By Babajide Komolafe
Victims of Authorised Push Payment, APP, fraud can get their money back. However, this is not automatic. Reimbursement is based on certain criteria and these were explained in the last edition, as indicated in the draft exposure guidelines on APP released by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

It is also important to also know that reimbursement is not immediate. Victims of APP fraud may have to wait for 16 working days before getting reimbursed.

This is because the CBN allows the financial institutions 14 working days to investigate the report. Explaining the procedure for resolution of customer complaints about APP fraud, the apex bank stated: “Banks and OFIs shall establish reporting mechanisms that allow customers to report APP fraud incidents through designated channels, including customer service hotlines, email, mobile applications and in person at any branch.
“The designated channels may include, emails, SMS/USSD options, mobile applications, official social-media handles, and a toll-free service hotline which shall support multiple languages. These channels shall be operational 24 hours a day, seven (7) days a week.

“Any customer who is a victim of APP fraud is expected to, within twentyfour (24) hours of the occurrence, report the incident to their financial institution using the designated channels. Notwithstanding this expectation, customers shall have up to an additional forty-eight (48) hours to make such a report.
“Upon receipt of the report from a customer, the financial institution shall ensure that a formal investigation into the alleged APP fraud is initiated immediately.

Financial institutions shall acknowledge receipt of the report within twenty-four (24) hours and issue a unique case reference number to the customer and a summary of the review process, including indicative timelines for resolution.
“The full investigation shall be concluded within fourteen (14) working days, after which a clear decision shall be communicated to the customer.

“Financial institutions shall clearly communicate the outcome of the APP fraud investigations to the customer stating if reimbursement is approved or denied. “Where the reimbursement is denied, financial institutions shall provide reasons to the customer for such denial.

“Where a customer fails to report an APP fraud incident within seventy-two (72) hours of occurrence, and without reasonable justification, the financial institution may not be obligated to provide reimbursement, except where internal control failures or staff negligence contributed to the fraud.

“For the purpose of this provision, “reasonable justification” may include, but is not limited to, circumstances beyond the control of the customer such as illness, force majeure events, time of becoming aware of the fraud, security constraints, or demonstrable unavailability of reporting channels.”