When Auwal Adamu, a businessman in Kano, transferred the sum of N2.5 million into his Payday account, he thought the seamless currency swap feature of the fintech would save him from trouble, but little did he know he would rue the day he created an account with them.
A frustrated Adamu told FIJ that some days after he swapped his naira for dollars in September 2021, he found that Payday had restricted his account from financial transactions but could not understand why until he contacted their customer service.
According to Adamu, Payday said the USD rate displayed at the time he exchanged his naira for dollars was incorrect, so they restricted his account while they worked on their systemic issues.
Adamu’s payment receipt
“But I know that is not true because the rate had been there for a week. And when we used these rates for transactions, they blocked our account. After I mailed Payday about the account restriction, they said my account would be investigated,” Adamu told FIJ.
“In the email, they said my money would be intact during the 12-week investigation and that once they were done, I would get my money back, but to my biggest surprise, Payday created some accounts and sent my money to these anonymous accounts, debiting my account to zero balance.
“They kept saying the account was still under investigation. Then, after three months, they said they owed me nothing and that they were supposed to debit more because my transaction had accrued a lot of money. Now, they have denied me access to my account.”
FIJ reached out to Payday via its support email, but the firm had not responded at press time.
