CBN Fines Banks ₦430 Million Over Unresolved Customer Complaints

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed ₦430 million in penalties on financial institutions in 2025 for delays in resolving customer complaints and failure to comply with regulatory directives, according to the apex bank’s 2025 Annual Report.

The report disclosed that 21 sanctions were issued against financial institutions during the year as part of the CBN’s efforts to strengthen consumer protection and improve service delivery across the banking sector.

According to the report, the affected institutions were sanctioned for infractions ranging from delayed resolution of customer complaints to non-compliance with the CBN’s directives.

The report also showed that customer complaints lodged with the apex bank increased by 10.53 percent in 2025. A total of 23,129 complaints were received, compared with 20,925 in 2024.

The CBN attributed the increase to greater public awareness of its consumer complaint resolution mechanism and improved confidence in the regulatory process rather than a decline in banking services.

Of the complaints received, 18,824 were successfully resolved during the year, representing a 9.36 percent increase from the 17,213 complaints resolved in 2024.

The annual report further revealed a sharp rise in the value of claims handled by the regulator. Claims denominated in naira rose to ₦40.61 billion in 2025 from ₦17.13 billion recorded the previous year, while foreign currency claims increased to $344.2 million from $1.06 million.

Following the resolution of complaints, customers recovered ₦19.12 billion and $329.3 million in refunds in 2025, compared with ₦9.66 billion and $670,000 refunded in 2024.

Beyond the ₦430 million sanctions relating to customer complaints, the CBN said it imposed an additional 11 penalties worth ₦1.26 billion on financial institutions for regulatory breaches and failure to respond to regulatory queries.

The report noted that complaints management formed part of a broader overhaul of the CBN’s supervisory and market conduct framework.

It recalled that the apex bank had established a dedicated Compliance Department to strengthen oversight of financial crime, market conduct, complaints management, advertising standards, cybersecurity, data protection and corporate governance across regulated financial institutions.

The report also referenced ongoing engagements between the CBN and deposit money banks to address excessive transaction alerts, customer charges and unresolved consumer complaints through a quarterly stakeholder engagement framework.