A Federal High Court in Lagos has granted approval to Chinese-owned fintech giant OPay to freeze customer accounts in thirty banks, as part of efforts to recover ₦714 million that was erroneously credited to customers due to a system malfunction.
Initiative to Recover Erroneously Credited Funds
The initiative to retrieve the ₦714 million stems from a system glitch that occurred between December 10, 2023, and March 4, 2024, allowing customers to benefit from transactions that were technically unsuccessful. OPay has made considerable efforts to reach out to affected customers and recover the mistakenly credited funds.
OPay’s Recovery Efforts and Legal Action
Despite successful reclamation of 10% of the total sum, some customers declined or neglected to return the erroneously credited funds, prompting OPay to file a request to freeze specific customer accounts. The company’s urgency affidavit accompanied the application, leading to the court’s approval on June 28, 2024, to instruct thirty banks to limit access to the affected accounts.
Customer Impact and Technical Oversight
During the system glitch, customers of OPay experienced transactions marked as pending, which were mistakenly categorized as successful due to an oversight by The Switching Company (Interswitch). The company managed the transactions between OPay and its cardholders, leading to the erroneous processing of RC 09 transactions as successful, despite their actual pending status.
OPay’s Response and Subsequent Actions
Although OPay refrained from commenting on the matter, it has taken significant steps to address the discrepancy, with legal filings and court-approved measures in place to recover the funds and mitigate the impact of the system malfunction on the affected customer accounts.