Fidelity Bank has denied allegations of data breach and disputed the N555 million fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
Divisional head of brand and communications, Fidelity Bank, Meksley Nwagboh, said in a statement that the bank “conducted itself to the highest ethical standards by ensuring full compliance with extant laws on data protection.”
According to the bank, the alleged data breach was investigated, and it was discovered that an account opening request was received online, but the account was not operational due to incomplete documentation.
It further said due diligence was carried out and the account was immediately blocked and subsequently closed when outstanding documents were not provided.
Fidelity Bank, however, said it received a notice of investigation from the commission on April 30th, 2023, in respect of a complainant who claimed that their details were used to open an account in the bank without their consent.
The Bank said that based on the notice, it conducted an internal investigation into the circumstances around the claim.
“In compliance with our Data Protection policy, accounts created online without full documentation are not allowed to be operational and are closed after 30 days if the outstanding documents are not provided to authenticate the identity of the person seeking to open the account,” the bank added.
“In compliance with our data protection laws, the account was not allowed to be operational as the passport photograph and BVN were not provided.
“The account was immediately placed on ‘Post No Debit’ status as the applicant was expected to complete the account opening process by providing the outstanding documents for verification within 30 days.
“This was not done, and the account was eventually closed,” it added.
