The House of Representatives on Tuesday expressed grave concern over the high rate of failed bank transactions which have reportedly led to low business investments and lending across the country.
Consequently, the House urged management of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to direct banks to work on their systems in mitigating failed transactions and immediately reverse failed transactions without the customer’s prompting.
The House also tasked apex bank to direct banks to reverse customers’ funds within the stipulated periods whether or not the customers lodge complaints.
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Adopting a motion on notice by Emmanuel Ukpong–Udo (YPP, Akwa Ibom), the House directed its Committees on Banking Regulations, Banking and other Ancillary Institutions, and Digital and Electronic Banking to liaise with the apex bank and Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to look into the issues and provide solutions.
Ukpong further said that the Central Bank of Nigeria has issued revising timelines for reversals and resolution of refunds, indicating that failed “On-Us” ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three days
According to him, “The House also notes that the Central Bank of Nigeria released a press release on June 8, 2020, revising timelines for reversals and resolution of refund complaints as follows: failed ‘On-Us’ ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three days, where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.”
It further provides that “refunds for failed ‘Not-on-US’ ATM transactions (where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATM) shall not exceed 4% hours from the current 3-5 days; resolution of disputed/ailed POS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five days.”
He added that the apex bank had also directed all the banks operating across the country, “To resolve the backlog of all ATM, POS, and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8.
According to him, “The House is worried that Nigeria’s financial sector is facing serious concerns due to persistent complaints of failed customer transactions, with over 69 per cent of complaints in July 2023 encompassing failed transactions.
“The House is cognizant of the rapid increase in numbers of failed banks and the magnitude of the problem which has reached an unprecedented level.
“The House is alarmed that the high rate of failed bank transactions is causing a decrease in business investments and lending across the country.”
The motion was unanimously adopted and referred to the relevant committee for further legislative action.