13/09/2026
Something young people in our sphere of influence should know because in real sense, they are often most impacted by these situations.
If you get an unauthorized debit from your bank account and the bank tells you it was an online transaction done with your card, don’t panic. And don’t automatically accept that the money is gone. Hold the bank accountable and demand an investigation.
It has happened to me many times with Zenith and Access Bank.
On one occasion, I got several debits from my domiciliary account.
Some were $10, some $20.
I think it happened about 13 times.
When I called Access, they told me my card had been used for online payments and there was nothing they could do.
I told them my card had been with me throughout the period the money was being taken from my account.
Secondly, if they insisted that I authorized those transactions, I asked them to provide evidence of how I authorized them.
Where is the OTP?
Where is the PIN authorization?
Where is the second-level authentication or any other evidence showing that I approved those transactions?
They couldn’t provide it.
And this is where people need to understand their rights.
The CBN’s Guidelines on Operations of Electronic Payment Channels specifically provide that when a cardholder notifies a bank that an error involving his or her card has occurred, the institution MUST investigate and resolve the claim within T+5 days.
The CBN also lists the introduction of second-level authentication for card-not-present payments as one of its card-fraud prevention strategies. It requires banks to have measures for monitoring and protecting electronic payment transactions.
Now, this does not mean that every legitimate online transaction must necessarily come with an OTP.
But if I tell you that I DID NOT AUTHORIZE a transaction, simply telling me that “your card was used” is not enough.
Show me how I authorized it.
Of course, customers also have responsibilities. The CBN requires customers to protect their cards, PINs and other banking information and to promptly report suspected fraud or compromise.
But once I have protected my banking information, promptly reported the unauthorized transactions and denied authorizing them, the bank cannot simply wave me away with polished English.
When Access refused to reverse my money, I wrote them an email and copied the CBN and other financial regulatory agencies.
My argument was simple:
You are holding my money.
I pay you maintenance charges and other service fees partly because I expect you to operate a secure banking system.
If money leaves my account without my authorization, I am entitled to ask you to investigate it and show me how that transaction was authenticated.
You cannot simply say, “Your card was used,” and make that the end of the matter.
My money was reversed.
ALL OF IT.
So, if your case is similar, don’t let any bank bamboozle you with their polished English.
Report the transaction immediately. Put your complaint in writing. Keep your complaint reference numbers, emails, statements and every other piece of evidence.
And if the bank fails to resolve your complaint within the applicable CBN complaint-resolution timeline, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Consumer Protection Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria. The CBN itself provides a formal process for doing this.
Dedicate time to learning how things actually work. It will help you a lot.
-KAA
