Ayo Bamidele (real name withheld), a Lagos State resident, has accused First Bank of clearing his N147,869 barely a day after he got a salary advance from the bank.

Bamidele told FIJ he took a loan of N236,073 on February 23, 2023, and the bank was meant to deduct it from his salary 30 days after.

He said he spent out of the money that same day but First Bank removed the remaining N147,869 in his account on February 24 and left him with a negative balance.

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The description of the debit alerts showed that the money was erroneously deducted to repay the loan Bamidele had just received the previous day.

When he called the bank, a customer care representative said that an electronic error triggered the issue and it would be resolved.

The Lagos resident said the bank had deducted a total N11,987 as interest, insurance, tax and management charges after disbursing the loan to him on February 23.

While explaining the incident to FIJ, Bamidele said, “They took the money and my account now has a negative balance of N88,203. This means whenever my account is funded, they will remove that money.

“I contacted the bank’s customer care that same day, and the lady who responded said it was an electronic error and it would be escalated to the appropriate quarters. 

“I have been sending mails with evidence since then, but I have not received any response.”

He further told FIJ that he visited a branch of the bank on Sanusi Street, Victoria Island, on March 1, where a bank representative said there was no network to view the status of the disputed transaction. 

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“All their channels to send complaints are not going through anymore. First Bank should give me back all my money and take their loan when it is due or they should return the N12,000 charge they took earlier,” said Bamidele.

First Bank could not be reached for comments, as the messages sent on March 3 had not been responded to.