The Bank Customers Association of Nigeria has sent a letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria over complaints of extra charges being deducted from customers’ bank accounts.
BCAN president, Uju Ogubunka, revealed this on Thursday during the 2025 Artificial Intelligence Conference held in Lagos. The event, organised by SuperNews, was themed “Power of AI: Enhancing Efficiency and Customer Satisfaction for Better Financial Services Experience”.
Ogubunka said the letter was written to demand a permanent solution to what he described as unnecessary and unapproved charges. He said if the CBN fails to act, customers may be forced to protest or take further steps.
“On the basis of excess charges, we have written to the Central Bank of Nigeria to find a permanent solution to it, and if they don’t, perhaps bank customers may have to come out to demand it. Let’s pray that they do that,” Ogubunka said.
He also complained about the poor experience most Nigerians face when dealing with banks. According to him, complaints and petitions from frustrated customers are now common at the CBN, Bankers’ House, NDIC, mediation centres, and even courts.
He said, “The truth is that when you talk of customer satisfaction in today’s Nigerian banking system, it doesn’t exist. If people were really satisfied, they wouldn’t be complaining or petitioning. So, we cannot really say that AI has come to dwell with us. If it has, most of the issues being complained about would be taken care of.”
Ogubunka was referring to the rise in deductions, especially from services like USSD, which many customers say are now being charged directly from their bank balances, something he insists is not approved by the CBN.
Also speaking at the event, the keynote speaker and financial expert, Johnson Chukwu, listed ways artificial intelligence could help improve the banking system. He said AI is already being used to decide who qualifies for loans by tracking income, spending habits, and payment patterns.
He explained, “Today, consumer credit is everywhere in this country because the machines are able to determine your income level and what you spend on. They know how much comes to your account and how much you spend, so they can easily approve loans.”
Chukwu also said AI helps make banking services more personal, explaining that even with millions of customers, banks using AI can treat each one as a unique person.
He added, “The system knows your face, your fingerprint, and your behaviour. This means your needs can be handled better, and your complaints can be solved faster.”
He encouraged financial institutions to adopt AI properly by focusing on seven things: capacity, capability, collaboration, creativity, cognition, continuity, and control.
According to him, “Artificial intelligence will shape the future of how people and businesses interact. Any company that ignores it will not only struggle but may soon disappear.”
