Every lover of transparency in financial transactions and allied societal endeavours must be worried about a recent report indicating that complaints by customers against five Nigerian banks, year-on-year rose to about 117% compared to similar pains within the same period previous years. According to the report, the dissatisfaction of these banking public resulted to claims amounting to about N326B as against N83B in the preceding year from about 6.9 million complains as at August 2023.
If complaints against five banks out of over twenty of them operating in Nigeria can be this high, one can only imagine what the total of such customers’ displeasure will amount to when all the banks are considered. Many Nigerians have resigned their faith in banks to the unseen God who knows the intentions of banks while dealing with the few citizens still maintaining confidence in them.
To wit, there is a very thin line of demarcation between fraud and errors in financial books. For the avoidance of doubts, a financial error is unintentional when the one involved accepts such errors and moves towards correcting same, possibly with apologies to whoever was hurt by the negative acts. On the contrary, fraud is intentional. The proof of this is that the one who commits it does everything possible to defend it and possibly hide it.
In the light of this, it has become difficult for bank customers in the country to completely dismiss the notion that banks are shortchanging them with a view to making profits at the detriment of citizens who are mostly financial illiterates.
For example, it is common for banks to present those that patronize them with statements and account balances that do not reflect the true picture of transactions traceable to their (customers’) accounts. Apart from conventional charges like commission on turn-over (COT), the deposit money banks often develop frivolous deductibles from clients – FG stamp duty, card maintenance, alert charges among others. These charges can hit customers’ accounts as many as three times within one week.
In addition to charges that are not justifiable, Nigeria’s banking public is subjected to hidden deductions that are not captured in the statement of account transactions narrations. If a customer has an account balance of ten thousand naira (N10,000) and further deposits two thousand naira, the balance automatically changes to twelve thousand naira (N12,000). But in Nigeria, an addition of N2,000 to N10,000 can amount to eleven thousand, nine hundred and forty naira (N11, 940) without explanations. An attempt by an aggrieved customer can earn him harassment from his bank officials with ready-made irritating excuses for such fraud-like actions.
Another source of worry occours when a transaction from an ATM or POS point fails. The customer can walk between the failed transaction location and the concerned banks for months until frustration sets in. Some persons are known to have abandoned actions aimed at correcting these anomalies and lose out.
Other areas of concern to the banking citizens include fraudulent withdrawals by third party intruders without the consent of account holders. The fraudsters in this act adopt different tactics which may involve obtaining the account details of an individual through their careless attitudes. The customer only gets the transaction alerts of this form of withdrawal or cash transfers.
In explaining the reasons behind the misunderstanding between banks and their customers, the Managing Director of Financial Institutions Training Centre, Chizor Malize recently fingered the ‘japa’ trend in the country as a major factor behind the numerous errors that look fraudulent in Nigerian banks. He holds the view that there are very few capable hands in the sector to handle the professional duties in the finance houses. Malize believes that the finance sector is the worst hit by talent migration in the World’s most populous black nation.
As if in agreement with Chizor, the president of Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, Dr. Uju Ogbunka hammered on the knowledge gap as being responsible for the trend.
Granted that the reasons advanced by Chizor and Ogbunka may be tenable, it will remain unfair for banks to continue to transfer the pains from these seemingly addressable issues to the gullible banking public.
There are many things the banks can do to change the narratives. One of such is for these organizations to send their key personnel, especially in the ICT units for training, both locally and internationally. They can as well “import” professionals from abroad to train Nigerians in the industry.
The banks can solve the problem of illegal withdrawals by strengthening the security checks in their banking software. Along this line, if an online withdrawal ‘intention’ hits any account, the software can respond through the profiled telephone number by sending “approval inquiry” that needs a ‘yes’ or ‘No’ answer from the bonafide owner of an account. Non response or ‘No’ will automatically suggest non approval and get the intruder frustrated out.
On the part of customers, there is no uncomfortable transaction noticed in one’s statement that is too small to be brought to the notice of bank management. This will go a long way to ensuring that such errors that are traceable to malfunctioning automated devices are quickly checked, reversed and corrected.
