How Much Are Nigerian Banks Charging For Dollar Transactions?

A new report has shown that banks in Nigeria have raised dollar charges by 45.15%, following the stoppage of dollar sales to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in July 2021 by the CBN.

BusinessDay shared that a bank customer performed a dollar transaction and was charged N601 to a dollar for his first transaction and N595.08 to a dollar on his next transaction. Meaning that the bank charged an average rate of N598.04k per dollar instead of the mandated N412 after buying from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at N410 per dollar.

Banks that increased their exchange rates are Access Bank, which rate stood at N450 per dollar as of October 13, 2021, UBA rate at (N465/$), Ecobank (N450/$), Wema Bank (N461/$), and FCMB (N480/$).

Others include Sterling Bank (N460/$), Standard Chartered Bank (N463/$), and Union Bank rate has remained unchanged at N412/$.

Following the ban of dollar sales to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators, banks’ CEOs in a zoom press conference said they had the infrastructure and the capacity to meet the legitimate foreign exchange demand of the end-users. Such legitimate needs include Business Travel Allowance (BTA), Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), school fees and medicals. Unfortunately, weeks down the line, it would seem that Nigerian banks except Union Bank have been able to keep their word.

Herbert Wigwe, chairman of the CBN reacted to the news by saying that said banks were doing everything necessary to avoid abuse of foreign exchange. He also assured Nigerians that the process would soon be centralised for better service delivery.

Patsy Nwogu

Reporting on data-driven featured stories and investigations.

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