At a time when Nigerians are grappling with rising living costs, the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria (BCAN) has formally petitioned the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to rein in what it describes as excessive and unauthorised charges on customers’ bank accounts.
Speaking at the 2025 Artificial Intelligence Conference organised by SuperNews in Lagos on Thursday, BCAN President Uju Ogubunka announced the association’s decision to escalate the matter.
EDITOR’S PICKS
Themed “Power of AI: Enhancing Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction for Better Financial Services Experience”, the event ironically underscored the growing discontent among bank users over digital transactions that often come with unanticipated costs.
“On the basis of excess charges, we have written to the Central Bank of Nigeria to find a permanent solution to it. And if they don’t, perhaps bank customers may have to come out to demand it,” Ogubunka said in a cautionary tone.
A Controversial Shift From Balance Deduction to End-User Billing
The immediate trigger for BCAN’s petition appears to be the migration to the end-user billing model for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) transactions. Previously, banks deducted USSD fees directly from customers’ account balances. Under the new model, telecom operators now charge users directly, often with little transparency regarding the breakdown of these costs.
BCAN argues that this new billing structure falls outside the scope of charges approved by the CBN and constitutes an additional burden on already overstretched customers. For many Nigerians, particularly those in rural or informal sectors who rely on USSD for daily banking, the fees are becoming untenable.
A Pattern of Charges: ATM, Maintenance, Transfers and More
This is far from an isolated concern. Over the years, bank customers have faced an expanding catalogue of charges, many of which seem arbitrary or poorly explained.

In February 2025, the CBN approved new fees for Automated Teller Machine (ATM) withdrawals:
- ₦100 per ₦20,000 withdrawn from on-site ATMs (outside branch premises but owned by the same bank),
- ₦100 plus up to ₦500 surcharge for off-site ATM withdrawals at malls, airports or independent machines,
- Withdrawals at the account holder’s own bank branch ATMs remain free.
Debit and credit cards also attract recurring costs: ₦50 per quarter for debit card maintenance and ₦1,000 for issuing or replacing credit cards. These are in addition to ₦6.98 per USSD session, ₦6 for SMS alerts, 7.5% VAT on several services, and ₦50 stamp duties on transfers up to ₦10,000.
More burdensome are charges for fund transfers on current accounts, where some banks deduct ₦1 per ₦1,000. This means a ₦500,000 transfer attracts a ₦500 fee. The cumulative effect of these charges, BCAN argues, is that the average customer is constantly losing money on basic banking services.
Hidden Fees, Lost Trust
Despite the CBN’s 2021 promise to address rising complaints of indiscriminate debits, the problem appears persistent. In many instances, customers are charged fees without adequate notification or consent, particularly for intra-bank transfers, balance enquiries or card usage.
Even under the CBN’s much-publicised Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial, and Non-bank Financial Institutions, which imposes penalties of up to ₦2 million per infraction, customers often feel helpless navigating the complaint process.
“The channels are there,” a CBN official stated in a previous clarification. “Customers should report to the CBN. We have email addresses where they can reach us.”
But to many, this response feels insufficient, especially when the burden of proof and follow-up lies squarely on the aggrieved customer.
What Next for the CBN?
Whether the CBN acts decisively on the BCAN petition remains to be seen. The central bank has the tools to enforce transparency and punish erring institutions, but will it? With rising public dissatisfaction and Nigeria’s ambition to improve financial inclusion, the stakes are high.
FURTHER READING
Failure to act could erode trust in formal banking, push more Nigerians towards unregulated alternatives and undermine years of progress in digitising financial services.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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