Have you ever wondered what exactly the many bank charges imposed on your account are actually meant and used for? We have become so immune to these notorious charges Nigerian banks freely mandate that most of us have never really paused to think of where this little money the banks take from our accounts every now and then go to.
A UK based Doctor, Olufunmilayo has awakened the citizens of Nigeria with his twitter campaign titled #Reform9jaBanks, by analyzing and comparing Nigerian commercial Banks and that of the UK. Let us take a brief moment to actually assimilate and reflect on Doctor Olufunmilayo’s analysis, and the questions we Nigerians must demand answers to from these banks who we entrust our hard earned money to.
Doctor Olufunmilayo stated: ‘I have lived in UK a few years now and NEVER has my bank ever charged me one penny for bank transfer. NEVER. NOT ONCE. I’m sorry. But that 52 naira 50kobo that Nigerian banks deduct per transaction, what exactly is it for? Why is no one speaking out against this blatant fraud? Next is the fraudulent “Card Maintenance Fees” by our Nigerian banks. Please, how are you maintaining a card that lives in my wallet? I have about 3-4 UK Bank Cards here. Both credit cards and debit cards. I have NEVER paid any such thing as a “Card Maintenance Fee”. NEVER EVER.
The Nigerian Banking Sector is an unfortunately over-bloated industry that thrives on systemically entrenched policies that terribly defrauds us Nigerians and lives on cheating the average citizen of the hard earned money that is entrusted in their care to help save and invest. You want to send money to someone from your Nigerian bank account and you first have to plan an extra 52 naira 50kobo. Money that is electronically sent from one Nigerian bank account to another Nigerian bank account What exactly is the charges for? Why is this fraud tolerated? Someone said the charges goes to NIPOST. I want to believe it is mere trolling as it makes absolutely no sense. Please, How is Nipost involved in an ELECTRONIC money transfer? Did I put the money in an envelope and post it? Or what? We deserve better. This is systemic cruelty. When I applied for ATM Cards in UK (both debit and credit), I was NEVER charged a penny. The card is given free. And “maintenance”, if there’s any such thing, is done free.
If we never get the chance to see how things happen in other places, we won’t know we are being cheated. When I applied for an ATM Card in Nigeria, I was charged 1,000 naira to have one. And I’m being charged some extra regularly in the pretense of an imaginary “Card Maintenance Fees”. This is systemic corruption and a fundamental banking fraud aimed at impoverishing us Nigerians. Let’s do a little maths, dear friends. According to NIBSS, as at December 2017, there was almost 65,000 daily Electronic Fund Transfers in 2017. At 52.50 naira per transaction, that’s over 3 million naira a day. And about 1 billion naira a year. Should this fraud continue?’
This is definitely an awakening to the length at which we are losing to these banks who claim to have our best interest while they continue to take from us. If these banks are going to charge us so much under the notion “maintenance” we at least deserve to know where and what each and every penny they are taking from us is going to.
