NCB Working to Resolve Technical Issue Affecting Uber Transactions

The National Commercial Bank, NCB, says it’s working to resolve technical issues affecting Uber transactions made by some customers using their Visa debit cards.  

In a statement on Wednesday, NCB says the issue resulted in transactions not being charged to customers’ accounts, leading to unpaid balances and potential fraudulent activity.

Daina Davy reports.

Scores of NCB customers are expressing concerns about lump sum charges being applied to their accounts for Uber rides.

On social media site X, several customers complained about monies either being deducted from their accounts or liens being placed on their accounts. A lien is a claim or legal right to a debtor’s property or other assets.

Some social media users shared screen shots of their accounts with liens ranging from over $300,000 to $1 million. 

NCB says approximately one percent of Visa Debit cardholders—that’s over 8,000 accounts—have been impacted. It says investigated transactions date back to May this year.

The bank says during its review, it noticed that some customers completed an exceptionally high number of Uber transactions, with some exceeding 700 rides within a single month. NCB says this number indicated a possible misuse or exploitation of the issue.  

The bank says it has also temporarily frozen 300 accounts for further investigation due to unusually high volumes of Uber transactions.

NCB says it has communicated with Visa Debit customers regarding the funds owed and which will be processed for Uber transactions made. 

NCB added that it has processed the owed balances where there are funds in the accounts or temporarily placed liens on accounts with insufficient funds until the outstanding amounts are recovered.  

It says accounts flagged for suspicious activity will be blocked pending further review.