The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has expressed its support for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s)new draft guidelines mandating banks to refund customers for failed Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions within 48 hours.
The FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ondaje Ijagwu, announced the Commission’s position on the policy in a statement released on Monday.
According to the Commission, the CBN policy followed its (FCCPC) Consumer Complaints Data Report released in September, which highlighted persistent issues around delayed or unresolved failed transactions.
Long-awaited correction
FCCPC’s Executive Vice Chairman, Mr. Tunji Bello, in the statement, described the CBN’s proposal as a “timely and long-awaited correction” to one of the most common complaints from bank customers.
He noted that even at the draft stage, the policy reflects a stronger alignment between regulatory bodies working to protect consumers.
“It is consistent with what the FCCPC has been advocating, given the number of complaints we receive about failed transactions.
“We commend the CBN for this decisive step, which will ease the burden on consumers and rebuild trust in financial services,” Bello said.
- According to him, the proposed directive aligns with several provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, particularly Sections 17(g), (h), (l), (s), and (t), which emphasize fair dealings, elimination of unfair practices, and effective consumer redress mechanisms.
- Bello added that timely adoption of the CBN’s guidelines would promote accountability within the banking sector while boosting consumer confidence in Nigeria’s financial system.
- He also revealed that the FCCPC would work closely with the apex bank to establish monitoring frameworks that ensure compliance and prompt redress when banks fail to meet the refund deadline.
“Closer collaboration among regulators will lead to faster resolutions, prevent recurrences, and strengthen consumer confidence in Nigeria’s growing digital economy,” he added.
Backstory
The CBN’s draft framework, released on October 9, requires banks to provide instant refunds for failed ATM transactions carried out on their own machines.
Under the draft framework, all on-us transactions, where a customer uses their own bank’s ATM, must be reversed instantly.
The CBN noted that if instant reversal is not possible due to technical hitches or system glitches, the transaction must be manually corrected within 24 hours.
- For not-on-us transactions, where customers use another bank’s ATM, the maximum refund window has been set at 48 hours.
- ATM acquirers are also required to put in place mechanisms that automatically initiate refunds without waiting for customer complaints or prompts from the issuing bank.
- In addition, they must reconcile and refund all funds in their possession that belong to customers as a result of failed or partial cash disbursements.
