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Banks Refund N19bn And $329m Following Customer Complaints
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that financial institutions refunded N19.12bn and $329.3m to customers in 2025 following the resolution of 18,824 consumer complaints, while banks and other financial institutions were sanctioned N430m for delays in resolving customer complaints.
The figures were contained in the apex bank’s 2025 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, published on its website. According to the report, the refunds followed the resolution of thousands of complaints lodged by consumers of financial services against regulated institutions.
The report stated, “Based on the resolved complaints, the sums of N19.12bn and $329.3m were refunded in 2025, compared with N9.66bn and $0.67m in 2024.”
The latest figures showed that refunds in local currency almost doubled from N9.66bn in 2024 to N19.12bn in 2025, while refunds in foreign currency rose sharply from $0.67m to $329.3m over the same period.
The report also showed that the total value of customer claims increased significantly during the year. Claims in local currency rose to N40.61bn from N17.13bn in 2024, while foreign currency claims climbed to $344.2m from $1.06m in the preceding year.
The CBN attributed the increase in complaints to growing public confidence in its consumer complaint resolution mechanism.
“The Bank received a total of 23,129 complaints from consumers of financial services in 2025, a rise of 10.53 per cent above the 20,925 in 2024. The trend reflected increased awareness and improved confidence in the Bank’s consumer complaint resolution process,” the report stated.
It added that complaint resolution also improved during the review period. “A total of 18,824 complaints were resolved, indicating a 9.36 per cent increase over the 17,213 complaints resolved in 2024,” the report said.
As part of its consumer protection enforcement, the CBN disclosed that it imposed 21 penalties worth N430m on financial institutions for failing to meet complaint resolution standards and other regulatory requirements.
The report stated, “The Bank imposed 21 penalties on financial institutions to the tune of N430m, for infractions ranging from delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with the Bank’s directives.”
Beyond customer complaint-related sanctions, the apex bank also imposed 11 penalties amounting to N1.26bn on financial institutions for regulatory breaches and failure to respond to regulatory queries.
According to the report, “During the review period, the Bank imposed 11 penalties on financial institutions totalling N1.26bn, for infractions ranging from regulatory breaches and failure to respond to regulatory queries.”
In total, the regulator imposed N1.69bn in penalties on financial institutions in 2025 as it stepped up enforcement of consumer protection and regulatory compliance across the banking industry.
The report also highlighted broader efforts by the apex bank to strengthen market conduct and consumer protection.
It disclosed that the CBN established a Compliance Department in 2025 to reinforce oversight of financial institutions, including consumer protection, market conduct, anti-money laundering compliance, cybersecurity, data protection, corporate governance and environmental, social and governance standards.
The bank further stated that it introduced Corrective Action Plans requiring regulated institutions to identify the root causes of supervisory breaches, implement remedial measures and obtain regulatory approval before execution as part of efforts to improve compliance across the financial sector.
