Published 28th Oct, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

Martins Olummanuel, a customer of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), has accused the bank and SportyPay, an online payment platform, of making an unauthorised deduction of N499,100 from his account.

On May 31, Olummanuel, a GTB customer was in the waiting area of GTB’s Kubwa branch, Bwari Area Council, Abuja, when he received a N100 debit notification for a one-time password (OTP). However, he had not initiated any transaction.

Although surprised, he did not take action immediately. He proceeded with a N5,000 withdrawal at the ATM, only to receive debit notifications for N400,000, N90,000 and more to SportyPay until the daily N500,000 limit was reached.

Subsequently, he approached one of the bank’s security staff for help. He was then ushered into the banking hall to file a complaint and was told he would be responded to after 45 working days.

GTB, on August 11, responded by mail, informing Olummanuel that it had contacted SportyPay and was satisfied with the response and saw no wrongdoing.

“After receiving your complaint, we reviewed the record of transactions on your account and noted that the disputed sum was withdrawn from your account via local WEB transactions SPORTYPAY,” its mail read.

“As part of our efforts to prevent future unauthorized transactions, we have gone ahead to block your Naira Master Card.

“We contacted the merchant SPORTYPAY and requested that the disputed transaction be terminated. However, we were informed by the merchant that the transactions were successful and service had already been rendered.”

The bank went on to advise him to accept his fate, saying they could not help recover his funds.

“Based on the outcome of our review, we hereby inform you that the bank is unable to accede to your request for a refund of N499,100,” GTB wrote.

Olummanuel put several calls to the bank’s customer care number, but the representatives reiterated that the email was its final position on the matter.

An email sent by FIJ to GTB’s customer service address had not been replied to at press time.

FIJ has earlier reported a similar fate by a SportyPay user. Hassan Baruwa, the customer, lost N500,000 in the same manner. Although the bank’s response was unfavourable, it refunded him after FIJ’s report.

Findings by FIJ showed that SportyPay, the merchant who carried out this transaction, has no officially recognised social media handle and website. Sportypay.ng redirects internet users to a porn website, while Sportypay.com and Sportypay.com.ng fail to open.

Also, a search on Twitter revealed various testimonies of people whose accounts were debited by SportyPay.

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