Access Bank to refund, pay stamp duty on customers’ behalf

Access Bank Plc said it is going to pay stamp duty fees that were not charged from February to April 2020 on behalf of its customers to the Federal Government via the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Stamp duty charge collection is in compliance with the mandate of the Finance Act, 2019 (stamp duty Act, Cap S8). Banks are required by law to apply this charge as applicable and remit all funds collected to the Federal Government.

Earlier in last week, the bank informed all its customers that it had inadvertently not charged stamp duty on some accounts from February to April 2020 as mandated by the Federal Government.

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“We have heard our customers’ feedback that this charge is unwelcome, especially at this time against a challenging economic backdrop. We have considered your feedback and have decided to pay the stamp duty on our customers’ behalf for the affected period only. This means all individuals and SMEs who were debited for the accumulated stamp duty charge for February to April 2020, will be refunded,” the bank said in a statement.

“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, the bank said”.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.