“Why was my account flagged on Cowrywise?”
“What do flagged accounts mean on Cowrywise?”
These are questions we get a lot from our customers and this article aims to address this. Here, we will explain the reasons behind this and also give details on how you can easily resolve flagged accounts on Cowrywise.
The State of Digital Fraud in Nigeria
As banks and financial institutions keep innovating to provide better solutions to Nigerians, digital fraud keeps increasing at almost the same pace. Digital fraudsters have been in operation for decades, however, their actions have increased drastically during these modern times. This has been traced to the increase in technological advancement, easy access to internet-enabled, high-end devices, and a rise in the use of digital banking services and online financial institutions which means more money is being moved online.
According to a BusinessDay Nigeria report, about N3.5 billion was lost to digital fraud by Nigerian banks only between July and September 2020, a sad 534% increase compared to the N552 million lost within the same period in 2019. This explains the need for proactive and effective measures to curb digital fraud in financial institutions.
So far at Cowrywise, we have been able to identify three categories of people associated with digital fraud. Based on these categories, we set up an effective measure to stop these fraudsters—flagging accounts.
Why We Flag Accounts on Cowrywise?
Flagging accounts is a security measure to prevent you from falling prey to digital fraudsters. The victims are, in a lot of cases, usually accounts with weak PINs or passwords that are quite easy to guess. This is why we consciously educate you on how to keep your Cowrywise account safe at all times.
Once an account has been flagged, no outgoing transaction can be made on the app. This means that you will not be able to withdraw to your bank account, transfer to another Cowrywise user or move money out of your account until the account has been unflagged.
An account is flagged when the algorithm notices some unusual trends or irregular transactions on the account. You may not be able to figure this out on your own, but we have put systems in place for your safety to point these activities out when they are being performed on your account.
Once an account has been flagged, no outgoing transaction can be made on the app. This means that you will not be able to withdraw to your bank account, transfer to another Cowrywise user or move money out of your account until the account has been unflagged. This is very helpful because it means that if your account has been compromised, your money will remain safe within the Cowrywise app and cannot be withdrawn. Great news, right?
How to Resolve a Flagged Account on Cowrywise.
Resolving a flagged account on Cowrywise is pretty easy and straightforward. We only need some important details to verify your identity and understand your actions. We will ask you a few questions and your account will be handed to you, once the unusual activity has been duly verified.
To start the process, we will need the following:
A government-issued ID card: This is basically to confirm your identity.
A clear selfie of you holding the ID card: Just in case someone else has access to your ID card, this helps to ascertain that you’re the one requesting to be unflagged.
A clear selfie of you holding a sheet of paper with today’s date written on it: This further ascertains that you’re making this request in real-time.
Once you have all of this, fill out the form here and attach the documents listed above to it. Our support team will then get on this.
How Long Does It Take to Resolve Flagged Accounts?
Usually, accounts are unflagged within 1 – 5 working days. Within this time range, the support team will access what you have submitted and reach out to you either via email, phone call or directly on the in-app support channel. This is to give you a great context on why your account was flagged and how to avoid being flagged going forward.
In urgent cases, you may need to reach out directly to our support team to follow up once you have filled the form, as that would help speed up the resolution time. In all, accounts are flagged on Cowrywise to keep your money safe and prevent unauthorised access to your account. It’s all for your own good. 🤗
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