Following complaints by Nigerians on social media, claiming to have discovered owning an account with digital payment platform, OPay without formally registering with the company, the firm has come out to explain its position.
    
OPay, as a licensed mobile money operator, uses customers’ mobile numbers as their account details.  On Tuesday, several people took to the platform, X (Twitter) to complain about sudden ownership of OPay account numbers.
   
A user, @hackSultan wrote: “I just checked now to discover 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?”
   
Another, @Lost DWTBF, penned: “I just checked mine and it is the same. @OPay_NG, is there a reason why my number is registered when I have never?”
Indeed, checks showed that it appears the platform might have knowingly or unknowingly warehoused some data prior to this time. To check the veracity of the claim, a phone number that has never been registered with OPay, using a Zenith Bank app, and it indeed brought the user’s (tester) details.
   
A transaction was initiated to transfer N200 to the account and it went through. A debit alert was received from Zenith Bank. But in a response made available to The Guardian yesterday, by Head, Marketing, OPay Digital Services Limited, Adekunle Adeyemi, said it was discovered that those complaining actually opened accounts with the platform about three to four years ago, but have forgotten. 
    
He said: “Some 24 hours ago, we got information that there were active accounts/wallets on our OPay app, which the owners alleged had been created without their knowledge and/or consent. We had then immediately commenced an investigation to determine the authenticity of these claims as all OPay wallets are adequately registered in line with regulatory requirements.
   
“Based on our investigation, we discovered that these accounts were indeed opened by the owners at different times, but generally between 2019 and 2020. When contacted by our team, some of the individuals have however claimed not to remember whether/when they opened the account. At least four of the complaints received via social media have been checked, and all four of them have been contacted to resolve the concerns raised.
  
“It is imperative to note that some of these accounts have had no balance in them since they were opened. As a law-abiding, strictly regulated entity, we have unequivocally inquired of these individuals if they would like to retain the accounts, and we obliged based on their responses.”
   
 Adeyemi explained that the OPay wallet can 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.
   
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) had called on the company to explain the current challenges surrounding its operations in Nigeria.
  
The Chief Executive Officer, Babatunde Irukera, had said in an X post: “OPAY is bound to @fccpcnigeria address and explain this and other anomalies consumers have identified in the last few days.”