Doubble, an automated investment platform of Sterling Bank, has begun the payout process for Onye Amaka (real name withheld), a retiree from Kaduna State, following the maturity of her 10-year investment plan.
When Amaka linked her Sterling Bank savings account to the investment platform to allow for monthly deductions of N6,000 for 60 months, starting from September 2019, part of the agreement was that the payout would begin on October 30, 2024. It didn’t.
It was only after FIJ intervened in the payout issue that Doubble settled the outstanding funds in January, and assured Amaka that future payments would not be delayed.
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BACKGROUND
Documents perused by FIJ showed that after Amaka fulfilled her end of the bargain for the first five years, Doubble would pay her N9,000 every month for the remaining five years, starting from October 2024.
However, upon the maturity of her investment, she was the one who reached out to Doubble on October 30 via email to request her payment.
Amaka was asked to provide her confirmation slip the next day, which she promptly sent.
The confirmation slip.
(Continued) The confirmation slip.
Email correspondence with Doubble in October 2024.
Email correspondence with Doubble in December 2024.
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When she did not receive a response a week later, she sent a follow-up email. Doubble asked her to provide the same confirmation slip again.
Amaka then decided to visit a Sterling Bank branch in Zaria on November 20, where a staff member sent another email to Doubble on her behalf.
“In response, I received an apology for the delay,” Amaka told FIJ.
On December 11, a staff member contacted her by phone call to inform her that the interest on her investment had been revised downward in 2019. To her dismay, Amaka learnt that the monthly payout had been reduced to N7,800.
“They admitted that they were unable to notify me of this change. This revelation left me shocked and disappointed,” the Kaduna resident said.
While speaking with FIJ, Amaka said she never defaulted on the monthly payments and was never notified of the changes that affected her investment.
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Amaka said she sent a letter on December 12, asking Doubble to honour the original terms stated in her confirmation slip. Another Sterling Bank official would then call her on December 31 to apologise and promise her that the issue would be resolved.
But she found it hard to trust the assurances from the bank. All Amaka wanted was to simply receive what was due to her under the agreed terms.
FIJ emailed Sterling Bank and Doubble on January 15. Messages were also sent to both platforms on X on the same day.
When the investment platform responded to the email barely six hours later, it wrote: “We are currently reviewing this complaint and liaising with the relevant stakeholders to ensure we provide a comprehensive response to the customer. Please be assured that we are committed to upholding transparency in resolving customer issues promptly.”
Amaka got a phone call from a female member of Doubble’s support team the following day, which was January 16. The customer representative had some good news for her.
One, the monthly N9,000 payout as stated in her confirmation slip would be retained. When she asked if it would be consistent, the bank official responded in the affirmative.
Two, the payout for October, November and December — N27,000 in total — would be paid in no time.
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True to the words of the bank official who called Amaka following FIJ’s inquiries, Doubble started the payment on Thursday evening. They first paid N6,000 each for the initial three months.
The first three N6000 payments for each of October, November and December.
Then on Tuesday night (January 21), the bank paid Amaka’s interest fee of N3,000 for each month.
While updating FIJ on the developments on Tuesday, Amaka hinted that the bank’s response would not have been swift had FIJ not intervened.
“I am indeed grateful to you for this assistance of course their response wouldn’t have been this swift,” she said.
“I pray I will not have to bring this issue up for any reason in the future. Once again, I say thank you very much for your hard work and dedication.”
The post After FIJ’s Intervention, Doubble, Sterling Bank’s Investment Platform, Fixes Retiree’s Payout Issue appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.