Ola Sadik, a Stanbic IBTC Bank customer, has narrated how the bank failed to return his N160,113 paid into a deactivated loan account eight months ago.
On March 28, 2023, Sadik obtained a loan of N605,000 from FairMoney Microfinance Bank, an instant loan firm in Nigeria, and was given a unique Wema Bank-linked Monnify account number 8637721550 through which he could repay the loan monthly.
When he paid the loan balance on May 31, 2024, through his Stanbic IBTC Bank account, Sadik discovered that FairMoney had deactivated the said unique Monnify account without prior notice, yet the payment went through.
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Having repaid the loan even before the due date, Sadik felt some relief believing he had offset the loan completely. However, some agents of the money lender kept phoning him, threatening that he had not fully repaid his loan.
Evidence of the transaction sought to be recalled.
Sadik maintained that he had cleared the debt but the threats continued. On June 11, FairMoney texted him that the account had been invalidated before he made the final payment in May.
“I secured the loan on March 28, 2023, and my monthly repayment was N81,350.00. Subsequently, I topped up the loan in July 2023 which extended my final repayment to June or July 2024,” Sadik told FIJ on Monday.
“But I had enough money to defray the loan fully on May 31 without waiting until the due date. Unbeknownst to me, the last repayment into the usual Wema Bank was not delivered to FairMoney and they started threatening me on the phone claiming that I hadn’t made the payments.”
A snapshot of the Monnify account deactivation message sent by FairMoney in June 2024
The lender insisted he had to make another payment as the previous one had not appeared in their records.
“I was not pre-informed that they had invalidated the Monnify account they gave me from the get-go. I explained to them but it fell on deaf ears. So, I made another full and final payment into another account that they forwarded to me via email,” he said.
FORMAL COMPLAINT YET NO RESOLUTION
Evidence of correspondence obtained from Sadik showed that the bank is fully aware of the complaint but has failed to resolve it.
FairMoney advised the borrower to liaise with his bank to recall the money. So, he submitted a handwritten letter on May 31 to a branch of Stanbic IBTC Bank at Ikeja City Mall in Lagos State. The bank then gave him a 30-digit session ID number which he later forwarded to the money lender.
Sadik’s handwritten request submitted to Stanbic IBTC Bank in May 2024.
Upon receipt, the lender stated that the bank was the party meant to reach out to Monnify to reverse the funds.
In an email on September 3, FairMoney said in part, “Please contact your bank to initiate the recall of the funds from Monnify and share with us the transaction receipt containing a 30-digit session ID. We are requesting for a session ID to enable us do a follow-up with your bank.”
A screenshot of an email by FairMoney advising Sadik to liaise with his bank to recall the money.
FairMoney then added a caveat: “Although this [session ID] will be ineffective without your bank.”
As directed, Sadik shared the session ID with the lender. The responsibility to recall the money, however, lies with the bank.
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Sadik said he had been “trying to get a recall of funds through Stanbic IBTC but to no avail”.
The bank acknowledged FIJ’s inquiry accompanied with the customer’s full details and transaction receipt on Wednesday, promising to provide feedback soon but failed to do so at press time.
A screenshot of an email by Sadik submitting the session ID to FairMoney.
“We acknowledge receipt of your email and apologise for the delayed response,” Stanbic IBTC Bank wrote. “Please be assured that we are working on your request and feedback will be provided soon.”
FairMoney, on the other hand, did not respond to an email sent by FIJ on Tuesday.
The post Eight Months On, Stanbic IBTC Yet to Recall Customer’s N160,113 From Deactivated Loan Account appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.