Mass exodus: Standard Chartered’s ₦7.5m cut sparks national outcry

By Joan Chioma Obinagwam

Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria’s bombshell announcement to terminate all personal banking relationships below a ₦7.5 million Assets Under Management (AUM) threshold by February 28, 2026, has detonated a social media inferno.

Confiance News gathered that what the bank framed as a strategic pivot to an “Emerging Affluent Segment” has been branded by customers as financial elitism, class warfare and a betrayal of retail banking principles. With branch closures set for January 15, 2026, and a hard deadline looming, Nigerians are reacting with fury, nostalgia, legal scrutiny, and a mass migration to fintech alternatives.

The backlash erupted almost instantly. On X (formerly Twitter), finance commentator Kalu Aja (@finPlanKaluAja1) delivered a sobering reality check: “Standard Chartered Bank does not do retail. Pre devaluation N7.5m was $15,000. Post devaluation, N7.5m is $5,000. Note, they are looking at Assets Under Management, not just deposits. But the 🥲 is in order.”

Confiance News learnt that his post, viewed over 120,000 times, crystallized the economic context: the naira’s collapse has slashed the real value of the threshold from a respectable middle-class benchmark to a sum many professionals struggle to maintain.

Aja’s distinction between AUM and mere deposits was crucial—customers aren’t just being judged by savings but by total investable assets, including mutual funds, bonds, and treasury bills held with the bank. For salary earners without investment portfolios, the bar feels unattainable.

Meanwhile, Ahmed Alli (@AkandeAlli), another X user raised a pointed legal and ethical challenge: “So why are they referred to as deposit money bank? Once you open an account for a customer, it is wrong not to accept any deposit from them, even if its coins. This bank is just flexing, in my opinion, and we wait for cbn to say something.” Alli’s question cuts to the heart of banking regulation in Nigeria.

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are mandated to mobilize deposits from the public. The CBN’s Guide to Charges by Banks and Other Financial Institutions* (2020) and the BOFIA 2020 do not explicitly prohibit minimum balance thresholds, but they emphasize fair treatment, transparency, and non-discrimination. Legal experts are divided.

According to a BusinessDay report, Banking lawyer Chidi Onyia said: “DMBs have contractual freedom to define their target segments, provided they give adequate notice and comply with KYC closure protocols.”

However, consumer advocate Adeola Fagbemi argues that rejecting deposits from existing customers—especially small ones—could violate the spirit of financial inclusion policies under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which aims for 95 percent inclusion by 2025. The CBN has remained silent so far, but pressure is mounting.

Not all reactions are combative. Some customers are mourning the end of an era. Tim_Titanium (@Tim_Titanium) posted a heartfelt farewell: “It was good while it lasted. Free ATM card. Free withdrawal from all ATM without additional charges. No maintenance fees etc. I’m going to miss banking with them😢.”

His tweet, retweeted 1,800 times, struck a chord with long-term users who prized Standard Chartered’s premium retail perks—zero COT, free interbank transfers, and robust digital banking—long before fintechs made them standard.

“They were the gold standard for salaried professionals in the 2010s,” said Tunde Adebayo, a 12-year customer and IT consultant in Lekki. “Now they’re telling us we’re not good enough. It hurts.”

The numbers tell a brutal story. Nigeria’s inflation rate hit 33.4 percent in October 2025 (NBS), eroding real incomes. The average public sector salary is ₦87,000 monthly (PenCom data), meaning it would take over seven years of zero spending to hit ₦7.5 million—without interest. Even private sector mid-level managers earning ₦500,000 monthly face hurdles: rent, school fees, and transport devour savings. “I have ₦4.2 million in fixed deposits,” said Chioma Okeke, a pharmacist in Abuja. “I’d need to liquidate my emergency fund and borrow from family to meet the threshold. It’s financial coercion.”

Fintechs are circling like vultures. Kuda Bank ran targeted ads within hours: “No minimum balance. No drama. Switch today.” Palmpay and Opay reported a 40 percent spike in downloads from Lagos and Port Harcourt. Moniepoint’s CEO Tosin Eniolorunda tweeted: “We don’t close accounts. We open opportunities.” GTBank and Zenith, traditional rivals, launched “Zero Worry” campaigns emphasizing inclusivity.

Inside Standard Chartered, the strategy is defended as survival. CEO Dalu Ajene told analysts last week that the bank met the CBN’s ₦200 billion capital base early by focusing on “high-quality, sticky deposits.”

FBNQuest estimates the purge could free up ₦250 billion in low-yield funds for corporate lending at 28–30 percent yields. The bank will retain just four branches (Victoria Island, Ikeja, Abuja, and Port Harcourt) and push 90 percent of transactions to its SC Mobile app. “This is not abandonment,” a spokesperson insisted. “It’s specialization.”

But customers see abandonment. On Nairaland, the thread “Standard Chartered To Close Accounts With Less Than N7.5m Balance From Feb 2026” surpassed 12,000 views, with users sharing closure letters and transfer screenshots. One posted: “Just moved ₦6.8m to Zenith. Let them keep their elitist club.” Another warned: “CBN must act. If they allow this, every bank will follow.”

For now, the clock ticks. Customers have until February 28, 2026, to: 1. Top up to ₦7.5 million AUM, 2. Transfer out without penalty, or 3. Face automatic closure. As one X user (@NaijaSaver) summed it up: “Standard Chartered isn’t closing accounts. They’re closing the door on the Nigerian middle class.”

Whether the CBN intervenes—or whether this sparks a broader reckoning on banking exclusivity—remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: in a nation fighting to keep its middle class afloat, Standard Chartered’s gamble has turned a business decision into a national flashpoint.

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