
- The Executive Compliance Officers (ECO) shall monitor compliance with the requirements of this Guide and shall be held liable for any breach.
- The Head, Information Technology Division shall ensure that the name of all system related/generated/posted charges shall conform strictly to this Guide.
- The Head, Information Technology Division shall render monthly report attaching a schedule of all failed transactions on e-channels (ATM, PoS, mobile, web/internet and related channels) that originate or terminates in his bank, to the Director, Payments System Management and Consumer Protection Departments of the CBN
- Details of all fees and charges applicable to a transaction shall be disclosed to the customer at the point of consummation (where applicable).
- Transaction receipt/alert/confirmation for any charge shall contain a description of the charge.
Sanctions to Banks
- Financial Institutions are to note that any breach of the provisions of this Guide carries a penalty of N 2,000,000 per infraction or as may be determined by the CBN from time to time.
- Where a bank is found to have wrongfully imposed a particular charge on its customers, the provision of Section (i) above shall apply for the charge on each customer.
- Failure to comply with CBN’s directive in respect of any infraction shall attract a further penalty of N2,000,000 daily until the directive is complied with or as may be determined by the CBN from time to time.
- Banks are required to log every complaint received from their customers into the Consumer Complaints Management System (CCMS) and must generate a unique reference code for each complaint lodged, which must be given to the customer. Failure to log and provide the code to the customer amounts to a breach and is sanctionable with a penalty of N1,000,000 per breach.
- A penalty of N100,000 shall be imposed on a financial institution that contravenes the provisions of Part 6C.