Connecting Africa is part of the Informa Tech Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 3099067.

FinTech

MTN MoMo sues 18 Nigerian banks for alleged fraud

Article Image
MTN Nigeria's newly licensed banking subsidiary, Mobile Money Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB), is suing 18 banks in the country for alleged fraudulent loss of 22 billion naira (US$53 million).

In a suit filed on May 30, 2022, the fintech platform asked the court to declare that the amount transferred in error to accounts maintained by MoMo PSB belonged to it and not the banks' customers.

To recover the amount that was transferred to 8,000 accounts in the banks, the mobile money platform wants the Nigeria Federal High Court to compel the banks to refund them.

Among other reliefs, the MTN bank also wants 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, MoMo PSB CEO Anthony Usoro Usoro cited that MoMo PSB is the bona fide owner of the money transferred to various accounts maintained by the 18 banks.

The CEO added that the bank noticed that funds had been erroneously transferred from its settlement account to various accounts maintained by the Nigerian banks.

A system glitch is being blamed for the debits and the affidavit cited that when MoMo PSB's management was made aware of the incident, the service was shut down to limit the impact.

The lawsuit comes after the MTN bank received final approval for a Payment Service Bank (PSB) license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This came after a long battle by the region's biggest telcos to launch mobile money services in Nigeria, despite the opposition of government and the central bank.

Back in November 2021, MTN and rival operator Airtel both received approval in principle from the CBN for licenses.

Related posts:

*Top image is of MTN's new branding which launched in February 2022. (Source: MTN Group ).

— Matshepo Sehloho, Associate Editor, Connecting Africa

Innovation hub

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Key adoption areas for machine learning in Africa

ICT analyst Francis Hook identifies some of the key sectors that could be positively impacted by machine learning, including education, government services, healthcare and climate tech.

More Innovation hub

Latest video

More videos

Partner perspectives

All Partner Perspectives

Sponsored video

More videos

Industry announcements

More Industry announcements

Upcoming events

Africa Tech Festival 2024
November 11-14, 2024
Cape Town, South Africa
More Upcoming events

Africa Tech Perspectives

Story

Uber's Marjorie Saint-Lot on inclusion and sustainability in Africa

Uber's Country Manager for Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire, Marjorie Saint-Lot, shares how the ride-hailing company is approaching public-private partnerships, environmentally friendly initiatives and gender inclusion in Africa.

Story

The 100 most influential African leaders in 2023

A new report from Africa Tech Festival and Connecting Africa puts a spotlight on the top 100 African leaders in the telecoms and technology sector in 2023.

Story

Deep dive into East Africa's tech startup ecosystem

New survey reveals a lack of access to investors, reliance on international VCs and global recession trends as the biggest barriers for East African tech startups to access funds.

More Africa Tech perspectives

Guest Perspectives

Story

Omdia View: February 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in February 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included 5G launches in Senegal and 5G trials in Egypt as well as Kenya's first 5G MVNO. Airtel also launched a new wholesale connectivity business while MTN and Huawei are planning a joint Innovation Technology Lab in South Africa – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

Story

Omdia View: January 2024

By Omdia Analysts

Highlights in January 2024 in the Middle East and Africa included a $200 million fintech deal between MTN and Mastercard as well as 5G network trials by Telecom Egypt – that and more in this month's Omdia View.

More Guest Perspectives

Like us on Facebook

Newsletter Sign Up


Sign Up
Tag id test-002