Lagos based integrated payments and digital commerce platform, Interswitch has been called out by a customer for incompetency over a failed transaction left unresolved for about a month.
The customer, identified as Oluwatoyosi Sokeye on microblogging site, LinkedIn expressed frustration that the issue, which she described as “trivial” could remain unresolved for about a month.
“Interswitch Group I have never seen more incompetency from any company other than yours. Your level of incompetence is very astonishing for a company such as yours. Please scrap your Quickteller as it is very very useless (sic).
“A transaction done on the 22nd of December has not been rectified until now. Something that trivial is very very amazing that it can’t be solved” Sokeye lamented.
While she blamed herself for patronizing the company, Sokeye demanded a quick resolution to the failed transaction carried out via the company’s Quickteller platform.
READ: Earthquakes: Death Toll Rises in Syria, Turkey
“I may not be significant and I don’t care but I would like the money I paid for a failed transaction to be reversed to my account as soon as possible”, adding that the company has lost a customer in her.
Similarly, she accused Wema Bank Plc of negligence over the same transaction, which is believed to involve the two companies.
“Wema Bank Plc I guess you people are already full and have now become too pompous to work on a failed transaction that happened at your end on the 22nd of December.”
In a swift reaction, Interswitch Group, through its official account on LinkedIn responded to Sokeye promising to address her situation.
“This is certainly not the nature of feedback we look forward to reading about our solutions and services, and for this experience, we apologize to you unreservedly.
“Please rest assured that we are keen to get to the core of the issues and to make this right as soon as possible”, the company stated.
While the company has resolved Sokeye’s failed transaction issue after about a month, the incident is one of many frustrating experiences faced by customers of financial and payments companies in Nigeria.
According to a report published in August 2021, The Cable quoted Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele saying “commercial banks have refunded N89.2 billion to customers over various financial-related complaints from 2012 to June 2021.
In a press statement titled– CBN Revises Timelines for Dispense Errors, Refund Complaints, published June 1, 2020, the apex bank mandated that failed “Automated Teller Machine (ATM) transactions,” when customers used their cards on their bank ATMs, would now be instantly reversed from the current timelines of three days.
According to the statement, where instant reversal failed due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal should not exceed 24 hours.
READ ALSO: Controversial Actor Accuses 2baba of not Giving Scholarship to Sound Sultan’s Children
The June 2020 statement reads below:
“The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in its determination to further enhance service quality, particularly quick refunds when customers experience failed transactions, dispense errors or disputes, has revised timelines for reversals and/or resolution of refund complaints on electronic channels, with effect from June 8, 2020, as follows:
1) Failed “On-Us” ATM transactions (when customers use their cards on their bank’s ATMs) shall be instantly reversed from the current timeline of three (3) days. Where instant reversal fails due to any technical issue or system glitch, the timeline for manual reversal shall not exceed 24 hours.
2) Refunds for failed “Not-on-Us” ATM transactions (where customers use their cards on other banks’ ATMs) shall not exceed 48 hours from the current 3-5 days.
3) Resolution of disputed/failed PoS or Web transactions shall be concluded within 72 hours from the current five (5) days.
4) All banks are directed to resolve backlog of all ATM, POS and Web customer refunds within two weeks starting June 8, 2020”.
