Is banking on WhatsApp safe? How Kolet keeps your money and PIN out of reach
Your money sits in a licensed bank, your PIN never enters the chat, and every transfer shows the recipient's name before you confirm. What protects you, and what to do if you lose your phone.
The question we hear most is some version of this one. Here is the straight answer: what holds your money, what stands between a message and a payment, and what to do when something goes wrong.
Your money is in a bank, not in a chat
Your Kolet account number is a real account at Rubies MFB, a microfinance bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Any bank app can pay it, and your balance is held there. Kolet is the way you talk to it.
Your PIN never enters the chat
From ₦5,000, every payment needs your PIN, and Kolet asks for it on a separate page, not in WhatsApp:
This payment of ₦10,000.00 needs your PIN. Tap below to approve it securely. The link works once and expires in 10 minutes. Never type your PIN here in the chat. Forgot it? Reset at heykolet.com/reset-pin
The link opens once and expires in ten minutes. Nothing you type in the chat is ever treated as a PIN, so anyone who asks you to send your PIN as a message is not Kolet.
You see the name before you confirm
Every transfer card shows the account holder's name, the bank and the account number, and waits for you to confirm. For a payment to a phone number, the money is held until the other person collects it, and you can cancel any time before that.
Nothing moves without you
Kolet never sends money on its own. Every payment starts with your message and ends with your tap on Confirm, and above ₦5,000 your PIN as well.
If you lose your phone
Block your account from another device at heykolet.com/block-account. It freezes everything until you recover access. When you have a new number, say so in the chat from the old one, or follow the recovery steps on the site.
Reporting a problem
Say "I need help" in the chat and Kolet shares the support contact. A person answers on WhatsApp.
Common questions
- Where is my money actually held?
- In your account at Rubies MFB, a CBN-licensed microfinance bank. Kolet is the interface to it.
- Will Kolet ever ask for my PIN in the chat?
- No. The PIN is entered only on a single-use secure page that expires in ten minutes. A message asking for your PIN is not from Kolet.
- What if I send to the wrong account?
- The name is shown before you confirm, and a bank transfer cannot be reversed after that. A transfer to a phone number can be cancelled until it is collected.
- What do I do if my phone is stolen?
- Block your account at heykolet.com/block-account from any device, then recover access when you have a new phone or number.