Bank That Paid Off Someone Else's Debt After I Repaid My Loan

Visiting the Bank Again to Inquire Met with a "That’s Impossible" Response

A major domestic bank made a mistake by using loan repayments from one customer to pay off another person's loan and only corrected the error after nearly a month.

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 13th, Mr. A, who lives in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, visited a nearby NH Nonghyup Bank branch on the 17th of last month to repay 30 million won on his apartment mortgage loan.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, when he checked his bankbook on the 8th, it showed that the loan had not been repaid, so he visited the bank again the next day to request a correction.

Mr. A expressed that while he was shocked by the bank's absurd mistake, he felt an even greater sense of concern about the bank's response. When he returned to the bank to inquire about the loan repayment error, the bank staff dismissively told him it was impossible.

Only after he insisted that they check the deposit details did a team leader come over and say, "An employee made a simple mistake and repaid someone else's loan. We will correct it." The bank staff did not explain how the loan repayment error occurred.

Mr. A reported the issue to the Financial Supervisory Service through the National Petition System and requested thorough training for the bank staff as well as an explanation from the responsible employee about what mistake was made and to whom the incorrect payment was sent.

Mr. A's son said, "It's hard to believe that a bank employee repaying one person's loan with someone else's loan is just a simple mistake. We don't know the background, but the bank has provided no explanation."

A bank official explained, "We heard that the mistake happened because there were many customers on the day of the incident. We apologized to the customer and reprocessed the transaction to ensure that the customer did not suffer any losses, including interest costs. We also sought understanding from the customer who received the incorrect deposit and restored the situation to normal."