The House of Representatives has issued a directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria to prevent commercial banks from holding onto customer funds that have been reversed for a longer period than specified by the apex bank.
This decision was made after a motion titled, “The need to restrict commercial banks from holding funds reversal beyond the date prescribed by the Central Bank of Nigeria” was adopted by the House.
The motion was presented by Emmanuel Ukpong-Udo, a member representing Ikono/Ini Federal Constituency, Akwa Ibom State.
The lawmaker reminded the House that on June 8, 2020, the CBN released a statement outlining timelines for the resolution and reversal of refund complaints, including failed ATM transactions and disputed/failed POS or web transactions.
The statement stated that failed “On-Us” ATM transactions would be instantly reversed, while refunds for failed “Not-on-US” ATM transactions would be completed within 4 hours.
Additionally, the resolution of disputed/failed POS or web transactions should be completed within 72 hours.
The House expressed concerns about the high number of failed bank transactions, which accounted for 69% of complaints in July 2023.
They also noted that this issue has negatively impacted the financial sector and has caused a decrease in business investments and lending across the country.
Therefore, the House urged the CBN to direct banks to improve their systems to prevent failed transactions without the need for customers to intervene.
