By Bidemi Smith
Nigeria’s leading bank, Guarantee Trust Bank(Gtb) has reacted to the unavailability of its online services which caused its customers worldwide severe pains and frustration as they battle without success to perform financial transactions.
Millions of the Gtb customers across the globe woke up on Easter Sunday morning to log into the Bank’s app or open its other transaction channels but found it impossible to do so. This caused many of them pains and frustration. Many lost millions of Naira due to failed transactions occasioned by the unavailability of the online service. A customer who expected payment for a job done lamented the loss he suffered as a result of the Gtb’s loss of its online channels.
” It was a very painful experience for me. I was expecting one of my customers to transfer N5m to me on Sunday, being the payment of the goods supplied, but for more than 24 hours, he could not send the money. Initially, I was suspicious, thinking he didn’t have the money to pay, and was just using poor network as an excuse. But later, the information started spreading as many people also complained of their inability to make financial transactions. The situation caused me the need ro use the payment to buy more goods which made me lose several millions I would have made in profit”, the customer who preferred not be named told Storm.
Another customer who was stuck at the NNPC petrol station in Alapere area of lagos lamented the horrible experience he went through as a result of the service loss by Gtb. Said he: I had filled my car’s tank at the NNPC fuel station at Alapere and wanted to pay through POS with my Gtb ATM card, but to my shock and total embarrassment my account could not be accessed. I spent over two hours before a friend of mine who came to also buy fuel there rescued me”.
However, Gtb in a statement sent across to its customers worldwide admitted the crisis suffered by its online operations and the attendant pains it inflicted on its customers. The bank offered apology, with assurance of commitment to providing uninterrupted services.
The bank wrote: ” Dear Customer,
We would like to sincerely apologize to you for every inconvenience you experienced earlier today, as a result of the unavailability of our online banking channels.
We understand that you rely on the availability of our services to carry out important financial transactions, and we remain committed to providing uninterrupted services to you, our esteemed customer, at all times.
Kindly accept our apologies for every inconvenience. We will continue to strive to ensure optimal uptime of all our services.
We thank you very much for your understanding, for bearing with us during the disruption, and thank you for choosing to bank with us”.
