Abiodun Badmus, a resident of Lagos State, has expressed his frustration with Access Bank’s handling of a N360,000 sum he mistakenly transferred to the wrong account number on July 26 while in Yola, Adamawa State.
Speaking to FIJ on Wednesday, Badmus explained that he had intended to pay someone for a service rendered but accidentally sent the money to the wrong Access Bank account. Upon realizing his error, he promptly visited an Access Bank branch in Yola to report the issue and seek assistance.
However, Badmus was advised by a bank official to obtain a court order before the bank could initiate the fund recovery process. Despite submitting the required court order on August 8, Badmus has yet to receive any positive response from Access Bank regarding the recovery of his money.
“If the transfer had been made to an account number belonging to another bank, I would understand that recovering such monies would be difficult,” Badmus told FIJ. “This is an erroneous transfer between two Access Bank accounts, and I have submitted a court order like they requested.”
Badmus expressed his disappointment with the bank’s lack of action, noting that more than two months have passed since the incident occurred. He also mentioned that he had contacted the bank’s customer care desk for a resolution but had not received any concrete or fruitful response.
When contacted by FIJ on Wednesday, an Access Bank customer care official, who remained anonymous, stated, “Please be informed that the investigation into your complaint is still ongoing, and it has not been overlooked. Our legal team is actively investigating the matter, and once we receive feedback and recommendations from them, it would be communicated to our customer. We assure you it won’t take too long.”
However, in a follow-up interview with Badmus on Friday, he revealed that he had been receiving similar responses from Access Bank for the past two months, with the bank repeatedly assuring him that their team was working on recovering the N360,000.
The incident highlights the challenges customers may face when attempting to recover funds erroneously transferred to the wrong account, even within the same bank. Access Bank’s delay in resolving the matter has left Badmus in a state of limbo, as he awaits the return of his money.