LAGOS – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed N1.69 billion in penalties on financial institutions in 2025 for breaches ranging from delays in resolving customer complaints to non-compliance with regulatory directives, underscoring a tougher enforcement approach by the apex bank.

According to the CBN’s 2025 Annual Report, 32 sanctions were issued during the year, with 21 penalties amounting to N430 million imposed for consumer protection and complaints management violations.

The report said the sanctions covered infractions ranging from delays in resolving customer complaints to failure to comply with regulatory directives.

The enforcement actions came amid a rise in consumer complaints. The CBN received 23,129 complaints in 2025, a 10.53 per cent increase from the 20,925 recorded in 2024.

Despite the increase, the apex bank attributed the higher volume of complaints to greater public awareness and increased confidence in its consumer complaints resolution framework, rather than a decline in the quality of banking services.

The regulator resolved 18,824 complaints during the year, representing a 9.36 per cent increase from the 17,213 resolved in 2024.

The value of claims handled by the CBN also rose sharply, highlighting the growing financial impact of disputes between consumers and financial institutions.

Claims denominated in naira increased to N40.61 billion in 2025 from N17.13 billion in the previous year, while foreign currency claims surged to $344.2 million from just $1.06 million in 2024.

As a result of the complaint resolution process, customers recovered N19.12 billion and $329.3 million in refunds during the year, compared to N9.66 billion and $670,000 recovered in 2024.

The figures reflect the increasing importance of the CBN’s consumer protection framework as customers continue to report transaction failures, disputed deductions, excessive charges, delayed reversals, foreign exchange-related issues and other complaints arising from digital and traditional banking services.

Beyond consumer protection breaches, the CBN imposed an additional 11 penalties worth N1.26 billion on financial institutions for regulatory violations and failure to respond to regulatory queries, bringing the total value of sanctions under both categories to N1.69 billion.

The enforcement drive formed part of a broader overhaul of the CBN’s supervisory and market conduct framework aimed at strengthening compliance, corporate governance, consumer protection and institutional resilience across the financial sector.

To reinforce oversight, the apex bank established a dedicated Compliance Department in 2025 with responsibility for financial crime monitoring, market conduct, complaints management, advertising standards, cybersecurity, data protection and corporate governance across regulated institutions.

The CBN said the new department would help ensure financial institutions comply with regulatory standards and respond more promptly to consumer grievances.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, had also disclosed that the apex bank and deposit money banks were reviewing excessive transaction alerts and customer charges following complaints over confusing debit notifications and unexplained deductions.

He said the CBN had introduced a quarterly engagement framework involving its Consumer Protection Department, deposit money banks and the 10 largest microfinance banks to resolve outstanding complaints and improve customer service across the financial system.

The latest sanctions build on the CBN’s broader consumer protection initiatives. In 2022, the apex bank introduced guidelines outlining the procedures through which customers could lodge complaints against financial institutions, including commercial banks.

The report added that consumer protection formed part of a wider regulatory reform programme pursued in 2025, alongside measures aimed at strengthening price stability and financial system resilience through monetary policy adjustments, foreign exchange reforms, liquidity management, macroprudential policies and enhanced supervisory oversight.