By James Emejo
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a revised timelines for reversals and resolution of refund complaints on electronic channels.
According to a statement by the bank, effective from June 8, 2020, all failed “On-Us” ATM transactions – when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs, is expected to be reversed instantly compared to the current three-day timeline for resolution.
The CBN noted however, that where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.
The new directive was contained in a statement issued yesterday by CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Mr. Isaac Okorafor .
According to the apex bank, refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions (where customers use their cards
on other banks’ ATMs) shall not exceed 48 hours henceforth compared to the existing timeframe of three to five days.
The amended framework further stipulated that resolution of disputed/failed PoS or web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five days.
All banks are further directed to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020 .
Meanwhile, key service providers in the Nigerian payments system have also committed to establish an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry and enhance their payment system infrastructure and processes to reduce incidences of transaction failure.
