Principles of Safe Banking in Nigeria
By: Douglas Ogbankwa
When you are banking in Nigeria you have to read between the lines. There are quite a lot you take for granted in your every day banking that might turn out to be fatal to your finances or even your safety
The Following are some profound Banking Principles to follow for your safety and the safety of your funds:
1. Do not keep your bank account details secret from your family members; many bank accounts worth billions of Naira are abandoned because their deceased owners kept the details away from their loved ones. Tell your trusted family members your passwords and your bank account details while you are alive. You are in control of your account. When you die, any account that is not accessed may be compromised and if not, it will pass on to Government for administration as a Trust. Many wealthy people have left their family poor because of such secrecy. Giving your family members access to your ATM PIN , will enable them access cash easily, in event of an emergency and the account owner is incapacitated. A Man died with hundreds of millions in his account, when he needed money to be flown abroad, owing to the ailment he suffered from, he couldn't access his account because he lost his memory, again, his family members could not access same because they knew nothing about the bank account. The Customary Court approached by his family refused to grant an Order granting access to the Account stating that, that can only be done, if he was dead and that was exactly what happened afterwards.
2. Read every document carefully before signing same. Do not be carried away by the nuances of your account officer telling you ,"sign here "," sign here ",and you keep signing, you may well be signing away your fortune. It is not every document you sign in a bank. The banks deliberately make the font used to print out the terms and conditions so very small and voluminous so that you will not be interested in reading before you sign .When you get to Court, you will see a clearer copy of the terms and conditions printed with big fonts, then you will understand that you need a lawyer for any transaction that you need to sign a document.
3. Never assist any one on the queue to collect money from the ATM, he may just be a fraud that needed a pawn to pick money for him or her .When a fraud is committed, you became the culprit, while he or she remains the beneficiary.
4. Never give someone your ATM Card to withdraw money for you except you know the person so well, he or she may use your ATM 14 Digits to configure a mobile money App and steal your money or buy merchandise online. Some of these thieves on the queue are so smart that can memorize your ATM''s 14 Digits in seconds .
5. If you lived abroad subscribe only to the email credit and debit alert system, because if you subscribed to the SMS Alert and your phone in Nigeria is not active for six months, the line will be deactivated and resold to another subscriber who will be getting alert and then he can use the phone to configure USDD to steal your money.
6.,When you have an unresolved issue with the Bank, before you submit any of the stamped Complaint Forms make a photocopy of same or take a photograph of same with your phone , because that is the only evidence you have to show that you have made a formal Complaint. If you do not have evidence of submission of complaint, they may deny the existence of such complaints.
7. Analyse your Statement of Account with a Forensic Auditor from time to time ,if you have a huge volume of transaction and perhaps you will find some obnoxious and sometimes fraudulent charges that will shock you Make claims for refunds for refunds from your bank .
8. Never have an affair with your account officer, banking relationship is fiduciary, it will make you vulnerable to be defrauded.
9.Do not use ATM at Remote places at night, you could be attacked .
10, Avoid using Another Bank's ATM, Dispense Errors and Machine Confiscated ATM Issues are difficult to resolve with them. Mostly use the ATM of your bank.
11.To avoid unnecessary charges sign up to Email Statements of Accounts, as same will also be automatically stored and retrievable from your email online, real time.
12. Do not give your account to any one, no matter how close, for him to receive money, you could end up in deep shit, if it was fraud related fund he/she used your account to receive.
13. Do not give some one on the ATM Queue your account Number, for him to transfer to you, so you can withdraw the cash for him or her. It could land you in trouble.
14. Don't disclose your BVN or Account Details to strange callers on the Phone, pretending to be bank officials,they are likely to be fraudsters.
15. Delete your credit and debit alerts from your phone, for safety reasons.
16.Do not sign recommendations as Guarantors for current account holders you do not know so well, you may land in Police or EFCC Trouble.
17. Do not carry huge cash to and from the Bank, it endangers your life! Many have died as a result of doing this .
18. Do not Guarantee Loan Transactions for persons you can not vouch for or you do not know .
19. Be aware that there are penalties for some infractions of the Bank against you, for example, for an unresolved ATM Dispute within the stipulated time, you are entitled to Ten Thousand Naira Compensation. There are CBN issued Guidelines providing for such. Google CBN Customer Complaint Platform for more details on the Matter. CBN has a very strong customer complaint protocol that will resolve your issues.
20. Be careful how you give your ATM to third parties for transactions. If you can not vounch for the Integrity of a person never give him or her your ATM to make Withdrawals or transactions for you .
21. Never leave your ATM with POS Operators alone, they could snap it and sell off your information to Fraudsters or even use them to defraud you .
22.Do not allow people to view ATM for a long time; Some persons have photographic brains, they could memorize your details and use them to make some transactions or sell them off to Fraudsters. In this regard, be careful how you deal with strangers even on the ATM Queue. Not every one on the ATM Queue is there to make a legitimate withdrawal.
23. Be careful how some people pretend they know you, and become unnecessarily familiar with you, in and around the Bank; you could be hypnotized and when your eyes get cleared all your money will have been cleared. Do not respond to unsolicited familiarity in and around the bank. Be careful how you respond to people asking you for biro or pen in the Banking Hall. It could be the origin of your hypnosis to take away all your money in your account.
24. If you carried a huge amount, do not enter public transport make a private arrangement to and from the Bank or any where for that Matter. Do not be a case of penny wise, pounds foolish.
25. Not every one in the Banking Hall is a customer. Some are there to provide intelligence to armed robbers outside. When you carry a huge sum of money out of the bank, try and disguise and do a decoy, in a way that leaves people confused. You could give the money to some one in the Banking Hall, go some where else and pick the money from the person and change the bag or polythene and even go to the toilet and change the colour of your shirt and even wear a few cap and googles.
26. Do not succumb to unnecessary pressure to make a transfer to a person. Only make fund transfers when you are psychologically and emotionally stable; else you will end you transferring the money to unknown person and you will bear the brunt .
27.When you use the bank transfer platform and it shows an error once the recipient account has shown and you have imputed your pin, do not repeat the transfer, except you are sure it did not go through.
28.When you are traveling abroad for a long time, disable sms alert System from your bank, else your phone could be disabled because of non usage and resold to another person who could now be the sole beneficiary of your account as he will now be receiving your alerts and can configure your account to wipe away all your money .
29. Be careful how you use the ATM, when it shows error system, it could have been reprogrammed by fraudsters.
30. Do not respond to unsolicited phone calls from any one Whosoever, asking for your Bank Details or BVN Number.Your Bank Details are Security Details that could even compromise your safety and security as all your personal details are tied to your Bank Details. Also, be careful how you throw about your account details on the Internet, as you could be a victim of your actions.
Nigerians are very smart. You have to be smarter ,or they will smash your money.
Shine your eyes. Be Careful and Circumspect. Good luck !
Douglas Ogbankwa can be reached on:
Esq.@douglasogbankwa @gmail.com