In a significant development, OPay, a Chinese-backed fintech giant, has secured approval from the Federal High Court in Lagos to freeze customer bank accounts in thirty listed banks. This move is part of the company’s efforts to recover a staggering ₦714 million that was erroneously disbursed to customers due to a system glitch.
The glitch, which occurred between December 10, 2023, and March 4, 2024, allowed customers to receive funds for transactions that were initially unsuccessful. According to court documents, OPay became aware of the issue and promptly contacted customers who had received sums above ₦500,000, requesting them to refund the amounts. While some customers cooperated and returned the funds, others refused, failed, or neglected to do so.
Despite recovering 10% of the total amount from willing customers, OPay was left with no choice but to seek legal action against the uncooperative ones. The company filed an application with the court, accompanied by an affidavit of urgency, seeking to freeze the affected customer accounts. The court granted the orders on June 28, 2024, paving the way for OPay to request thirty banks to restrict the accounts in question.
The issue at hand revolves around the use of bank response codes by financial institutions to categorize transactions as successful, pending, or failed. In OPay’s case, the code ‘RC 09’ denotes a pending transaction for which the company does not debit its customer. However, between December 10, 2023, and March 4, 2024, several cardholders made payments for pending transactions without being debited, as Interswitch, the switching company facilitating transactions between OPay and its cardholders, mistakenly settled these transactions as successful.
OPay’s efforts to recover the lost funds have been met with silence, as the company declined to respond to comments on the matter. The development highlights the importance of robust systems and error-free transactions in the fintech industry, as glitches like this can have significant financial implications for companies and customers alike.
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