By Dayo Omoogun
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to address and correct dispense errors which occur on their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs)
or Point Of Sales (POS) platforms within shorter timelines in an effort to reduce the hardship faced by customers.
This directive is contained in the apex bank’s updated Guidelines for the Operation of Electronic Payment.
To this end the apex bank has directed as follows with effect from Monday June 8,2020: “Failed “On-Us” ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three (3) days. Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.”
“Refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions (where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATMs) shall not exceed 48 hours from the current 3-5 days.”
“Resolution of disputed/failed PoS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five (5) days.”
In addition a window has been provided for the banks to clear all such pending issues “All banks are directed to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020.
To achieve seamless machine transactions and ensure lower incidences of failure, key service providers in the Nigerian payments system have, in a related development, committed to establish an integrated dispute resolution platform for the industry and enhance their payment system infrastructure.