Financial institutions saw a surge in grievances during 2025, with customers filing 23,129 complaints. This marks an 11 percent increase from the prior year, leading the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to mandate refunds of N19.12 billion and $329.3 million to impacted users.
According to the CBN’s 2025 Annual Report, the institution also issued N1.69 billion in penalties against banks. These fines targeted regulatory violations, inadequate response times, and failure to follow established directives.
The regulator stated that the rise in reported issues stems from higher public trust in its consumer protection systems rather than a decline in service quality. While 20,925 complaints were recorded in 2024, the volume rose to 23,129 in 2025. The bank successfully settled 18,824 of these matters, improving upon the 17,213 resolutions achieved in the previous year.
Disputed transaction values also climbed significantly. Local currency claims reached N40.61 billion, while foreign currency claims hit $344.2 million. Enforcement was prioritized throughout the year, with 11 penalties totaling N1.26 billion issued for regulatory breaches and unresponsiveness. An additional 21 penalties amounting to N430 million were levied against banks for slow complaint resolution and non-compliance with institutional orders.
