CBN issues new guidelines mandating banks to notify customers on all transactions

New guidelines issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
demand all commercial banks and financial institutions to promptly
notify customers on all transactions on their accounts as part of
their contractual obligations.

The new guidelines on Disclosure and Transparency issued last
Thursday in Abuja said financial institutions must notify their
customers about the amount and date of the transaction as well as
the account balance.

Besides, the transaction narrations in account statements must
state clearly the nature of the transaction, date, payer or payee,
transaction channel and location.

The guidelines include details on how financial institutions
would henceforth handle general information to their customers as
they relate to advertisement, pre-contractual and contractual
disclosures, credit facilities, deposits,

This is pursuant to the powers conferred on the CBN by Sections
2 (d) and 33 (1) (b) of the CBN Act, 2007 (as amended) and Section
57 (2) of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act [BOFIA] of
2007, as amended.

The guidelines were contained in the Consumer Protection
Framework (CPF) for financial institutions regulated by the
CBN.

The affected financial institutions include commercial banks,
merchant banks, specialized banks, micro-finance banks, development
finance institutions, finance companies, bureaux-de-change, and
primary mortgage banks.

Others credit bureaux, mobile money operators, payment service
banks, switching companies, payment solution service providers,
payment terminal service providers, non-bank acquirer, super agents
and mobile money operators.

The CBN said the documents is to protect consumers against the
provision of inadequate, misleading or failure to disclose material
and relevant information and generally guard against lack of
transparency by Financial Institutions in their dealings with
consumers

The guidelines are to ensure consumers provided with all
material and relevant information regarding their business
relationship in a clear and transparent manner.

On contractual disclosures, the new guidelines demand that any
proposed and final contract must contain information on key
features, risks of the financial product or service, tenor of the
contract as well as nature, amount and method of calculation of any
interest, fee or charge and when it is payable.

Other details include any changes that may be made to the
contract terms, and how the consumer will be informed of such
changes; information on how to lodge a complaint to the financial
institution and how to escalate complaint to the CBN where
necessary.

Also, the consumer must be provided with monthly statements of
account for all products and account types, including loan
accounts, special accounts and other associated accounts at no cost
to the consumer.

In addition, the customer are entitled to account balances on
request, while the financial institutions are obliged to give prior
notice of variation in interest rates to customers.

The notification to the customers on variation, the CBN said,
must state the reason for the variation, commencement date, the
revised repayment schedule and the alternatives available such as
concession, restructuring, re-negotiation, opt-out or termination
of the contract.

Any variation in interest or any other rate, the CBN guidelines
said, shall only be implemented after five working days of the
notice.

On credit facilities, the new guidelines said any contract for
credit must state the name and contact details of borrower, type
and purpose of credit, collateral pledged and its estimated value,
the amount of credit or applicable credit limit as well as
conditions precedent to facility drawdown.

The information to be issued by the financial institution to the
customers also stipulated the debt recovery process, moratorium,
insurance requirements, details of lending fees, and variable rate
information.

The customer information should also include repayment schedule
for instalment loans, early liquidation terms, total cost of the
credit, and applicable rate of interest or fee relating to late
payment or default.

Henceforth, the banks are expected to conspicuously display in
their banking halls and publish on their websites and internet
banking platforms, accurate and up to date information on all their
products.

These include prime and maximum lending rates, deposit rates,
foreign exchange rates of currencies.

On advertisement, the content of all advertisements and
promotional materials must be factual and unambiguous, expressed in
clear and simple language and shall not be offensive, misleading,
deceptive, injurious, or exaggerate the benefits of the products or
services being advertised.

Unsolicited advertisements through emails, text messages, voice
calls and other channels sent by or on behalf of a Financial
Institution shall be at no cost to the consumer and shall contain
an opt-out provision for future advertisements.

Failure to comply with the guidelines, the CBN said, shall
attract regulatory sanctions provided for by the CBN Act, the
BOFIA, other laws and regulations.

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Civil Society condemns attacks, clampdown, arbitrary
arrest, detention

Since return of democracy in 1999 and particularly following the
2019 general elections, the citizens were very hopefully of renewed
vigor in addressing the myriad of problems bedeviling the country
ranging from intensification of insecurity, the deepening of
corruption, growing poverty and unemployment as well as flagrant
and frequent disrespect of the rule of law.

Nigerians believed that the Administration which received the
mandate of Nigerians for another four-year term would reciprocate
the people’s goodwill and trust; and commit itself to expand the
civic space and facilitating citizen’s engagement in an expanding
democratic space.
We, the undersigned civil society organisations have observed with
great concern and indeed, alarm, massive violation of the rights of
citizens, including the right to protest, concerted attacks of
media organisations, press freedom and civil society
organisations:

1. Media harassment and intimidation

The Nigerian mass media has become a regular focus of illegal
attacks by the security agencies. Unlawful arrest and detention of
journalists have become a growing phenomenon, and our great
tradition of a free press and freedom of expression is under severe
stress.

2. Constant Harassment of Human Rights and Anti-corruption Civil
Society Organisations

The Nigeria state is currently engaged in continuous attacks on
human rights and anti-corruption civil society organisations and
activists in the country. An instance is the unfair attack on
Amnesty International Nigeria by some security agencies and
unscrupulous agents using hoodlums and miscreants threatening
Amnesty International Nigeria to vacate the country. Trying to
force a legal organisation that has all Nigeria citizens to vacate
and leave the country without an attempt by security agencies to
protect their rights is unacceptable.

3. The Unlawful ban on protest

We are gravely concerned over the unlawful statement issued by
the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force threatening to
prosecute the organisers of the peaceful rallies in Nigeria. There
are existing provisions of law and judicial authorities recognising
the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people to non-violently
convene and participate in rallies, demonstration and protest
marches. Fundamentally, the provision of the 1999 constitution of
Nigeria as amended that “Every person shall be entitled to assemble
freely and associate with other persons…” is sacrosanct and must be
protected.

We therefore, call for restrained of arbitrary misuse of power
against the citizens for a non-violent protest, demonstration to
express their views.

We demand immediate release of all activists who are in
detention for exercising their fundamental rights.

We call on security agencies and government officials to ensure
total compliance to the rule of law as provided for in our legal
system.

We also call on government to respect and allow the flourishing
of civil space for meaningful contribution to democratic governance
in Nigeria.

We further call on government to be more accountable and
responsive to the citizenry they were elected to serve for good
governance.

Signed:

SIGNED BY:

1. Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)
2. Centre for Democratic Research and Training (CRDDERT)
3. Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC)
4. Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource
Centre)
5. Public Interest Lawyers League (PILL)
6. Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
7. Partners for West Africa – Nigeria
8. Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD)
9. Socio-Economic Right and Accountability Project (SERAP)
10. Falana Falana Chambers
11. CLEEN Foundation
12. International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI)
13. Zero-Corruption Coalition (ZCC)
14. Accountability Maternal New-born and Child Health in Nigeria
(AMHiN)
15. Partners on Electoral Reform
16. State of the Union (SOTU)
17. African Centre for Media and Information Literacy
(AFRICMIL)
18. National Procurement Watch Platform
19. Say NO Campaign—Nigeria
20. Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civil Education
(CHRICED)
21. Social Action
22. International Press Centre
23. WANGONET
24. Community Action for Popular Participation
25. Borno Coalition for Democracy and Progress (BOCODEP)
26. Global Rights
27. Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC}
28. Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law
29. Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE)
30. Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth & Advancement
(YIAGA)
31 Tax Justice Nigeria
32. Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, Nigeria
33. Women In Nigeria
34. African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development
(Centre LSD)
35. Centre for Social Justice
36. HURIDAC
37. Protest to Power
38. Network on Police Reform in Nigeria(NOPRIN Foundation)
39. Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre(RULAAC)
40. Women Advocate Research And Documentation Centre
41. Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection
Alternative(WRAPA)
42. Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
43. Sesor Empowerment Foundation
44. Dorothy Njemanze Foundation
45. Echoes of Women in Africa Initiatives (ECOWA)
46. Hadis Foundation
47. Education As a Vaccine Against Women
48.Baobab for Women’s Human Rights
49.Nigerian Feminist Forum
50.Alliances for Africa
51. Space for Change