Overcharges Make More Nigerians Disable SMS Alerts

As a result of the rising costs and prices, an increasing number of Nigerian customers of banks are choosing to turn off their SMS alert services, according to Daily Trust.

An essential security component has been the SMS alert service, which notifies account holders of operations including withdrawals, deposits, and transfers. The rising costs of these notifications, however, have caused many users to re-evaluate their use.

According to Daily Trust, the federal government has given the telecom service providers permission to raise their rates generally.

The maximum SMS alert fee that banks are permitted to charge their clients was then raised.

Customers have been opting out of the SMS service in large numbers since the increase went into effect on May 1, 2025.

Before May 1st, 2025, some of the bank customers received communication;

‘Dear Valued Customer’

“Please be informed that effective Thursday, May 1 2025, the SMS transaction alert fee will increase from ₦4 to ₦6 per message. This adjustment is due to a recent increase in telecom rates as communicated by the telecommunication service providers”.

Customers visiting bank locations in major cities to request the deactivation of their SMS alert subscriptions has increased, according to several bank branches.

After being charged about ₦3,000 for the service, an undisclosed friend shared recently when he went to a GT Bank office in Lagos to turn off his SMS notifications.

The bank official informed him that many others were also turning off their SMS notifications, which startled him. He wondered in jest why so many people were coming to do the same.

In order to avoid the expensive SMS alert fees, another client, Kayode Gabriel, said that he had switched to solely getting transaction alerts by email. 

“I prefer to use my email to monitor my transactions or I go on the mobile app to refresh my balance,” he said, adding, “I have over five Nigerian bank accounts, and I can imagine getting charged N6 for all the banks I use.”

But there are drawbacks to this option as well. Mrs. Bernice, a retired federal servant, revealed that she just uses emails these days and no longer keeps track of her SMS alerts.

She explained that she occasionally loses track of transactions: “My daughter claimed to have sent me money yesterday, but I haven’t seen it; I’ve checked the emails as well, and it’s not there. An SMS alert would have made things easier, but it would be too expensive.

She pointed out that the stress and difficulty of having to continuously check her emails to keep an eye on her account activity are the drawbacks of turning off SMS alerts.

Given the difficult economic climate in the nation, many Nigerians find the monthly fees—which can add up considerably based on transaction volume—to be too onerous.

Consumers claim that the fees quickly mount up and put a strain on their meager budgets.

Another unnamed friend who works at one of the banks also mentioned how consumers complain about costs that are taken out of their accounts for account maintenance and other reasons that are completely unneeded.

Customers of Nigerian banks are already subject to a number of charges, such as those for transfers, account maintenance, SMS alerts, ATM withdrawals, and levies like the cybersecurity levy.

For example, there are three fees associated with a consumer sending money to someone else using a different bank: the transfer fees or commission, the Value Added Tax (VAT) on the transfer, and an SMS fee. The recipient account is then additionally charged N50 as an electronic money transfer levy if the amount totals N10,000 or more.

Before the federal government imposed the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) on them, which means that any transfer from N10,000 and above would result in a N50 charge to the receiving account, many Nigerians had switched to fintechs in order to avoid some fees levied by the deposit money banks.

Deolu Ogunbanjo, president of the National Association of Telecom Subscribers of Nigeria (NATCOMS), stated that although the banks’ SMS increase was funded by a 50% increase in telecom rates, the banks ought to cease sending their clients numerous SMS messages.

Ogunbanjo stated that in order to save customers money, the bank might combine and transmit all of the SMSs in a transaction at once rather than sending four or five.

“Banks can actually combine four to five SMSs that are typically sent during a transaction into just one, so they should refrain from sending their customers multiple SMSs.” “This will lower the cost that customers bear,” the president of NATCOMS told Daily Trust over the phone.

He claimed that banks would keep their clients loyal if they avoided debit, VAT messages, cybersecurity fees, and other issues separately.

Additionally, he maintained that the ridiculous N6 SMS fee ought to be reduced to N5. 

“Therefore, if it was a 35 percent increase, it should have been N5 for SMS, but they ignored our calls, and now they are charging a 50 percent increase,” he stated.

He called the increase regrettable and urged banks to stop delivering Value Added Tax (VAT) and debit notices separately.

Regarding the deactivation of SMS banks’ alerts, subscribers have been cleared by the Association of Telephone, Cable TV, and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria (ATCIS).

In an interview with Daily Trust, National President Bilesanmi Sina claimed that there was little participation from stakeholders in the decision to shift SMS deduction from banks to telecom companies.

They fail to attend the conference of stakeholders as they don’t keep us moving forward. And whether or not the customers are kings is being debated.

“A meeting of stakeholders is required. We must be oriented. We have a lot of needs. We must work together. We must work together. That’s it. “They must show us respect,” he stated.

He brought up the issue of duplicate billing, cautioning that banks and telecom providers may have varying SMS fees.

“My members need to be aware of double billing. There is a chance that both the bank and the telecom provider will charge you when you are conducting a transaction. That is double billing, which is detrimental to both the economy and my members,” he stated.

However, experts claim that transaction alerts are crucial because they enable users to keep an eye on and manage their account activity in real time.

I will not suggest that bank customers turn off their SMS alert service, according to Adio Ilyas, a financial expert located in Lagos.

“I would prefer to advise bank customers to continue using their bank’s SMS alert service since it helps guard against account fraud.

In an interview with Daily Trust, economics professor Ndubisi Nwokoma stated that Nigerians’ trust in financial institutions is being undermined by the numerous fees associated with banking operations.

“The bank has a lot of charges, and the returns are very low,” he remarked. Since a receiver of money really receives less than the amount of the transaction, many people these days prefer cash payments over bank transfers.

Since many Nigerians still lack internet access, SMS alert services are still preferred, according to another expert, Lekan Ojo Afolabi.

This group includes market dealers and small-business owners. However, SMS can reach them virtually anywhere, even if they don’t have internet access, and their phone numbers are linked to their bank accounts. SMS alerts are therefore essential for real-time updates.

“These warnings can aid in preventing fraud. Because the consumer received an alert right away, I have witnessed instances when a transaction was promptly identified and reversed. Therefore, SMS is more dependable for many people, even while email works for some.