Recovering the money can also be a tough call which might even require securing a court order, the amount involved not withstanding.
It can be a nightmare when you realise that you have sent your earned money to a stranger, who neither knows nor even requested you to.
It might even be on request by a stranger or even someone known to you who tricks you into sending them money unduly. Recovering the money can also be a tough call which might even require securing a court order.
An erroneous transaction can also be in the form of an error while keying in the recipient number or even sending a wrong amount, usually above the intended amount.
Electronic cash transfer platforms like MTN and Airtel as other financial technology companies (Fintechs) have in place safeguards for customers to avoid losing money in various ways.
In this case, they encourage the sender to ensure maximum caution when entering the recipient number, including an automatic verification of the correctness of the number against the name of the registered owner of the phone number (wallet).
However, for one reason or another, a mistake happens, including the coincidence of having similar or almost similar names, among others.
There are theoretical suggestions as to how much money sent erroneously can be recovered, however, some are deceptive while others have limitations.
In case you realise that you have just sent the money to the wrong wallet, act as swiftly as possible, to reverse the transaction or at least have the money "stopped from moving further" as a solution is found.
MTN says when the sender calls the company informing them of a wrong transaction, the first action is to freeze the money if it has not yet been cashed, and it will not be withdrawn.
Contact can also be done through the self-help feature to initiate a reversal by dialling *165*8*7#OK, you then select the wrong transaction and enter your 5-digit personal identification number (PIN).
This will freeze the money and allow you time to contact the company for the reversal to be completed.
However, this feature works when the money has not yet been withdrawn by the recipient, otherwise, the response will be "You have no pending transactions".
After securing the money, the company goes on to commence mediation between the sender and the recipient to have the reversal executed.
"Once the receiver declines to cooperate, the sender is asked to get a court order and then visit the nearest MTN service centre for a reversal."
At Airtel, the procedures show that once you register a complaint of sending money to the wrong number, the amount sent is protected from any withdrawal and reversed upon fulfilling conditions.
The limitation here is that transaction reversals are done as a goodwill gesture, that calls for the cooperation of the other party.
"Before you send money, always verify the number and the registered names carefully, and confirm these details directly with the recipient before approving the transaction," the policy says.
Airtel also says that a reversal can only be initiated when the money is not yet withdrawn but after that, a reversal cannot be done.
As is the case with MTN, the recipient must consent to the reversal and should they decline to give the consent the sender will be required to process a court order for further assistance.
Lessons from a neighbour Kenya-based M-PESA, the largest mobile money service provider in the region, offers different approaches that can be used to reverse a transaction.
To request an M-PESA reversal on the M-PESA APP, the transaction must have been done by the customer himself or herself, using the M-PESA APP to request a reversal from the APP.
The transaction must [just] have been concluded, meaning that reversal requests for historical transactions cannot be raised on the M-PESA APP.
Once you complete a transaction and realize it was erroneous, you can tap on the Reverse transaction icon on the M-PESA APP, then select the reason why you want to initiate the reversal.
The reversal request will be submitted immediately and a notification that the reversal request has been received, and an update shared in two minutes, followed by another notification that transaction reversal has been started. An update will then be shared within two hours, according to the guidelines.
Safaricom will at this point begin engaging the other party, for the reversal and completion will also be notified to you.
To request for an M-PESA reversal via SMS to 456 the sender has to send the whole message to 456.
A message is then received from “Reversal" that the request for a reversal has been started, and that an update will be shared within 2 hours.
To request for an M-PESA reversal on the mySafaricom APP the transaction must have been done using the mySafaricom APP. The sender has to tap on the Reverse transaction icon and will be asked to confirm if they want to raise a reversal request.
You will be notified that the reversal request has been received for processing and feedback will be received within 2 minutes, and the rest of the process in the same as with the M-PESA App.
M-PESA also has a WhatsApp channel, "Zuri", which requires one to first save the number, 0722000100. The customer may then initiate a conversation by typing "Hello".
Zuri will then respond with their privacy policy, for the customer to read, and will then respond with a number of options for customers to choose from, like Manage subscriptions, M-PESA Help and Reversal, Loans and savings, and Tunukiwa, among others.
After selecting the option, the customer will be asked to type the M-PESA transaction code or copy and paste the entire message as the message.
The customer will then be asked to confirm their M-PESA details, by keying in the M-PESA PIN to authenticate that the number they are using is indeed theirs.
The sender will get a notification on WhatsApp, that the reversal request has been received and an update will be shared shortly.
The recipient will be contacted for consent before the reversal is completed.
