Bank customers want standard policy for dormant account
CHIGOZIE AMADI
Some customers of various banks have decried the continuous arbitrary debit of their monies by their banks.
Some of them, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, said the move negated the financial inclusion initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Mrs Claudia Albert, a customer with Sterling Bank, said the bank had debited about N6,000 from her account just this month.
Albert said the development was frustrating, worrisome and discouraging.
She urged the bank and other banks to refund the debited monies and also desist from the act as it could discourage customers from patronising them.
”My bank debited N5,207.50 from my account on Aug.12 and tagged it ‘Sterling Bill Payment Mobile and IBS Bills’.
”The bank also withdrew another N752.50 and called it SMS Notification Charge for the month of July.
”I can’t even remember all the monies they have been debiting from my account that I will be too busy to go and complain about.
”This is so unfair,” she said
Another customer, Mrs Chioma Ekezie, a customer with Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) said that her bank had failed to refund her money for some of her unsuccessful transactions.
She said that although she had visited the bank’s branches to fill form to facilitate the reversal, her efforts had proved abortive.
”I cannot count my monies that are hanging in GTBank. The bank has failed to refund my monies from my failed transactions even when I have gone there tireless times.
”Most times, I abandon my official work just to go to the bank to complain to them but the more I try, the more they frustrate me.
”I became discouraged and the phone that I was using crashed so I lost the evidence of the money but I believe its there in their system.
”This is very bad and it made me to withdraw all my serious savings from the bank,” she said.
Mr Bernard Isaac, a customer with First Bank Plc, said she had received numerous unauthorised debit alerts from her bank.
He said that he had also received unnecessary debit alerts for charges from the bank.
Isaac said the development was unacceptable
”Banks should not be robbing Peter to pay Paul.
”It is we, the customers that suffer in all these.
”I have never received credit alert of money from my bank but what they think of is to debit my own,” he said.
Another customer with Access Bank appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to check excesses of banks to their customers with a view to addressing them.
Bank officials who were contacted to react to the development did not respond to messages sent to their phones neither did they answer calls as at the time of the report.
.Bank customers want standard policy for dormant account
Meanwhile, Customers of various banks have called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and banks to institute a standard policy on what constitutes a dormant account.
Some of the customers, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, frowned at the different policies and information on dormant account by the CBN and banks.
Mr Anthony Ogaga, a customer, said the regulator and banks should come to a compromise on dormant account policies to boost confidence in the sector.
Ogaga said that the CBN in one of its publications, said an account could be said to be dormant after some years of no activity.
He said that some banks had said otherwise as some would declare an account dormant after six months.
”We need to see this sector as being serious. CBN cannot tell us one thing and our banks will tell us another.
”The Central Bank should work closely with banks to enable them formulate policies on dormant accounts,” he said
Mrs Chinny Olaedo, a bank customer, who resides abroad, appealed to the CBN to ensure the safety of customers’ monies, especially those abroad.
Olaedo said a standard policy was necessary to guide customers, who were also maintaining their Nigerian bank accounts.
Another customer, Mr Emmanuel Yohanna, said that there was no need to declare an account dormant except proven that the owner was deceased.
”Sometimes, banks also discourage customers from operating their accounts because of their numerous charges.
”I personally avoid depositing money in some of my bank accounts because they will deplete my money,” he said.
Meanwhile, a bank official who pleaded anonymity said it would take six months of no activity in an account before it would be declared dormant in their bank.
The official said the bank would notify customers whose accounts were dormant in line with the CBN’s guidelines.
The source said the bank was preparing reports to also notify the CBN on the status of their dormant customers’ accounts.
Another bank official who also preferred anonymity, called on customers whose accounts were dormant to pay in monies into them to activate them.
CBN in a circular to banks subtitled ‘Management of Dormant Accounts and Unclaimed Financial Assets’, mandated banks to formulate policies for the recognition and management of dormant accounts and other financial assets.
”Financial institutions shall establish effective controls to ensure surveillance and second level authorisation on
reactivation of dormant accounts, among other measures.
”They shall maintain records including a register of dormant accounts balances and transfer balances that have remained in the dormant account register for up to ten (10) years to the ‘UBTF Pool Account,” CBN said. (NAN)
