The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for its draft guidelines mandating banks to refund customers for failed Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions within 48 hours.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, the FCCPC’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ondaje Ijagwu, said the draft guideline followed the Consumer Complaints Data Report published by the commission in September.
Ijagwu quoted the FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman, Mr. Tunji Bello, as describing the CBN proposal as a timely and long-awaited correction to a persistent consumer challenge.
Bello noted that the guideline, even at the draft stage, demonstrated stronger alignment between regulatory agencies committed to consumer protection.
“It is consistent with what the FCCPC has been advocating, given the number of complaints we receive about failed transactions.
We commend the CBN for this decisive step, which will ease the burden on consumers and rebuild trust in financial services,” he said.
Bello added that the proposed directive aligns with the provisions of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA) 2018, particularly Sections 17(g), (h), (l), (s), and (t).
According to him, those sections mandate the elimination of unfair practices, the promotion of fair dealings, resolution of consumer complaints, and protection of consumer interests across all sectors.
He said the timely adoption of the guidelines would reinforce accountability within the banking sector and demonstrate a shared regulatory commitment to fairness, efficiency, and consumer confidence.
“To make the policy effective, the FCCPC will work with the CBN to establish systems for monitoring compliance and ensuring timely redress when banks fail to meet the 48-hour deadline.
Closer collaboration among regulators will lead to faster resolutions, prevent recurrences, and strengthen consumer confidence in Nigeria’s growing digital economy,” he added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CBN, in the draft guideline released on Oct. 9, directed banks to provide instant refunds for failed ATM transactions as part of efforts to strengthen consumer protection, improve service reliability, and enhance accountability in the financial system.
Under the proposed framework, where a customer uses their own bank’s ATM and the transaction fails, the reversal must be done instantly.
However, if instant reversal is not possible due to technical issues, the transaction must be manually corrected within 24 hours.
For “not-on-us” transactions — when a customer uses another bank’s ATM — the maximum refund window is set at 48 hours.
