The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Vice President have unveiled a draft of a framework aimed at rebuilding public confidence in the financial system and protecting bank customers across the country.

The Presidential Committee on Economic and Financial Inclusion convened the review of the National Framework on Strengthening Trust for Sustainable Economic and Financial Inclusion on Monday.

Officials said the framework is designed to strengthen complaint resolution, reduce fraud, and restore trust in formal financial services, especially for vulnerable Nigerians.

“The idea behind this whole thing starts with the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President,” said Nurudeen Abubakar, technical adviser to the president on economic and financial inclusion.

“We believe that for people to come into the formal financial sector, they have to build confidence and trust in the system.”

He cited poor digital security, unresolved complaints, and low financial literacy as reasons people avoid banks.

“Even 1,000 naira is equivalent to 10 million to another person,” he said. “So because of that, there’s a need for us to ensure that all the instrumentality of government is on board to restore the trust of the last man.”

Aisha Isa-Olatinwo, director of consumer protection and financial inclusion at the CBN, said banks are required to handle complaints first.

If unresolved, the CBN steps in. She added that the bank is working to integrate its customer complaint management solution with industry-wide systems to improve transparency.

“We will have clear online visibility of complaints and hold financial institutions responsible for not resolving them within the set time,” she said.

She said the workshop, which brought together multiple regulators, was “apt” because “our coming together today will define how consumers… will see better days ahead.”

Mr Abubakar said with the existing draft framework the current consultations are aimed at ensuring stakeholder buy-in.

“Today’s discussion is to ensure that we cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s, At the end of the day, it will be issued as a national framework.”

He added that if needed, new legislation would be introduced to back it and the president is ready to do all that is needed to restore confidence in the financial system.

Nigeria has recorded significant progress in financial inclusion, with 64 per cent of adults using formal financial services in 2023, up from 54 per cent in 2020, according to the latest data from Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA).

The total financially included population — including those using informal services — rose to 74 per cent, leaving 26 per cent still outside the financial system.

But while more Nigerians now have bank accounts or use mobile money platforms, trust in the formal financial sector remains fragile. Incidents of fraud, high transaction fees, and poor customer service continue to discourage broader participation, especially among low-income earners and rural dwellers.