Kuda Bank has released a statement in light of the recent allegations made by customers towards the bank, about Kuda allegedly reporting clients to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The outrage was further fueled by a statement from one Bryson Adah Cole, who stated that Kuda had called the EFCC on a friend to explain how he had received N800,000 in his account. Cole stated that the young man who made legitimate money from graphic designing was tricked into appearing before Kuda physically, so that he could be arrested.
In the statement, Kuda reiterated its status as a bank of the people and a bank that is constantly on the side of the people. However, the bank reminded the general public of its status as a licensed financial institution whose license is accompanied by rules and regulations that must be followed.
The bank appealed to customers, saying that as much as the bank is on the side of the people, it cannot afford to flout the rules laid down by the apex bank (Central Bank of Nigeria) concerning cryptocurrency transactions. Disobedience of the rules may eventually lead to a revoked license, according to the bank.
The bank then went ahead to state that if a customer happens to use their Kuda account in a way that goes against the stipulations of the law, the bank must follow the law and mete out the appropriate penalty. In some cases, this could involve merely asking the client what the account is being used for.
However, the bank states that in cases of obvious fraud, it will report the client to the appropriate authorities (as the law stipulates) and close said client’s account so that the client will not defraud more people with that account.
The “bank of the free” ended the statement by appealing to customers not to engage in cryptocurrency transactions with their Kuda accounts, because any account found guilty will be closed.
A source inside Kuda corroborated the statement to Nairametrics, stating that the bank would never close customer accounts without a reason. The source went ahead to say that closed accounts must have gone against the CBN policy, and that accounts closed incorrectly can still be reactivated.
He admitted that the bank is losing money by not trading cryptocurrencies, but still has to abide by the rules of the CBN.