"Kindly Note": Opay Reacts to Viral Video Showing Weak KYC, Account Impersonation
- Opay Digital Services has addressed concerns regarding a loophole in its services
- Nigerians reported on social media how users can impersonate others by opening accounts in their names
- The payment company said a glitch caused the issue and that it has been addressed
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The digital payment platform Opay Digital Services has responded to the viral video of customers displaying how users can open an account using other people's bank account numbers.
According to reports, during the onboarding process on the platform, people were allegedly allowed to impersonate others by opening accounts in their names.
Source: Getty Images
Opay responds to alleged loopholes
In response to its inquiry, Nairametrics reports that the payment company said a glitch was responsible for the impersonation and that the issue has been addressed.
The company told the news outlet that it introduced bank account verification during the onboarding to aid users in easily authenticating their BVNs, stating that it removed the feature after discovering the loophole.
The firm's Head of Marketing, Kunle Adeyemi, said in a message that the identification method of the account onboarding process was added because BVN authorizes every bank account.
It stated that KYC verification can be done directly by NIBSS or NIMC or indirectly via bank account verification.
Opay said:
"The observation from the video was, therefore, a result of an exploited technical glitch, which has now been addressed. To clarify, we have taken down the Bank Account Verification feature, and only BVN & NIN identification are now listed on the app as verification tools."
Nigerians worry over security of platform
In October 2023, Opay addressed similar concerns regarding allegations of unauthorized account openings, Legit.ng reported.
The complaints from Nigerians on social media were that the digital payment platform uses their phone number to open accounts without permission.
He explained that a check was done on those raising complaints and revealed that they opened accounts three to four years ago but had since forgotten about them.
Adeyemi explained that the OPay wallet could only be opened through the CBN-established registration process, which requires the input of an OTP authentication (one-time password) from the user's phone to proceed.
“We've resolved it”: OPay speaks as customers allege fraudulent withdrawals, missing funds
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that OPay, one of Nigeria's leading fintech companies, has responded to allegations on social media that some of its customers are experiencing unauthorised withdrawals from their accounts.
A video surfaced over the weekend on X (formerly Twitter) showing some customers complaining about fraudulent withdrawals.
In the old video, which first surfaced online in August 2021, customers at the Opay office in Ikeja were seen protesting the withdrawals.
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Source: Legit.ng
