AI agents for business finance: what they can and can't do
What AI agents can do in bookkeeping, close, collections and compliance today, where a person must stay in charge, and how to judge a product.
The short answer
When another bank reports that money it sent to you was a mistake or a fraud, your bank can place a Post No Debit on your account under CBN fraud-desk rules, and the restriction normally comes off only when the complaint is settled between the two banks. In practice that means either you consent in writing to return the disputed amount, or you give your bank evidence that the payment was owed to you so the sending bank can withdraw its complaint; if neither works, the dispute goes to the CBN or a court.
This kind of PND surprises people because they did nothing at their own bank. Someone paid them, the payer's bank later raised a complaint, and their own bank acted on it. The release does not depend only on your bank. It depends on the bank that raised the complaint, and on what you can show.
Why your bank acts on another bank's complaint
The CBN circular on the establishment of Industry Fraud Desks (11 June 2015) allows banks to block accounts or place No Debit restrictions when they receive fraud complaints, and the CBN's Regulation on Instant (Inter-Bank) Electronic Funds Transfer Services of 13 July 2018 adopts it at regulation 10(3), according to a November 2025 review by the law firm Templars. The Court of Appeal relied on such instruments, together with the customer's signed account terms, in Kuda Microfinance Bank v Amarachi Kenneth Blessing (27 December 2024), where ₦5,000,000 had been received in error: it held the restriction could be placed without a court order.
The 2018 regulation also set out a process for wrong transfers. As ThisDay reported it in September 2018, the sending institution makes a written request, and where the funds are still in the account the receiving institution is expected to act within one business day; where the funds have gone, the customer is notified and may face watch-listing, credit bureau reporting or a law enforcement referral. We could not confirm on a CBN page how this is applied today, so treat it as background.
The two ways the PND comes off
1. The money was not yours: consent to return it
If the transfer was a genuine mistake, the quickest route is to agree in writing that the disputed amount can be debited and returned. Your bank sends it back through the sending bank, which then confirms the complaint is closed. Ask your bank to confirm in writing that the PND will be lifted once the return is made, and ask for the amount being returned. Do not send the money back yourself to a number or account someone gives you by phone; scammers use fake 'wrong transfers' to trick people into paying them. Our guide Someone sent money to your account by mistake? explains the pattern.
2. The money was owed to you: show the evidence
If you sold goods or did work and the payer later claimed fraud or 'mistake', you should not simply consent. Instead, give your bank a written statement and the evidence, and ask it to pass the evidence to the sending bank. Useful documents include:
- an invoice or receipt matching the amount and date
- messages agreeing the price, and proof of delivery or of the service
- your ID and, for a business, CAC documents
- a statement showing the inflow and what happened next
The sending bank may then ask its own customer to withdraw the complaint. If its customer was itself a fraud victim and your goods were paid for with stolen money, expect a longer process; that situation is covered in account restricted after receiving a scam transfer.
Steps
- Ask your bank, in writing, which bank lodged the complaint, the amount, the date of the transfer and the date of the restriction.
- Ask whether the whole account is on PND or only the disputed amount is under a lien. If only part is held, the rest may be usable; see hold, PND or freeze.
- Decide which route applies: consent to return, or evidence that the money was yours.
- Send the consent or evidence through your bank's official channel and keep the acknowledgement or ticket number.
- Follow up after the bank's stated response time. If there is no answer, escalate within the bank in writing.
- If unresolved, write to the CBN's Consumer Protection Department, enclosing proof you complained to the bank first, as its complaints page requires.
- If the amount is large or the complaint is false, a lawyer can ask a court to decide.
Worked example: a partial return
Example only. Tunde receives ₦250,000 in two transfers: ₦200,000 for a phone he sold and ₦50,000 sent in error by the same payer. The payer's bank reports both. Tunde's bank places a PND. Tunde consents to return the ₦50,000 and sends the sale chat and delivery photo for the ₦200,000. Total under dispute: ₦250,000; returned: ₦50,000; evidence submitted for ₦200,000 (₦250,000 − ₦50,000). His bank returns the ₦50,000 and forwards the evidence; the PND is lifted when the sending bank closes the complaint. He keeps a copy of every letter.
When the other bank does not respond
The sources we checked do not set a deadline by which the complaining bank must close a fraud complaint. Templars warns that standard account forms can give banks wide powers to restrict. If weeks pass with no answer, the CBN complaint route is the next step, and the courts are the last. In Paulyn Abhulimen v Zenith Bank (FCT High Court, 16 July 2025, a persuasive decision that may be appealed), the court found the bank negligent for failing to notify its customer of a restriction, which supports asking your bank for full written reasons.
Where Pryme fits
If you trade, receiving payment by bank-transfer checkout or an invoice creates a record that ties each payment to a sale, and a verifiable statement from receipts and statements can be checked by the other bank as unaltered. Pryme's Naira accounts are held by Solid Allianze Microfinance Bank, which follows the same CBN fraud-desk process.
Questions people ask
Why is my account on PND because of another bank?
The sending bank raised a fraud or mistaken-transfer complaint. CBN fraud-desk rules let your bank restrict the account while the complaint is resolved.
Can my bank remove the money without my permission?
Commentary from LawPavilion says banks generally need the recipient's consent or a court order to reverse a wrong-beneficiary transfer, except for system glitches. Your account terms may also matter.
How long does a PND from another bank last?
The sources we checked set no fixed deadline. It usually lasts until the complaint is closed by consent, evidence or a court decision.
What if the money was payment for goods?
Do not consent to a return. Give your bank written evidence of the sale and ask it to forward it to the sending bank.
Sources
- Templars: Freezing Bank Accounts in Nigeria – Emerging Judicial Trends (19 Nov 2025) · accessed Oct 2026
- ThisDay: CBN announces fines for failed transaction reversals (18 Sep 2018) · accessed Oct 2026
- LawPavilion: Erroneous bank transfers in Nigeria – legal remedies · accessed Oct 2026
- CBN: Consumer Protection – complaints management · accessed Oct 2026
This article is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Products described are provided under the terms on this site and are subject to regulation and eligibility.