N38,000 sent from palmpay to first bank account missing

 

Tolulope Olaoye, an Oyo State-based businesswoman, has told FIJ that a failed N38,000 trasfer from her PalmPay account to First Bank is negatively affecting her business.

According to Tolulope, she initiated the transaction on Thursday, March 30, for the purchase of bulk recharge cards. She said she sold stationeries and educational materials but introduced recharge cards to take care of her daily needs, since stationeries and educational items have seasonal sales.

“I buy the recharge cards in bulk and sell in bits,” she told FIJ.

“That Thursday morning, I transferred the sum of N38,000 from my PalmPay account to a First Bank account owned by Bodlink Telecoms, a telecommunication service provider, for the purchase of bulk recharge cards.

“On getting to Bodlink Telcoms’ retail outlet in Ojurin Akobo, where I ought to collect the cards, I was informed that the money had not been received.”

Tolulope said that she left after waiting several hours hoping that the money would reflect, as she had been debited.

“I left after waiting for several hours and requested that I got contacted once they received the money,” she said.

She told FIJ that she started to be worried when she reached out to the telecom company later that day and didn’t get a positive response.

“I got the phone number of PalmPay customer service online and I called it throughout the day, but it didn’t go through,” she said.

“The following day, I emailed PalmPay customer service and was told that a ticket identification had been created and I would be responded to shortly.”

Tolulope said she didn’t get a response, even after making another attempt. She also said that she reached out to First Bank but nothing had been done.

She further told FIJ she engaged in monthly general contributions commonly known as ajo to facilitate the smooth running of the business.

She said the money was collected from the contribution and she decided to reinvest it in the business by buying the bulk recharge cards.

“This incident is affecting me badly. I was supposed to continue my monthly contributions from the profit I earned from the business,” she said. 

“It will be difficult to continue selling the recharge cards if this money is not recovered. It will also cause a havoc to this business that I have struggled to build.”

FIJ contacted PalmPay and First Bank through their customer support email channels but received only automated responses. A request to connect with PalmPay’s customer support agent was not responded to.