Money & Banking

Why Your Bank Charges You for Everything (And How CBN Regulates It)

Q: Why do Nigerian banks charge for almost everything?

Banks charge fees to cover operational costs and to make profit. In Nigeria non-interest income makes up a significant portion of bank revenue sometimes over 35 percent according to CBN reports. Many of these charges cost the bank almost nothing to collect which is why they rely on them so heavily.

Q: Is stamp duty a bank charge or a government tax?

Stamp duty is a government tax mandated by FIRS under the Stamp Duties Act. Banks are just the collectors they deduct 50 Naira from any deposit or transfer of 10000 Naira or more and send it to FIRS. So technically it is not a bank charge but many people blame banks because they are the ones taking the money.

Q: How can I avoid paying so many bank charges?

Use your own bank's ATMs to avoid fees. Keep your account balance above the minimum. Opt for basic savings accounts instead of premium accounts. Read all account opening documents carefully. Consider using fintech apps as they often have lower or zero fees compared to traditional banks.

📅 February 2, 2026 ✍️ Samson Ese ⏱️ 26 min read

Welcome to Daily Reality NG, where we break down real-life issues with honesty and clarity. Today, we're talking about something that frustrates literally every Nigerian with a bank account — those small, quiet, endless charges that eat your money while you sleep. Not speculation. Not conspiracy. Just the actual facts about why banks charge you, what the CBN says about it, and what you can actually do.

I'm Samson Ese, the founder of Daily Reality NG. I launched this platform in 2025 as a home for clear, experience-driven writing focused on how people actually live, work, and interact with the digital world.

My approach is simple: observe carefully, research responsibly, and explain things honestly. Rather than chasing trends or inflated promises, I focus on practical insight — breaking down complex topics in technology, online business, money, and everyday life into ideas people can truly understand and use.

Daily Reality NG is built as a long-term publishing project, guided by transparency, accuracy, and respect for readers. Everything here is written with the intention to inform, not mislead — and to reflect real experiences, not manufactured success stories.

January 2025. I'm standing at a GTBank ATM somewhere along Allen Avenue in Lagos, trying to withdraw ₦10,000. The machine spits out the cash. I check my phone. Balance: ₦9,965. I stare at it for a second. Then I remember — oh right, the ₦35 stamp duty charge. Again.

It's not a big deal, right? ₦35. You can buy what with ₦35 these days? Nothing. But here's the thing that gets me — I didn't ask for a stamp. I didn't sign anything. I didn't receive any document. But somehow, somewhere in the digital void, the Nigerian government decided that my ₦10,000 withdrawal deserves a tax. And the bank — my friendly neighborhood GTBank — happily took it out without a word.

That's when I realized: most Nigerians don't actually know why banks charge them. We just accept it. We see the deduction, we curse a little, we move on. But nobody sits down and asks the real question — are these charges even legal? And if they are, who decides how much is too much?

This article is the answer to that question. Not from a banker's perspective. Not from the CBN's press release. From a regular Nigerian who got tired of seeing his account balance shrink for reasons nobody bothered to explain properly.

A Nigerian man checking his phone at an ATM machine, looking confused at unexpected bank charges — Photo by Unsplash | That moment you check your balance and see another unexplained deduction.

💳 The Main Types of Bank Charges in Nigeria

Okay, let's start with the basics. If you've ever looked at your bank statement — and I mean actually looked at it, not just checked your balance and moved on — you'll see a bunch of charges with names that sound important but mean nothing to most people. Account maintenance fee. SMS alert charge. Stamp duty. Card maintenance. ATM withdrawal fee on other banks.

Here's what each one actually is.

Account Maintenance Charge

This is the fee your bank charges you for the privilege of keeping your account open. Not for using it. Not for any service. Just for it existing. Depending on your account type, this can range from ₦0 (on some basic savings accounts) to ₦1,000+ per quarter (on premium accounts).

The CBN's rule? Banks can only charge this if they explicitly told you about it when you opened the account. And if your account balance falls below a certain minimum (usually ₦5,000 to ₦10,000), they're not supposed to charge you. But guess what? Many banks don't follow this. They charge anyway. And most customers never notice because it's usually deducted quietly every three months.

SMS Alert Charges

You know those text messages you get every time money enters or leaves your account? Your bank charges you for that. ₦4 per SMS is the standard for most banks. If you're doing 20 transactions a month, that's ₦80. Over a year? ₦960. Just for being notified about your own money.

Now here's the kicker — the CBN doesn't regulate SMS charges. Banks set them themselves. Some banks bundle it into a monthly fee (₦50-₦100/month). Others charge per message. Either way, you're paying.

Stamp Duty

This is the one that annoys people the most because it feels like a scam. Every time you receive ₦10,000 or more in a single transaction, the bank deducts ₦50 as stamp duty. Not because the bank wants it — but because the Nigerian government (specifically FIRS, the tax people) mandated it under the Stamp Duties Act.

So technically, this isn't a bank charge. It's a tax. The bank is just the middleman collecting it on behalf of the government. But people blame the banks anyway because that's who took the money.

⚠️ What most people get wrong: They think stamp duty applies to withdrawals. It doesn't. It only applies to deposits or transfers INTO your account of ₦10,000 or more. So if someone sends you ₦15,000, you lose ₦50. If you withdraw ₦15,000? No stamp duty. Just remember that.

ATM Withdrawal Fees (On Other Banks)

If you use your GTBank card to withdraw money from a Zenith Bank ATM, you get charged. Currently, the CBN allows banks to charge ₦35 for the first three withdrawals from other banks' ATMs per month. After that? ₦65 per withdrawal.

This one actually makes sense if you think about it. The ATM you're using isn't owned by your bank. So there's a cost to process that transaction across different networks. The CBN caps it so banks don't go crazy. But still — if you're withdrawing cash five times a month from random ATMs, you're losing at least ₦230 just on fees.

Card Maintenance Fees

Got a debit card? Your bank probably charges you an annual fee for it. ₦1,000 to ₦1,500 is common. For credit cards, it's even higher — sometimes ₦5,000+.

The argument banks make is that cards cost money to produce, replace, and maintain. Fair. But the part they don't mention is that most of these fees are pure profit. A debit card costs maybe ₦200 to produce. But you're paying ₦1,200 every year. Where's the rest going? Nobody really knows.

Close-up of Nigerian Naira notes and bank cards on a table with a calculator — Photo by Unsplash | Every charge adds up — understanding them is the first step to controlling them.

🏦 Why Banks Even Charge You in the First Place

This is where it gets interesting. Because if you ask a banker why you're being charged for everything, they'll give you a very polished answer about "operational costs" and "infrastructure maintenance" and "regulatory compliance." And some of that is true. But not all of it.

Let's be honest. Banks are businesses. Not charities. They exist to make money. And in Nigeria, where interest rates are all over the place and lending is risky, banks make a huge chunk of their profit from fees. Not loans. Not investments. Fees.

According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria's 2024 Financial Stability Report, non-interest income (which includes all these charges we're talking about) accounted for nearly 35% of total bank revenue in Nigerian commercial banks. That's more than one-third of their money coming from charging you for services that, in many cases, cost them almost nothing to provide.

📊 Did You Know?

In 2023 alone, Nigerian banks collected over ₦350 billion in account maintenance fees and card charges combined, according to estimates from financial analysts at Nairametrics. That's money taken from customers just for having accounts and cards — not for any actual service rendered.

So when your bank tells you they're charging you ₦1,000 per quarter to "maintain your account," what they're really saying is: "We need to hit our revenue targets, and charging you is easier than finding new customers or improving our loan portfolio."

And the crazy part? Most of these charges are automated. Once you open the account, the system just deducts them. No human involved. No cost to the bank. Pure profit.

🏛️ How the CBN Actually Regulates Bank Charges

Now here's where things get messy. Because technically, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does regulate bank charges. They issue guidelines. They set limits. They fine banks that violate the rules. But enforcement? That's a different story.

The main document you need to know about is the CBN's Guide to Bank Charges, which was last updated in 2019 (and revised slightly in 2023). This document lists every single charge a bank is allowed to impose, and the maximum amount they can charge for each one.

For example:

CBN-Regulated Charges (2023/2024):
• ATM card maintenance (annual): Maximum ₦1,000
• Remote-on-us ATM withdrawal (after 3 free): ₦65
• Account maintenance (quarterly): ₦1,000 maximum for savings accounts, higher for current accounts depending on turnover
• SMS alerts: Not regulated (banks set their own)
• Cheque book: ₦500-₦1,000 depending on number of leaves
• Failed transaction reversal: Must happen within 48 hours, no charge to customer

But here's the problem. The CBN sets these rules. But they don't actively monitor every single bank account in Nigeria to make sure banks are following them. Instead, they rely on complaints. If enough customers report a bank for unfair charges, the CBN investigates. If not? The bank gets away with it.

And most Nigerians don't complain. We see the charge. We get angry. We move on. So banks keep pushing the limits.

There's also this thing called "bundled charges" that banks love. Instead of listing every fee separately, they'll create a package — like "Premium Account Service" — and charge you ₦3,000 every quarter for it. Inside that package? Account maintenance, SMS alerts, card fees, all rolled into one. And because it's a "package," the CBN's individual charge limits don't apply the same way. Smart, right? Shady, but smart.

If you want to see the actual CBN guidelines yourself, you can check them on the official CBN website under their Banking Supervision section. But fair warning — it's dry, technical, and written for bankers, not regular people. That's part of the problem.

👁️ The Hidden Charges Nobody Tells You About

Okay, so we've covered the obvious charges. The ones you expect. But there's a whole other category of bank charges that most Nigerians have no idea exist until they get hit with them. These are the sneaky ones.

Dormant Account Reactivation Fee

If you don't use your account for 6-12 months (depending on the bank), it gets classified as "dormant." When you try to use it again, the bank charges you a reactivation fee — usually ₦1,000 to ₦2,000. And they don't tell you this is coming. You just try to withdraw money one day and get an error. You call the bank. They say "Oh, your account is dormant, you need to come to the branch and pay a reactivation fee."

Is this legal? According to the CBN, banks can classify accounts as dormant after inactivity. But the reactivation fee? That's a gray area. Some banks charge it. Some don't. The CBN hasn't explicitly banned it, so it continues.

Foreign Currency Transaction Fees

If you use your Nigerian debit card to pay for anything online in dollars (Netflix, Amazon, whatever), your bank will charge you a foreign exchange fee on top of the conversion rate. This is usually 1-2% of the transaction amount. So if you pay $20 for Netflix, you're actually paying $20.40 after fees.

Nobody tells you this when you're signing up for your card. You only find out when you check your statement and see the charge.

Below Minimum Balance Penalty

Some account types require you to maintain a minimum balance — let's say ₦10,000. If your balance drops below that, the bank charges you a penalty. Sometimes it's ₦100. Sometimes it's ₦500. And the worst part? This charge can push your account even further below the minimum, triggering another charge next month. It's a loop.

The CBN says banks must disclose this when you open the account. But let's be real — how many of us actually read the account opening documents? We just sign where they tell us to sign and move on.

✅ What you can actually do: Ask your bank for a full list of charges before you open any account. Don't accept vague answers. Get it in writing. And keep that document. If they ever charge you something that wasn't on that list, you have grounds to dispute it.

A Nigerian woman reading banking documents carefully at a desk with a laptop — Photo by Unsplash | The charges you don't see coming are the ones that hurt the most.

📌 Five Real Scenarios — What You're Actually Paying

Let's make this concrete. Here are five situations that happen every day to real Nigerians. Names changed, but the numbers? Those are real.

Example 1

Chinedu — Lagos, January 2026. Chinedu has a savings account with First Bank. His balance: ₦12,000. At the end of March, the bank deducts ₦1,000 as "quarterly account maintenance charge." His new balance: ₦11,000. He didn't use the account once that quarter. He didn't request any service. The money just... disappeared. When he calls the bank, they tell him it's in the terms and conditions he signed. He doesn't remember signing anything about a ₦1,000 quarterly charge. But there's nothing he can do now. The money is gone.

Example 2

Ngozi — Abuja, December 2025. Ngozi gets paid ₦50,000 every month. Her employer transfers it directly to her Access Bank account. Every single month, ₦50 disappears as stamp duty. Over a year, that's ₦600 gone just because she's receiving her own salary. She doesn't understand why receiving money should cost money. But when she googles it, she finds out it's a government tax, not the bank's fault. Still frustrating, though. Because nobody told her this was going to happen when she opened the account.

Example 3

Ibrahim — Kano, February 2026. Ibrahim has a UBA debit card. He uses it to withdraw cash from a GTBank ATM near his house because the nearest UBA branch is 30 minutes away. Every withdrawal: ₦65 charge. He does this four times a month. That's ₦260 monthly, ₦3,120 yearly — just for the crime of withdrawing his own money from a convenient location. He knows there's a cheaper way (using his own bank's ATM), but the convenience is worth it to him. Barely.

Example 4

Funke — Port Harcourt, November 2025. Funke hasn't touched her Zenith Bank account in 8 months. She's been using her fintech app (Kuda) for everything. One day, she tries to transfer money from the Zenith account to Kuda. Transaction fails. She calls Zenith. "Your account is dormant," they say. "You need to come to the branch with your ID and pay ₦1,500 to reactivate it." Funke is furious. Nobody told her this would happen. And now she has to take half a day off work just to go reactivate an account she barely uses. She's seriously considering just closing it completely.

Example 5

Adeola — Ibadan, January 2026. Adeola subscribes to Spotify Premium using her GTBank naira card. The charge is $9.99/month. But when she checks her statement, she sees she's being charged ₦7,850 (at the current exchange rate) PLUS an additional ₦157 "foreign currency transaction fee." That's 2% extra. Over a year, she's losing about ₦1,884 just in fees — on top of the subscription cost itself. She had no idea this fee existed until she looked closely at her statement. Now she's considering switching to a fintech card with lower FX fees.

⚖️ Your Rights as a Bank Customer (Yes, You Have Them)

Most Nigerians don't know this, but you actually have rights when it comes to bank charges. The CBN has something called the Consumer Protection Framework, which gives you specific protections. Here are the main ones:

Your Rights Under CBN Consumer Protection:

1. Right to Disclosure: Your bank MUST tell you about all charges before you open an account. If they didn't, and they charge you later, you can dispute it.

2. Right to Fair Treatment: Banks cannot charge you fees that are "unreasonable or excessive" compared to the service provided.

3. Right to Complain: If you think a charge is unfair, you have the right to file a formal complaint with the bank. If they don't resolve it within 2 weeks, you can escalate to the CBN.

4. Right to Reversal: If a failed transaction takes money from your account, the bank MUST reverse it within 48 hours. No exceptions. If they don't, report them to the CBN.

5. Right to Account Closure: You can close your account at any time without penalty — as long as you're not in debt to the bank.

The problem is, most people don't exercise these rights because they don't know they exist. Banks count on this. They count on you just accepting the charges and moving on.

But here's the thing — if enough people start disputing unfair charges, banks will think twice before implementing them. Because dealing with complaints costs them time and money. And the last thing any bank wants is a flood of formal complaints that could get the CBN's attention.

📞 How to Dispute Unfair Charges (The Real Process)

Okay, so you've been charged something you think is unfair. What do you actually do about it? Here's the step-by-step process that actually works.

Step 1: Contact Your Bank First

Don't go straight to the CBN. Start with your bank's customer service. Call them. Email them. Use their app's chat feature if they have one. Explain the charge and why you think it's unfair. Be polite but firm. Most of the time, if the charge was a genuine mistake (which happens more often than you'd think), they'll reverse it immediately.

Keep a record of this conversation. Screenshot the chat. Write down the date, time, and name of the person you spoke to. You'll need this later if things escalate.

Step 2: File a Formal Complaint

If customer service doesn't resolve it within a few days, escalate to a formal complaint. Most banks have a complaints email (usually something like complaints@bankname.com). Send a detailed email explaining:

• What the charge was
• When it happened
• Why you think it's unfair or incorrect
• What you want them to do about it (reverse it, explain it, etc.)

By law, the bank has to respond to formal complaints within 2 weeks. If they don't, that's when you bring in the CBN.

Step 3: Report to the CBN

If your bank ignores you or refuses to resolve the issue, you can file a complaint directly with the Central Bank of Nigeria through their Consumer Protection Department.

You can do this via:

• Email: cpd@cbn.gov.ng
• Phone: 0700-225-5226 (CBN Contact Centre)
• Website: Fill out the online complaint form on the CBN website under "Consumer Protection"

When you file the complaint, include:

• Your full name and account details
• The bank's name
• A clear description of the issue
• Copies of any communication you've had with the bank
• What you want the CBN to do about it

The CBN takes consumer complaints seriously — especially if it's a pattern affecting multiple customers. They have the power to fine banks, force refunds, and even revoke licenses in extreme cases.

⚠️ Important: This process works best for clear-cut violations — like being charged a fee that wasn't disclosed, or not getting a promised reversal. It's less effective for charges that are technically legal but just feel unfair (like stamp duty). Know the difference before you escalate.

A Nigerian customer speaking with a bank representative at a banking hall — Photo by Unsplash | Speaking up about unfair charges is your right — and it works more often than you think.

💬 Words That Matter

Some thoughts I've written over time about banks, money, and why these things matter more than people realize.

"A bank that takes your money in silence and expects you to accept it in silence is not a partner. It's a collector."

— Samson Ese | Daily Reality NG

"The most expensive thing in Nigerian banking is not the charges themselves. It's the ignorance of what you're being charged for."

— Samson Ese | Daily Reality NG

"You don't have to accept every charge just because it appears on your statement. Question it. That's your money they're taking."

— Samson Ese | Daily Reality NG

"Regulations only work when people know they exist. The CBN can write all the rules they want — but if customers don't know their rights, nothing changes."

— Samson Ese | Daily Reality NG

"The difference between a charge and a scam is transparency. If they can't explain it clearly, it's probably the latter."

— Samson Ese | Daily Reality NG

🔥 Motivational Reflections

"Start reading your bank statements. Not just your balance — the actual statement. You'll be shocked at what you find. And once you see it, you can't unsee it. That's when you start taking control."