₦airaland Forum

Hi @Shoodboi Sorry to hear about your plight. I work for Wema Bank Plc and I want to help you narrow down on this issue. Could you please provide me with a mobile number to reach you on so I can take the details of the transaction and help further. I will appreciate your reply and the opportunity to help.

Shoodboi:
I am so pissed off right now.

I wasn’t angry when I broke the card. I just wanted to make sure that:

i. I will not be able to use the card or account anymore.

ii. I will be forced to open a new regular bank account.


The Story (in brief)

I suffered a failed POS transaction yesterday.

I sent Wema ALAT a mail and they are yet to reply as of now (almost 24 hours later).

I called them this morning and listened to a recorded message about how my call may be delayed because of COVID-19. I quickly cut the call. Their customer wasn’t effective before the virus came along, so I wonder what to expect now.

I later visited their bank and the customer care rep told me the transaction will be reversed within 14 days, if they were sure that I was really unable to withdraw the money.

14 days? Why is this so?

The money doesn’t even belong to me and the owner is very angry with me right now. Someone sent it to her and she wanted to use someone else's account to receive it, but I convinced her to use me—and then this happened.

Worse, she needs it for feeding and I don't have any money to give her. (She wasn’t paying me for the service in case you’re wondering.)

I suffered the same thing in the hands of GTB. (Their regular customer service email complaints@gtbank.com isn't even working anymore.)

In fact, I opened a WEMA Alat account because of GTB’s failures. I thought Alat will be better since they marketed themselves as a “Digital Bank”, but it appears that I was wrong. They are “digital” in name only.

This should be the third or fourth time WEMA Alat is doing this sort of nonsense to me. And that is without counting the failed mobile and POS transfers.

I am actually not concerned about GTB’s and Wema’s failures. I just hate their terrible customer service.

Failed transactions are one thing. I actually consider them normal. However, poor customer service and unwillingness to quickly solve failed online transactions aren’t. And this is unfortunately common with most banks and businesses in this country.

Now, I’ve have made the decision to stop going cashless. I will start moving around with cash henceforth. I’m sick and tired of all these failed POS transactions and sluggish customer service reps.

I know I will still do some online transactions but that will be occasionally (online shopping, international payments, etc.)

That said, I want you all to answer these two questions:

1. Which bank is reliable for online transactions?

2. Which bank has the most effective customer care service in this country?

I’m thinking of opening a Union bank account since I can see they have revamped their business, but I don't want to jump into conclusions as I did with Alat.

Could you all help me out?

P.S. Please UBA and Skye (if this one still exists) are out of the equation. I used them in the past and can confidently say they are terrible. They steal money.

I don’t want Access bank too. I’ve never read anything good about them. They and fraud are relatives. I don’t want Diamond bank either since they are the new owners of Access bank.

So, any suggestions?

Hi @Shoodboi Sorry to hear about your plight. I work for Wema Bank Plc and I want to help you narrow down on this issue. Could you please provide me with a mobile number to reach you on so I can take the details of the transaction and help further. I will appreciate your reply and the opportunity to help.

The closest branch to that axis i know is ORILE IGANMU 34, OPERE STREET, OFF LAGOS-BADAGRY EXPRESSWAY, ORILE IGANMU BRANCH however, you can call the customer support team on 08039003700 for more information on branch network and addrresses.

amandy:
Hello@Pabjaye. I'd wanted to open an account in Wema bank,but can't find their address. Am on the mainland,Amuwo odofin/festac extension area. Where's the closest branch?

Nice to hear! Let's Thank the Wema Bank Team.

Remember, you can always contact the service team (Purple Connect) on 08039003700 or 012777700, or write to Purpleconnect@wemabank.com for any queries you may have and expect speedy support.

I hope the issue has been resolved now. We will appreciate your feedback also.

This is acknowledging your feedback. Rest assured a speedy resolution and consistent updates as it happens.

Could you please provide your phone number so a representative can call you for support and help resolve the issue?

Dear Oluxy,

Apologies for the challenge you have been faced with concerning the access to your account with Wema Bank.

Could you please provide an e-mail address or contact phone number so the customer service team can reach out to you immediately to have this investigated and resolved.

Alternatively, you could contact the customer service team directly on any of the following;

Telephone: 08039003700
E-mail: purpleconnect@wemabank.com
Webchat: https://chat.wemabank.com/i3root/login.html
SMS/Whatsapp: 07051112111

shocker007:
I traced my statement and the Access fee started July when I activated my internet banking.
So what else are you saying it covers way more than that.?

@shocker007 Good morning. My statement means The Access Fee doesnt only cover Internet banking services. Being that you have an the internet banking service, that would also mean you have a registered e-mail address to your account. If you could provide a little more detail to enable us identify you, we would send you details of what access fee covers. We also do hope you are subscribed to our Wema Mobile. It is another great service of ours you wouldnt want to miss out on. Have a wonderful day ahead please.

shocker007:
If not for this topic, i won't know about this monthly access fee o.
Why is Wema charging me for Access fee? What access do they mean?

Pabjaye answer this and see attached image.

UPDATE: I've called purple connect and was told the Access fee charge is for Internet Banking.

Good day and Happy New Month @shocker007 Access Fee Charge covers way more than Internet Banking service. However, could you please provide me with a contact (Mobile number or E-mail address) to enable me reach you and asisst with any issues you may have

MyMentor:
U think d Bank wil let u knw if dey have prblems? Joke!
Ask ur fellow workers (if u knw any) who r victim of defunct banks and how it started.

Some people have information while some others wait for it to be told to them. I know where I stand. We appreciate the concern anyways but rest assured, Wema is good and strong! It's a statement of fact you can "take to the bank".

Adesiji77:
@pabjaye

I guess you have to take this up as well.

My apologies for this @Afuye. Can you please give me something I can work with and also get your case investigated with feedback. Can you please send an e-mail with your mobile number to purpleconnect@wemabank.com so I can contact you for possible resolution.

MyMentor:
sentiment and bigotory as a Wema Bank staff hv blinded ur sense of perception n judgmnt in such u think dat d 2 cases mentioned in dat post was accidental.
Radio Biafra hv postd it b4 this case was postd.
May be, because Biafra was involvd...

Even if they (radio biafra) posted the news last year, it would have still been wrong (incorrect). Its not about sentiments or bigotry but reporting facts. If news is a fact, it will remain a fact regrdless of the time.

MyMentor:
That bank is in serious problem if nt facing closure.
Radio Biafra postd d news on Fb last week.

What serious problem? Please listen to news from real radio stations to get your facts right. The bank just went national last week... I wonder what serious problem means in radio biafra

gElite:
Before I go on, please note this is not a sponsored post or an attempt to tarnish the image of the said bank. I know they are very active on social media platforms. So I believe i can be heard via this medium. This actually happened to my mum.

Just last month she told me to help her withdraw some amount from an ATM nearby, on getting there I discovered that all the money in her account was gone. A complaint was made and we were told there was a fraudulent transaction on her card so her account was temporary blocked till all investigations are concluded. They showed us the cash that was being held pending when all investigations are completed.. In my mind, i was like.. Good job! You guys are performers.
We were advised to block the card and request a new one. At this point my mum was like, they should block it and about getting a new one, Forget it. She said she wouldn't mind queueing to get her cash. So long it is safe.

We waited for about 3 weeks then we got a credit alert of the amount that was temporarily held but we didn't get a refund for the said fraudulent transaction (Voice mail things) although we really didn't bother because it was just about 1000 naira for Web recharge.

Just two days ago, Friday the 27th of November, she went to the bank (to queue of course) and withdraw her money. She was told she didn't have any money in her account that there was a repeated N1000 pay with capture transactions on her account till all cash was gone. So I asked few questions..

1. What happened to the blocked ATM?
2. What happened to the N4 per SMS alert she gets per transaction? Or is she defaulting for any month thereby making her suspended from using this service as we didn't get any alert?

They said they would look into it and get back to us. So we asked if there was any chance of recovering this cash because we remembered what happened to the last one as this case is not of the cash being held. Then the customer representative pointing at a member of staff told us.. "see that man over there, His last month salary was wiped clean not too long after payment and up till now it hasn't been rectified so she can't really comment on that" then I smiled.

When this issue was raised in my house, my bro said up till last month when his old wema atm expired, he said he could use both the old verve and new Mastercard atms to withdraw cash on any atm.. Was like, I don't bilivit.. Sis also shared experience of her friend's husband. He said he had to let go of his cash.

We have called purple connect and we were told this is being looked into. Be sure to get an update from me when I hear from them.

Now my advise to all Nairalanders ... It is very evident that WEMA bank hasn't gotten it's e-channel thing right, so my advice,
1. Maintain a savings account with them because they have fairly reasonable interest compared to other banks I have used.
2. Steer clear of their e-channels for now at least till they get things right. I'll recommend gtb, access or diamond. But GTB most especially.

What are your experiences with Nigerian banks?

cc: lalastical

@gElite

I am a staff of Wema Bank and I have read your post.

I am truly sorry for the experience narrated below on your mum's account. Please extend our empathies to her also. I want to believe your post is to achieve prompt and favourable resolution. Hence, I would please recommend that you provide again details of the affected account (account number) to either of the following contacts of the bank listed below.

Whatsapp:07051112111
E-mail: Purpleconnect@wemabank.com

This is to enable us assist and ensure this is not treated with levity or delay.

We would be expecting your feedback please. You can either repost your complaint including the account number to the contacts above or refer to the subject of the post. It would be picked up promptly.

Do enjoy the rest of your day please.

@gElite

I am a staff of Wema Bank and I have read your post.

I am truly sorry for the experience narrated below on your mum's account. Please extend our empathies to her also. I want to believe your post is to achieve prompt and favourable resolution. Hence, I would please recommend that you provide again details of the affected account (account number) to either of the following contacts of the bank listed below.

Whatsapp:07051112111
E-mail: Purpleconnect@wemabank.com

This is to enable us assist and ensure this is not treated with levity or delay.

We would be expecting your feedback please. You can either repost your complaint including the account number to the contacts above or refer to the subject of the post. It would be picked up promptly.

Do enjoy the rest of your day please.