Flouting the rules guiding e-payment product development by banks will henceforth attract sanctions, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has warned.
The warning is contained in the apex bank’s guidelines for the development of e-payment products.
The new rules tagged “Digital Financial Services Awareness Guidelines” are primarily packaged to ensure that customers get value for their deposits.
In the guidelines released at the weekend, the CBN directed banks to first seek its approval for their e-payment product and service development.
The apex bank said the directive aligns with the digital financial services awareness scheme meant to bridge the gaps in consumer knowledge and practices for e-products.
It explained that digital financial services have the potential to expand access to financial services for the Nigerian population and spur innovation in the financial service industry.
The apex bank directed the financial institutions to submit developed educational materials to its Director of Consumer Protection for review.
It said: “The guidelines provide for a set of principles and expectations for financial service providers to integrate in the provision of digital financial services to ensure consumer understanding, good treatment, and positive outcomes.
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”Digital financial service providers will henceforth supply information that will enable consumers to differentiate their products from conventional banking products and services; ensure ease of access to information on all product offerings and provide information on products in simple English and local languages.
“They are also expected to conduct outreach to underserved populations regarding digital financial services options available to them and provide information on product usage and how to obtain support services when the need arises.
“They are to develop and deliver educational materials to prospective and existing customers through basic channels such as Short Message Service (SMS), Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) and at agent locations, in addition to app, web and social media platforms.”
“The digital financial service providers are also expected to disclose all terms, conditions, fees, and other associated charges on product offerings prior to enrollment.
“They are to ensure integration of data privacy and protection standards into internal policies as well as conduct evidence-based awareness campaigns to sensitise consumers on how to protect their assets and sensitive details.”
The financial service providers are expected to develop default settings on digital financial services which are by nature “opt-out” not “opt-in” of data sharing with third parties and clear and simple “opt-in” language for sharing of data; ensure privacy to data collection and sharing during product enrollment and easy opt-out process for data sharing.
The banks have also been mandated to ensure that the products deployed are suitable for the target customers, test product usability with users and modify as necessary to reduce transaction errors.
The banks are also to provide consumers with reliable and easily accessible channels to enable them to obtain support services and monitor fraud reports, identify emerging fraud issues and sensitise their customers on how they can protect their assets.