MTN’s newly licensed Mobile Money Payment Service
Bank Limited (MoMo PSB) has dragged 18 Nigerian banks to court to retrieve N22.3
billion mistakenly transferred to 8,000 accounts in the banks.
Court filing in suit No.
FHC/L/CS/960/2022 instituted by the Mobile Money Bank against 18 Banks revealed
that the error occurred via a computer glitch.
The amount is about US$ 53.7 million.
In an originating summons dated 30 May
2022 and filed before a Federal High Court, MTN’s MoMo payment Bank is seeking
court declaration that the money transferred in error belongs to it and not the
customers of the banks.
The requests formed part of the reliefs
sought in the suit filed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Lotanna Chuka
Okoli (SAN) on behalf of Momo Payment Service Bank Limited.
Among other reliefs, the MTN bank is
also seeking an order of the court directing the 18 banks to individually account
for the sums available in their customer accounts and the sums which have been
removed by the customers and are no longer available.
In an affidavit in support of the
originating summons, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MoMo PSB Ltd, Mr.
Anthony Usoro Usoro claimed that MOMO PSB Ltd is the bona fide owner of the
aggregate sum of N22.3B which is maintained in its MoMo settlement account.
He averred that on or about the 24th
day of May, 2022, it was noticed that funds had been erroneously transferred
from its settlement account to various accounts maintained by the 18 banks.
Anthony in the affidavit further
claimed that a total of about 700, 000 transactions were processed with credits
made into about 8,000 various accounts in the listed 18 banks.
Upon becoming aware of the incident, he further asserted that MoMo PSB Ltd
management responded by immediately shutting down the service to limit the
impact and triggered engagement with the banks for the commencement of recovery
activities from the accounts of the various beneficiaries in the various banks.
The erroneous transfers, he claimed,
were due to the fact that MoMo PSB Ltd suffered a system glitch which led to
the said debits.
The MTN’s MoMo Bank’s boss in the
affidavit asserted that the 18 banks requested for an order of court mandating
them to reverse the credits made into their customers account before they can
do so, hence, the filing of the suit.
The plaintiff therefore prayed the
Federal High Court to compel the 18 commercial banks operating in the country
to refund about N22. 3billion erroneously transferred into their customers’
accounts.
It also asked the court to order the banks to provide information about the
customers into whose accounts the said funds were unintentionally paid.
MPSBL is contending that, under the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Regulation on Instant (Inter-Bank) Electronic
Funds Transfer Services, made pursuant to Sections 2(D), 33(1)6) and 47(2) of
the CBN Act 2007, it is incumbent on the 18 banks to make refund and provide
the required information.
It added that its resort to the court
was informed by the insistence of the 18 banks that they needed to be ordered
by the Federal High Court before they could act.
Source: PM News Nigeria