Dispute Resolution

Objective
This document specifies the process for handling disputes on the Whogopay Africa Payment Gateway, as well as the Turn Around Times (TATs) attached to the process.

Parties

The possible parties in a transaction are as follows:

  • Payer: The individual or organization who initiated a payment to a merchant on Whogopay Africa.
  • Merchant: The organization registered on Whogopay Africa for the purpose of receiving payments.
  • Whogopay Africa: The payment gateway that processes the payments by the payer to the merchant.

Dispute Resolution Process

The scenarios that can lead to disputes are highlighted below, each with the process for handling the disputes duly specified:

  • Erroneous debits on a transfer attempt
  • Erroneous transfer due to error by the Payer
  • Successful transfer but not reflecting on the merchant’s application

Regardless of the scenario, the process for responding to disputes is as follows:

Step Description
1. Payer Lodges Complaint The Payer lodges a complaint with their bank regarding the issue.
2. Bank Logs Dispute The Payer’s bank logs the dispute against our partner bank involved in processing the specific transaction.
3. Partner Bank Logs on WPAL The partner bank logs the dispute on Whogopay Africa, and the merchant is automatically notified of the dispute.
4. Merchant Accepts or Rejects Dispute The merchant can either accept or reject the dispute and provide evidence (proof of service or successful reversal).
5. Reversal of Funds If the merchant accepts the dispute and the funds are available in the merchant’s available balance, the funds will be reversed to the sender’s account.
6. Rejecting Dispute If the merchant provides valid proof rejecting the dispute, the sending institution is notified, and the dispute is considered invalid.
7. Payer Notified If the dispute is rejected, the Payer’s bank will notify the Payer of the reason the dispute was rejected.
8. Arbitration If the Payer logs the dispute again for the same transaction, the case may be referred to arbitration.

Fraudulent Transaction Resolution Process

Fraudsters may gain unlawful access to customer accounts and use these channels to process payments to merchants. The process for handling fraudulently processed transactions is as follows:

Step Description
1. Customer Lodges Complaint The defrauded customer lodges a complaint with their bank regarding the fraudulent transaction.
2. Bank Logs Dispute The defrauded customer’s bank logs the dispute against our partner bank/card processor.
3. Partner Bank Reports Fraud The partner bank reports the fraudulent transaction to Whogopay Africa.
4. Whogopay Africa Notifies Merchant Whogopay Africa immediately notifies the merchant about the fraudulent transaction.
5. Merchant Cooperation The merchant must cooperate fully by providing KYC information of the customer and taking other necessary actions.
6. Funds Restriction If funds for the fraudulent transaction are still available, they should be restricted, and the customer prevented from accessing them.
7. Refund Process If the funds have been transferred or used, the merchant must provide details, and if applicable, refund the restricted funds to Whogopay Africa for onward processing to the defrauded customer.

Turn Around Times (TAT)

The Turn Around Times for disputes on interbank transfers are as defined by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Transfer Processor. Below are the TATs for disputes logged on Whogopay Africa:

Description Turn Around Time (TAT)
Merchant Response to Dispute 24 hours
Merchant Response to Fraudulent Transaction 12 hours

Merchant Liability

Failure of the merchant to cooperate fully with the processes outlined above and failure to adhere to the specified TATs may result in the merchant being held liable for the fraudulent or disputed transaction. In such cases, Whogopay Africa Limited reserves the right to recover the disputed amount from the merchant either by deducting it from the merchant’s Available Balance or by other means.