First National Bank reinstates customer accounts impacted by debit transaction issues

First National Bank has completed engagements with its payment gateway partners and has decided to reverse all debit transactions passed on to some customer accounts as a result of transactions initiated on binance.com, a cryptocurrency exchange.

The bank explained that it had series of engagements with its payment gateway partners and the outcomes confirmed the bank’s position on the settlement of the transactions on Binance.

The Head of Retail Banking, Akweley Laryea explained that customer complaints on the foreign exchange adjustments and their effects on account balances necessitated further investigations into the transactions.

“Reviewing the details of customer complaints required that we quickly engage with our payment gateway partners to confirm the nature of these transactions and the complexities of the settlements which involved international merchants outside Ghana,” Madam Laryea said.

“These customers transacted in Ghana Cedis and that is how they paid for the transactions. The process however required a multi-currency settlement, and we are still engaging our partners to resolve this amicably.”

As an interim measure, all First National Bank VISA debit cards will be disabled for transactions on binance.com until the bank realigns the settlement processes with all stakeholders.

“For now, our cards will not be enabled for crypto exchange and related transactions. We entreat our customers to be abreast with the terms and conditions on our accounts,” Madam Laryea added. “We value the relationship with our customers, and we remain committed to helping them with a better banking experience.”