According to Sun News, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a downward adjustment of charges on transactions across the banking ecosystem on Friday evening, providing some relief to the public.

This was stated in the CBN’s new ‘Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial and Non-Financial Institutions,’ which applies to financial and non-financial organizations licensed or regulated by the CBN.

According to the guidance, the banking industry regulator has reduced prices for a variety of operations, including Standing Order Charges (In-Branch), ATM Maintenance Fees, electronic fund transfers, and bulk payments.

The CBN emphasizes that the intra-bank Standing Order charge will be free, as contrary to the N300 in the 2017 guideline.

In terms of interbank transfers, the CBN cut the fee to a maximum of N50 per transaction, down from N300 in 2017.

Payment of bills (including payments made through other e-channels) is negotiable up to N500 per beneficiary payable by the sender, with a review from N1,200 or 0.75 percent for a biller or merchant to pay.

Electronic funds transfer charges have also been reduced to N10 for transactions under N5000, N26 for transactions between N5001 and N50,000, and N50 for transactions beyond N50,000.

Withdrawals from ATMs belonging to other banks have been decreased from N65 to N35 after the third withdrawal in the same month.

The CBN also cut the fee of ATM bills from N100 to N50. In the new guideline, debit card maintenance fees of N100 per month have been eliminated.

The CBN stated in 2019 that all bank charges would be reduced, with some costs being reduced by more than half, with the reductions taking effect on January 1, 2020.

The decision, which came after the public’s outcry over the vast number and cost of the charges, was made to make financial services more accessible and cheap to all players in the economy, according to the apex bank.