Senate Orders CBN To Cancel ATM Card Maintenance Fee

– The CBN has been ordered to suspend deduction of card maintenance fee

– The Senate called on its banking committee to investigate the deduction in comparison with what takes place in other country

– It described the charges as excessive

The Senate has passed a resolution calling on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the deduction of card maintenance fee from customers’ accounts by banks.

The resolution was passed on Wednesday, October 17, after a motion by Senator Gbenga Ashafa of the All Progressives Congress.

The Senate also called on commercial banks operating in the country to configure their machines to dispense up to N40,000 per withdrawal.

The Senate president, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, said:-

“This is a motion that affects the lives of every Nigerian — irrespective of what part of the country you come from or whatever political affiliation you might have.

This is why we are here: to always defend and protect the interests of the Nigerian people.

“This Senate has done this many times before; when there was a hike in the mobile telecommunication data charges, we intervened and put an end to that.

When there were discrepancies and increases in electricity prices, we also took action. We have done this on a number of similar cases. Therefore, on this, I want us to take effective resolutions.”

“The common man is also a victim,” said Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, “Banks declare profits and you wonder where these profits are coming from — it’s from the sweat of the common man. Let us come up with a law that puts banks on their toes.”

“It won’t be out of place to institute a committee that will call on the CBN to tell us what these charges are about. The Senate by fiat should abolish charges if they can’t be verified,” said Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah.

“The Senate must take a serious stand on this issue. Nigerians are really suffering. The banking system is not encouraging. I had an issue, took it to the bank and was refunded but how many Nigerians can do this? The issue needs to be addressed,” stated Senator Kabiru Gaya.

“For me, this is a major step that we are taking. This is because I introduced the first ATM machine that came into Nigeria over 25-years ago,” the Senate president, Saraki told his colleagues, “Now, after 25-years, we should have grown out of these excessive charges and moved on.

So, I believe that this something that we must address to create an environment that protects all Nigerians, because these kind of charges in this economy affects everyone.”