A customer has raised concerns about Equity Bank Kenya’s handling of a suspected payment scam after a failed cheque deposit left him with a KSh2,374 cancellation charge.
The customer, Okong’ Okuna, says he nearly released goods to a buyer who claimed to have paid through a bank transfer, only to discover after contacting the bank that the transaction was a cheque deposit rather than the RTGS transfer he had been told to expect.
According to Okuna’s account shared on X, the buyer insisted on using a bank-to-bank transfer, explaining that it was company policy. Okuna says he provided details for his Equity Bank account, which had no balance, so he could monitor the incoming payment without exposing existing funds. The buyer later informed him that the money had been sent and asked him to check his account.
The customer says the transaction appeared in the account history under the “Completed” section, and the buyer quickly followed up to ask whether he could send a rider to collect the goods. Okuna refused, insisting that he would only dispatch the items after the money was reflected in his available balance.
Suspicious about the request, he contacted Equity Bank directly. He says the bank informed him that the payment was a cheque, not an RTGS transfer as the buyer had claimed. He concluded that he was dealing with a suspected conman and stopped further communication. When he checked the following morning, the cheque had not cleared.
I call them, kind lady on the other end tells me that's just the process. Long as a cheque is cancelled, I get charged as well as the depositer. What that means is if 10 scammers target you with bad cheques in a day, you will be negative -23,740 at the close of busines, how is that sustainable? EquityBank what checks are in place to protect your customers against such bad faith players? This is unconscionable!
However, Okuna says his experience took another frustrating turn when Equity Bank charged him KSh2,374 for the cheque cancellation. He says a customer care representative told him the charge was part of the process, explaining that both the customer and the drawer could be charged when a cheque was cancelled or returned.
The charge has raised questions about how customers are protected when they become targets of suspected fraudulent payments. Okuna argues that if several scammers target one business with bad cheques, the resulting charges could quickly accumulate, leaving the innocent recipient bearing a financial loss despite having refused to release the goods.
His complaint is not simply about the amount deducted, but about whether the bank has adequate safeguards to protect customers from the consequences of suspected payment fraud. He wants Equity Bank to explain why a recipient who acted cautiously and withheld the goods should still incur a substantial charge after discovering that the purported transfer was actually a cheque.
The questions for Equity Bank are whether it correctly applied the charge, what checks it has in place to help customers distinguish a genuine RTGS transfer from a cheque deposit, and what recourse a customer has if they report a suspected scam before releasing goods.
For business owners who receive payments from strangers, companies or clients abroad, the case also highlights the importance of confirming that funds are cleared and available before dispatching goods. But customers are entitled to ask for a clear explanation of any fees imposed when a transaction fails.
Okuna is now calling on Equity Bank to explain the KSh2,374 deduction and clarify how it protects customers from suspected cheque fraud without penalising those who take steps to avoid being conned.