https://www.nairaland.com/7332167/angry-uba-customer-grills-bank

I saw this thread yesterday and read the comments most Nairalanders gave and thought it useful to educate us on some of the bank charges, but first…

WHY BANK CHARGES?

Banks are profit making organizations and therefore need revenue to cover their costs and still have enough to distribute as dividends to their shareholders. Bank charges are one of the ways that banks get revenue.

Some of the costs that banks typically incur , but not limited to, are:

Labour cost: Bankers are well paid because of the long hours they spend on the job and of course, to dissuade them from committing fraud.

Running costs: Banks spend heavily on running costs, particularly power generation. The cost of diesel has skyrocketed in the last few months with its attendant consequence on the books of banks. Other running costs include Security, Insurance and payment for Network services (believe me, the cost of this is extremely high) .

Maintenance cost: this is another area banks spend heavily. When u enter inside a Nigerian bank and the whole place is well- lit, smells nice and everything in pristine condition, banks spend heavily on these to make them possible. In addition, banks have to maintain the ATMs, Security doors, Vehicles, Generating sets, telecommunication masts and of course , the buildings. All these come at significant costs.

Government levies: Believe me, each branch of any Nigerian bank pays as high as Four Million Naira Per annum in various government Levies.

These are some of the cost banks incur and will have to cover thru revenue hence bank charges.

SOME COMMON BANK CHARGES

1 VAT/ WHT.
2. Account maintenance charges.
3. SMS alert / USSD charges.
4. Transfer charges.
5. Postal STAMP DUTY /Electronic Money Transfer Levy.
6.CARD issuance charges.
7.CARD Maintenance Charges.

VAT/ WHT

Value added Tax and Witholding Tax, these are technically not bank charges but statutory deductions has dictated by the laws of the land. They are actually taxes on some services provided by the bank.
For instance, if u apply for an ATM card, then a VAT of 7.5% is applied on the cost. Most banks charge N1000 for ATM card issuance, add 7.5% to that and you arrive at N1,075.
Witholding tax on the other hand applies to interests received on your account. WHT rate is 10%.

ACCOUNT MAINTENANCE CHARGE: Formerly know as COT charges, this charge typically applies to Current accounts only. The charge is 1/mille or 0.1%. What this means is that a service charge of 0.1% will be applied to all debits you made in your account for a particular month.

SMS ALERT/ USSD Charges: Now, this is one of the most contentious charges. The SMS charge is N4 per transaction but most banks don’t deduct this immediately, they deduct at the end of the month or Quarter by which time, the cost would have accumulated thereby leaving the customer confused.

USSD on the other hand is different from SMS alert Charges. “This charge is the USSD session charged borne by customers that use their bank's USSD service and to be Remitted to Telcos (MTN, AIRTEL GLO OR 9MOBILE) depending on what network the customer's line belongs to.

The USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) is a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) protocol that is used to send text messages. USSD is similar to Short Message Service (SMS). ... This means USSD enables two-way communication of information, as long as the communication line stays open.

An integration is done between banks and Telcos to host their banking services using the USSD platform hence, the need for telcos to charge N6.98 for each session (max 120 seconds) used by bank customers already enrolled on their ussd short code service to access financial services.

The cost was formerly borne by customers using their airtime to dial USSD codes and carry out banking functions, then later borne by banks, until last year when some Banks failed to remit session fees to Telcos leading to a rift between banks and MNOs.

It took the intervention of CBN and NCC for an agreement to be reached, giving birth to charging customers an agreed fee of N6.98 per session for onward remittance to the telcos.

Most banks have switched to the automated session fee service where customers are automatically debited N6.98 as soon as their bank's session code is dialed. Some banks debit the lump sum once a month while some allow the system debit instantaneously.

The USSD is popular with bank customers that use feature phones since they cannot use the bank apps. However, due to the convenience of the USSD service for banking activities, even people with smartphones have been endeared to using their banks' short strings.

For you to be charged this fee, you had already consented to being charged “ Smartgeek https://www.nairaland.com/6981152/what-kind-bank-charge/1#110143459

Some banks do take this charge Monthly or quarterly thereby making it substantial.

Kindly note that 2 or more service charges can apply to a single transaction. For instance, if u use USSD to transfer to another bank, N6.98K USSD charge will apply, N10.75 FIP charge will apply and if u get alert for that, N4.00 SMS charge will apply.

TRANSFER CHARGES: This is a charge you pay when transferring between two different banks and the charges range between N10.00 to N270 depending on the amount being transferred.


POSTAL STAMP DUTY /ELECTRONIC MONEY TRANSFER LEVY: The Electronic Money Transfer Levy which kicked off on January 1, is contained in the new Finance Act 2020 signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari along with the 2021 Appropriation Act.

The new law stipulates the payment of N50 levy on every electronic money transfer deposited in any bank or financial institution on any account on the sum of N10,000 or more.
This means for every N10,000+ transferred into your account thru electronic means, you are charges N50.00. This is a Government levy and this goes straight to the Government.

CARD ISSUANCE FEE: this is the cost of obtaining and ATM card and it’s usually N1,000 for most banks( Naira denominated cards).
As noted above, a VAT of 7.5% is added bringing the total cost to N1,075.

CARD MAINTENANCE CHARGES: This is usually charged at N50/ QTR.

These are basically the most common bank charges and customers need to keep themselves inform of these charges and the dynamics surrounding them.

As a rule of thumb, if you suspect you are being over-charges, get a statement of your account (beware, this comes at a charge to) divide the total charge by the service cost and count the number of service provided on your statement, all things being equal, it must add up.

For example, if the USSD service charge for a month is N460.68k, divide that by the unit cost which is N6.98K and u get 66 transactions. Now count the number of USSD transactions in your statement of account for the period, it should add up to 66.

UNAUTHORIZED WITHDRAWALS: this is another contentious area between the banks and their customers. Some of the major complaints area include:


DISPENSE ERROR: this occurs when a customer uses alternate channels and was debited even though the payment was unsuccessful. When this happens, the fault may not entirely be your bank’s , It could be problems with the switch or the receiving bank. And when you complain in your bank, kindly note that your bank can only make complaints on your behalf, it is up to the other party to give resolution.
I will always advice that, when using alternative channels, always prioritize the channels of your bank especially in non-emergency situations. This is because, it is relative easier to get refund when the transaction takes place within your bank’s ecosystem than when a third party is involved.

UNAUTHORIZED RECHARGE: This usually happens when a phone number previously linked to your account has been allocated to another customer by your network provider. The new user can still make transactions from your account with the phone number because it is still linked to your account. To guard against this, always do a phone number update whenever you lose your phone line.

UNAUTHORIZED DEBITS: this happens when our phone number or ATM card is used to make transactions on our accounts without our consent. We need to guard our phones and our ATM cards jealously.

Even though we all hate to admit, but the truth is some of us like showing off. Some of us, when our friends or girlfriends ask for top up on their accounts or line, instead of transferring to them, we hand them over the phone to make the transfer themselves. Love it or hate it, this is show off! Because after making the transfers, your friend or girlfriend gets to see your balance thru the alert or APP. Now, like you have heard before, some of your friends actually hate you and are very envious of you. These “friends” find a way of harvesting your cards details and use behind you. Some snap your card front and back and use to make online transactions even though the card is still physically with you.

I will always advise that, when you get a new ATM card, snap it front and back and lock it in your vault APP, thereafter, blot out the four digits in the middle of your card number and the Security at the back. That way, nobody will be able to make unauthorized use of your card even when it gets lost. And if you need to make online transactions, you can always call up the picture you snapped.

Lalasticlala
Mynd44

Please move to front page and let people be informed.