The Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered 71 banks and other financial institutions to place debit restrictions on accounts allegedly linked to the unauthorised transfer of ₦1.34 billion from Access Bank customers’ accounts.
Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the order following an ex parte application filed by Access Bank after the lender detected the alleged fraud.
According to court documents, Access Bank discovered the incident on August 12, 2026, and said the transactions were carried out through its internet banking platform, the Access SME App.
The bank said its internal investigation revealed that ₦1,340,425,393 had been transferred from customers’ accounts without authorisation into several accounts held with Access Bank and 71 other financial institutions.
Access Bank subsequently approached the court seeking urgent measures to prevent the suspected beneficiaries from moving the funds further.
The court ordered the affected financial institutions to place Post-No-Debit (PND) restrictions on the accounts and BVNs identified as having received the allegedly unauthorised funds.
The restrictions are limited to the amounts allegedly received by the respective beneficiaries.
The court also directed the affected institutions to disclose the amounts recovered from the accounts and ordered that the relevant BVNs be placed on a watchlist pending recovery of the funds.
However, Justice Aluko declined Access Bank’s request for an immediate reversal of the recovered funds, ruling that such an order would effectively amount to a final determination of the matter before a full hearing.
Among the institutions named in the proceedings are major commercial banks, microfinance banks, payment service providers and fintech companies, including First Bank, GTBank, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA, Ecobank, Stanbic IBTC, OPay, PalmPay and Kuda.
The case was adjourned for further proceedings.
The development does not mean that the 71 financial institutions were accused of participating in the alleged fraud. Rather, the court restrictions were aimed at preserving funds allegedly transferred into accounts under their control while efforts to trace and recover the money continue.
