Our Pain with Centenary Bank: Clients tell stories of hopelessness and pain
By Our Reporters
Last week, the Kampala Gazette carried a story of a client whose money was illegally withdrawn from her account at Centenary Bank.
The incident occurred on May 8, 2024, where an unauthorized transaction in Dorah Kamwine’s account through the CenteMobile Channel led to her losing Shs 1.950.000 and later Shs 130, 000.
She reported the matter to the bank. However, the bank said that their investigation pointed to a compromise on the side of Kamwine.
“The above findings suggested that the person who performed those transactions had physical contact with your phone, SIM card, account number, and CenteMobile credentials, thereby enabling them to perform the transactions,” reads Centenary Bank’s response to Kamwine.
Kamwine insists that “I never used the app where my money was taken.”
Recently, she took the matter to X, a social media platform.
The bank bowed to pressure hours later and refunded Shs 2 million to her account.
However, it appears this is just one case of a lucky client with a huge following on social media.
Comments on the stories earlier carried on our digital platforms tell stories of hopelessness and pain.
The comments
Roja Kwagala
I have lost about UGX 1.5 million from my account, and these transactions were carried out using my Visa card. The bank informed me that they are conducting an investigation into the matter. Unfortunately, it has been over a month now, and I have not received any update or response from them.
Burora Herbert Anderson
It’s common with @CentenaryBank. In March 2024, I lost 7m in a similar manner. After so many thoughts of what it could cost to claim that money, I chose to let go and stopped using Centenary Account.
Bua Moses
I also lost 200000k some time back in Gulu, I reported it but they keep telling me we are working on it up to now nothing is done about 6months
Opiyo Alfred
I, too, deposited some worthy 300k to my brother’s account. After one week, the money was not reaching the man. I went back to the bank with all the details of the transactions. I was promised that the money was debited or credited to the accounts. In the third week, I changed my colours, and I told them I would not leave this bank unless the owner gets his money. It’s very true that centenary banks have issues that need to be addressed by the board or managers concerned.
Inside job
According to a former banker, Bosco Ogoga, most fraudulent transactions are inside jobs.
In a comment, he says that:
With seventeen years in banking I got to learn so many types of transactions carried out by banks. Using my own experience, most fraudulent transactions carried out are inside jobs/involvements. This is mostly done with the full knowledge of bank staff or failure to ensure a process is complete. All bank transactions relate to left and right. That means for every debit transaction, there must be a corresponding credit. This is the core when investigating such cases. Financial inclusion has brought about using third parties in order for certain transactions to go through. This has however brought in “middle men” who view abuse the transaction flow causing fraudulent activities. It is common knowledge that one should always guard their PIN,etc. My advice is that when a client insists that the transaction was not done by them, then you need to treat it as a learning process. Many times bankers rubbish their customers claims and monies remain unclaimed due to staff knowledge gaps, lack of competence to understand and investigate the transaction, laziness,etc. Customers are therefore left to the mercy of the Lord.
What is your experience banking with Centenary Bank? Text the editor on 0753739432
