Published 21st Apr, 2023

By Abimbola Abatta

Ade Okam (not real name), an Information Technology (IT) specialist in Rivers State, transferred N2 million from his Access Bank account on February 2, 2023, but the recipient’s account was never credited.

While detailing the incident, Okam told FIJ he sent the money at the peak of the recent cash crunch to his childhood friend who owns a point of sale (PoS) business in the state.

“Deposits and withdrawals were overwhelming him. A friendly agreement was reached when we spoke, and I sent the money to his Baxi PoS wallet. POS charges at that point were high. The agreement was that I could get 40 percent from the commission generated,” said Okam.

“Now, I lost out in the business profits and still don’t know where my money is. The money has really put me into debt and embarrassment.”

When he first reported the issue at an Access Bank branch, a customer care representative told him the money would be reversed within 14 working days.

Okam got a notification that the transaction was successful, but his friend didn’t receive a credit alert.

Okam said his friend never got the money because the transaction did not reflect in the statement of account he got from Baxi.

“I also contacted Baxi on WhatsApp. After they ran a check on it, they said the money never reflected. They asked me to go to my bank and raise a complaint. I went to Access Bank, Abuloma branch, again, but they sent an email that the case had been closed,” said Okam.

“I was surprised because the head of their settlement team took up the issue and said she would send a report to Lagos. She even said I should send the transaction ID to Baxi so they could investigate it again. They insisted that the money never got to them.”

Noting that all his efforts to rectify the issue had made no difference, Okam said, “My bank has maintained that the transaction is successful. And Baxi has repeatedly said they didn’t receive the said amount.”