Access Bank to reverse stamp duty deductions, pay on customers’ behalf

The management of Access Bank on Sunday said it has offered to pay stamp duty charge for February to April on behalf of its customers.

A statement by the bank said deductions made between Saturday and Sunday would be reversed to customers, adding that the bank recognised that it is a tough period for customers.

The decision followed viral tweets by many Nigerians who complained of the deductions across social media, especially Twitter, at the weekend.

According to the Finance Act of 2019, bank customers are expected to pay a N50 stamp duty charge on every N10,000 deposit.

Pushing the narratives via numerous hashtags, including ##accessbankscam, many Nigerians demanded a reversal of the deductions made on accounts of the bank’s customers.

“Today I got debited three times for stamp duty. Access bank has been tempting me. I think it’s time to be faithful to Zenith bank,” a Twitter user said via the handle @Oritshemoyogbemi.

Another user, @Cozade_junkie, wrote: “So Access Bank is Debiting N200 for stamp duty. What manner of robbery is this?”

In their reactions, many Twitter users threatened to close their respective accounts with the bank.

Others said they would lead protest to various branches of the bank on Monday.

In its response on Sunday, the bank said it would pay the stamp duty on behalf of its customers.

“We have considered your feedback and have decided to pay the stamp duty on our customers’ behalf for the affected period only,” the bank said in a statement on Sunday.

“This means that individuals and SMEs who were debited for the accumulated stamp duty charge for February to April 2020 will be refunded.

“While we still have to remit these funds via the CBN to the federal government, we realise that we got it wrong by debiting our customers late, and we are refunding the affected stamp duty charge today to all affected customers.

“We hope this gesture goes some way to make this better.”