How
often do you get mistreated by your bank for being ignorant of the rights you
have as a customer? I bet you’re trying to count and somewhere along the line,
you’ve lost count. Fortunately, this will be a thing of the past and like they
say, knowledge is power. Knowing and exercising your rights as a bank customer
will determine the level of service rendered to you.
According
to the Central Bank of Nigeria, customers of banks have certain rights and
duties guaranteed by law, regulation and conventions. I highlighted some here and as promised, this is the concluding part.
1. The Right to redress:
A bank must provide its customers a redress mechanism to express their displeasure or grievance. The mechanism must be free, accessible, transparent, timely and convenient. You have a right to efficient complaints management system through which you can lodge complaints against your bank. You also have the right to be kept abreast of resolution process, acknowledgement, feedback, updates, explanation and ultimately, basis of decision. Where you are not satisfied with the decision of your bank, you have the right of review either by your bank, the CBN or the court.
A bank must provide its customers a redress mechanism to express their displeasure or grievance. The mechanism must be free, accessible, transparent, timely and convenient. You have a right to efficient complaints management system through which you can lodge complaints against your bank. You also have the right to be kept abreast of resolution process, acknowledgement, feedback, updates, explanation and ultimately, basis of decision. Where you are not satisfied with the decision of your bank, you have the right of review either by your bank, the CBN or the court.
2. The Right to good service:
All customers have a right
to value for their money which involves the right to be treated with respect
and dignity by banks and their representatives. The hallmark of banking is
customer satisfaction and as such your bank would have failed if it was unable
to offer quality and value-adding banking services to you as a customer. Part
of this right is that your bank must provide appropriate response to your needs
and complaints.
3. The Right to equality:
This right requires that a
customer is treated equally as other customers regardless of differences in
financial standing/deposit balance, physical ability, age, gender, ethnicity,
or creed. It is wrong for a bank to offer preferential treatment to some
customers at the expense of other similar kind of customers. However, banks may
decide to differentiate customers on account of the nature of products
customers purchase or subscribe to. In this case, some customers may benefit
from certain privileges which are features of specific products or services.
4. The Right to free monthly
statement of account:
The provision of the Revised
Guide to Bank Charges is that banks are required to provide their customers
free statement of account on a monthly basis. This means that you have a right
to get your monthly statement of account from your bank at no cost. It should
be noted, however, that the Guide provides that any special request attracts a fee
of N50 per page.
Although the foregoing rights of bank customers are
not exhaustive, they nevertheless, represent the core rights. It is necessary
to stress that these rights are often unconditional even though there are
instances where customers can only lay claim to their rights if they discharge
their duties.
I’ll be sharing some of your duties as a bank customer soon but
until then stay informed.
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