A growing number of bank customers, particularly those of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), say they are switching to email alerts to cut costs and reduce account charges.
Many customers who spoke on Sunday in Lagos said they would deactivate Short Message Service (SMS) transaction alerts linked to their bank accounts due to what they described as excessive and exploitative charges.
Mrs. Dorathy Azinge, a GTCO customer, decried the recent hike in SMS charges, calling it unjustifiable in the face of already numerous transaction debits.
“This move of increasing SMS charges is very exploitative, even though they cite telecommunication fees,” Azinge said. “GT will remove different charges from my account until they give me a minus balance.”
Ms. Elizabeth Abu, another GTCO customer, said she intended to switch her transaction notifications solely to email to avoid additional fees.
“It doesn’t make sense for the bank to charge me for a transaction I did and also charge me for the alert they sent,” Abu said. “These charges are becoming unbearable and are clearly boosting bank profits at the expense of customers.”
Mr. Clement Arubu, a customer of First HoldCo Plc, revealed he receives debit alerts totaling N1,050 monthly and questioned the cumulative impact across thousands of customers.
“Most customers ignore these small charges, but when you calculate it across 10,000 accounts, it becomes a massive amount,” he said.
Mrs. Catherine Itoha, another GTCO customer, expressed frustration over more than N20,000 in unresolved failed PoS debits from nearly a year ago.
“I visited the bank, filled forms, and followed up, but nothing was reversed. If this money didn’t go to a staff, then it’s clearly going into bank profits,” she said.
Mrs. Esther Arthur, a Fidelity Bank customer, alleged that some banks were profiting from unapproved customer charges.
“I withdrew N10,000 from a First Bank ATM and was told I’d be charged N100. Instead, I was debited N630. This is frustrating,” Arthur lamented.
Mr. Augustine Ode, a Zenith Bank customer, called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to investigate and curb the excesses of banks allegedly exploiting their customers.
Meanwhile, GTCO recently announced an increase in its SMS transaction alert fee from N4 to N6 per message, citing a rise in telecom operator rates. The bank has advised customers who prefer to stop receiving SMS alerts to update their alert preferences by submitting a form via its website.