A divisional Federal High Court in Lagos has granted Chinese-backed fintech giant, Opay’s order to freeze customers’ bank accounts in thirty listed banks.
The order by the court aims to recover N714 million received by customers due to a system glitch.
According to a report by TechCabal, this glitch occurred between December 10, 2023, and March 4, 2024, allowing customers to receive value for unsuccessful transactions.
Upon discovering the mishap, Opay contacted customers who received sums above ₦500,000 via emails and phone calls, requesting them to fund their accounts so the retained funds could be debited.
Recoveries made so far
So far, the fintech company has only recovered 10 per cent of the total amount received by those customers.
“While some customers responded positively to the applicant’s request and cooperated with the Applicant in respect of the recovery of the Erroneously Retained Credits, some customers have refused, failed, and/or neglected to fund their accounts to enable the Applicant to deduct the value of the Erroneously Retained Credits from their respective accounts,” the company said in a court filing.
Subsequently, the court granted the orders on June 28, 2024, thereby allowing OPay to request thirty banks to restrict the affected customer accounts.
This measure is part of the process to recover the N714 million received by customers due to a system glitch.
OPay had approached the court to freeze the customer accounts and also filed an affidavit of urgency alongside its application.
Earlier action against customers’ onboarding by Opay, other fintechs
Recall that in April 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a directive banning mobile money operators and fintech companies including Opay from onboarding new customers.
Although no clear reason was given for the move, the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso on May 20, 2024, announced that the fintech firms may resume enrollment of new customers.
Cardoso while making the announcement said that the CBN was adopting remedial measures to tighten up on onboarding and even existing clientele base, block money laundering and illicit flows.
