Fintech company, OPay, has reacted to the viral video showing how people could open an OPay account in another person’s name by just using their other bank account number.
It was observed that the onboarding process for tier 1 OPay accounts allows people to impersonate others easily by opening accounts in their names.
However, Opay in a response to Nairametrics’ inquiry about the issue said the observation in the video was caused by a glitch, which it had addressed.
The issue around account opening on OPay came barely two months after the company was enmeshed in controversy over people discovering that they had an OPay account without opening one.
Addressing the latest concern, OPay said it introduced bank account verification during its onboarding process to help users authenticate their BVN more conveniently, especially, in situations where a user forgets their BVN. However, the fintech said it has taken down that feature from its onboarding process after discovering the loophole.
What OPay is saying
Responding to the issue via a message shared with Nairametrics, OPay’s Head of Marketing, Kunle Adeyemi, said:
- “Kindly note that the identification method of the bank account during our onboarding process was included because every bank account is backed by a BVN.
- “Generally, KYC verification can be done directly (NIBSS or NIMC portal) or indirectly (bank account verification). We introduced bank account verification to help users authenticate BVN more conveniently (for example, where a user forgets their BVN). For biometric validation, our system will verify the face of the user with that on the BVN database, or double-check with the user’s real name. This is combined with an OTP process which then certifies the authenticity of the user. This is more so, consistent with the CBN’s latest guidelines mandating BVN/NIN verification for Tier 1 users.
- “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.”
OPay’s operation
Since it launched in 2018, OPay has become one of the biggest mobile money services in Nigeria and has pursued an elaborate marketing campaign to win over new customers, particularly unbanked people who do not have a bank account.
To draw in unbanked customers, the company joined other fintech and commercial banks to simplify the registration process for new users, including removing strict requirements for identity verification for the most basic bank account type with limited features.
However, recent developments show that the fintech may be gaining more customers at the expense of proper KYC. The recurrent controversies around its account opening process mean the fintech may have to overhaul its entire onboarding process.
OPay Digital Services Limited is a company founded by Opera Norway AS Group with footprints in emerging markets across Asia, Africa and Latin America in countries like Mexico, Nigeria, Egypt, and Pakistan.
OPay claims it currently boasts over 35 million registered app users and 500,000 agents in Nigeria who rely on its services to send and receive money, pay bills, and many more.
Nigerian banks should stop attacking Opay just because it is rendering excellent services and awarding rewards instead of exploiting Nigerians. Face your own services and improve on them like Opay did, and stop trying to constantly destroy the one good thing that’s happened to us Nigerians in the banking industry.