The House of Representatives has waded into mounting public outrage over escalating bank charges, warning that excessive fees could undermine Nigeria’s drive for financial inclusion.
Lawmakers said the growing deductions from customers’ accounts are discouraging savings and eroding trust in the banking sector – a trend that threatens to reverse years of progress toward expanding financial access.
In response, the House has directed its Committee on Banking Regulations to summon top officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and major commercial banks to explain the persistent rise in service fees, following a surge of public complaints about what many described as ‘incessant and unjustified deductions.’
During plenary, lawmakers expressed deep concern that opaque and excessive charges are steadily wiping out customers’ deposits, particularly among low-income earners, and could derail the CBN’s target of bringing 95 per cent of Nigerian adults into the formal financial system by 2025.
Figures from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) paint a worrying picture: more than 60 million Nigerians currently have active bank accounts, yet 38 per cent of adults remain financially excluded. Analysts partly blame the situation on multiple and hidden charges that make banking unattractive to many.
The CBN’s 2024 Annual Economic Report shows that banks raked in about N520 billion from service charges – including transfer fees, card maintenance, and SMS alerts – representing an 18 per cent jump from N440 billion in 2023. Transaction-related fees also rose by 22 per cent, driven by higher digital adoption and tariff reviews.
Similarly, the CBN’s Business Expectations Survey released in September 2025 ranked high bank charges (70.8 points) among the top three business challenges, alongside multiple taxation and poor infrastructure.
Financial inclusion experts argued that while banks face rising operational costs – from energy to cybersecurity and infrastructure – excessive charges could undo hard-won gains in financial deepening.
‘The more people lose confidence in the fairness of the system, the more they revert to informal savings,’ Dr. Uche Uwaleke, Professor of Finance and Capital Market Analyst, stated.
A recent survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA) adds weight to these concerns, revealing that 15 per cent of previously banked Nigerians closed or abandoned their accounts between 2022 and 2024, citing ‘unexplained deductions.’
With inflation and exchange rate volatility already squeezing household incomes, many now view bank charges as an unofficial tax on financial participation.
The House investigation is expected to compel the CBN and the banks to justify their fee structures and chart a path toward fairer, more transparent practices that protect consumers while ensuring the sustainability of the banking sector.
As Nigerians struggle to stay afloat amid economic headwinds, lawmakers say banking must remain a tool for inclusion – not exclusion.