By Ayomide Otitoju
The National Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has imposed a significant fine of N555.8 million on Fidelity Bank for breaching its customers’ data privacy. The penalty was announced by NDPC’s National Commissioner, Vincent Olatunji, during a Validation Workshop on the Nigeria Data Protection Act General Application and Implementation Directive held in Abuja on Wednesday.
Fidelity Bank was found to have violated both the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) of 2019 and the Nigeria Data Protection (NDP) Act of 2023. The fine, which represents 0.1 percent of the bank’s annual gross revenue for 2023, is the largest ever levied by the NDPC.
Olatunji explained that the severity of the penalty was due to the bank’s lack of cooperation and dismissive attitude during the investigation. He stressed the critical importance of compliance with data protection laws, noting that penalties for non-compliance can range from N10 million to up to two percent of an organization’s gross earnings.
“Since we began enforcing data protection regulations, this is the most substantial penalty we’ve issued,” Olatunji said. “Fidelity Bank’s violations were severe, and despite our efforts to work with them since April 2023 to resolve these issues, their arrogance left us no choice but to impose the full penalty.”
The NDPC has given Fidelity Bank 14 days to pay the fine upon receiving the notice. This decisive action highlights the commission’s commitment to enforcing data protection laws and ensuring that organizations are held accountable for the protection of customer data.
