Unauthorized Withdrawal from ATM/POS: Compounding Customers’ Nightmares in the Banking Sector of Nigeria

In recent times, a lot of bank customers have experienced a sudden disappearance of funds in their bank accounts and this has been a source of concern to the stakeholders in the banking sector of Nigeria. These are unauthorized transactions which occur without the consent or authorization from the customers. The unauthorized transactions may be in the form of illegal or unauthorized withdrawals by criminals or indiscriminate or multiple deductions or debits by the banks claiming to be ATM/POS transaction charges. In some cases, the entire life savings of a customer may be siphoned without any trace of the source of the illegal withdrawals. This paper examines these cases of unauthorized transactions in the accounts of bank customers and argues that appropriate steps should be taken by the banks to prevent unauthorized transactions in the customers’ accounts rather than rely an exemption clause which may not avail them when they are negligent. The paper concludes that the customers also have a role to play to guard against unauthorized withdrawals in their accounts, and recommends among others, that any customer who discovers any unauthorized transaction in his or her account should immediately report to the bank for appropriate action to be taken.