The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has ordered fintech company, Opay to explain account anomalies Nigerians have identified in the last few days.
As a fintech company, OPay uses users’ mobile numbers as their account numbers because it is a regulated mobile money provider. However, it is not yet obvious how individuals who have not contacted the business to register an account are seeing their number as an OPay account with their full identities.
Recall that social media platform X, is awashed with complaints by Nigerians who claimed their names and phone numbers were used to open an Opay account, without them actually opening the account with the company.
Sharing his ordeal, an X user, @hackSultan wrote, “just checked now and someone, I have an Opay account, same with every member of my family. None of us has ever opened an Opay account. How’s this even legal?”https://x.com/hackSultan/status/1708932123883680023?s=20.”
Another X user, @0sadebame tried this and confirmed that there is an OPay account for her two lines. “It’s quite a discovery. Both my lines have an OPay account registered to them. I’ve never used Opay before, she said.
@Lost_DWTBF, also confirmed this anomaly, when he tweeted that, “I just checked mine and is the same. @OPay_NG, is there a reason why my number is registered when I have never?”
Others were inspired by this to look up their phone number.
You can accomplish this by attempting to send money from another bank app, choosing OPay as the receiving bank, and using your phone number instead of the first “0” digit as the account number.
In his reaction, the chief executive officer, FCCPC, Mr. Babatunde Irukera, called on OPay to explain how this is happening and promised to provide an update.
“OPAY is bound to @fccpcnigeria to address and explain this and other anomalies consumers have identified in the last few days,” he said in his X post while responding to posts on the issue.
Meanwhile, Opay, in its reaction, said: “We are now analysing what happened internally after seeing these tweets yesterday. We ensure that all wallet owners are properly registered. It’s possible that some users have interacted with the platform at some point; but, before we answer, I need to hear from my colleagues and review the results of our inquiry.”
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