Page 8 - INSIDE ACCESS January 4th EDITION

TALES FROM THE BANKING HALL
The LATO
Loan Saga
It was the day before the New Year, 31/12/2020, an elderly man walked into the banking hall leaning heavily on his walking stick. He was a bit pensive and asked to speak to the BSM. After pleasantries and season’s greetings, the BSM asked how she could assist.
The customer, Pa George, shared a text with the BSM which showed a bank alert for a loan repayment of N9,950.00. The customer insisted he did not have a loan with the bank and wanted the debit reversed. The BSM proceeded to review the loan portal and indicated he had 3 LATO loans of N5,000.00 each and an outstanding payment of N15,000.00 to pay back in 3 months.
Pa George became understandably agitated. He explained he had no need for loans as he had successful investments that sustained him.
The BSM decided to investigate further and check his account statements. The statements revealed the customer’s account would be on zero balance, then a LATO loan payment would come in and immediately transferred to another bank account belonging to George Duke Jr.
The BSM asked Pa George who George Duke Jr was, Oh, that's my first son and he is almost 20 years old he said proudly. The BSM printed Pa George’s statement and explained in summary that “Jr is requesting digital loans on your behalf using your phone. Once he sees the alert, he transfers the funds to his own account.”
Pa George felt really bad that his son would do this, he went on to state he would discipline his son when he got home and that he would also explain the implications of requesting loans on another person’s behalf. He thanked the BSM for her assistance and bade her a Happy New Year.
The BSM felt happy with yet another resolved customer query and made sure to re- communicate to colleagues that they must constantly educate their customers on safe usage of USSD channels and protecting their phones and personal banking information at all times because cybercrime is real and sometimes you fall victim to the people you least expect.
Contributed by Lidadi Bassey
PAGE 8 INSIDE ACCESS | JANUARY 2021 4TH EDITION