Nigerians Must Be Protected From Secret Bank Charges – Femi Gbajabiamila

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has come out to express concern over the way Deposit Money Banks charge account holders indiscriminately.

The Speaker recently revealed this when the board and management of Standard Chartered Bank, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Mr Lamin Manjang.

According to him, apart from known charges, financial institutions should not be charging customers secretly, and the lawmakers will definitely be looking into it.

He added that even if it is the job of he and his colleagues to ensure buinesses aren’t killed, it is also their job to protect Nigerians.

His words, “We have issues that come up in your industry, so this visit is a welcome development. One of the issues at stake is the rate at which banks charge customers. There are claims that banks have hidden charges. This has come up a couple of times on the floor of the House. This is something that we should look into.”

“You have corporations in the UK and other parts of the world. What obtains here in banking, in terms of marketing – sending people to go and knock at people’s offices and all that; does it obtain in those places? If it doesn’t obtain in those countries, it is not international best practice; why should it obtain here?”

“We are here to support you. Whatever we need to do, we should do it to support you. We need to know the kind of marketing that takes place. Is it digital marketing?”

“We also have to set realistic targets for the marketers. We have the responsibility to protect Nigerians, and we also have the responsibility not to kill your business. So, it is a delicate situation.”