Banks deal with irate clients as network issues ruin vacations
Customers waited eagerly in line at banking locations in Lagos, the nation’s financial center, as early as 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday to file complaints about various unsuccessful transactions that occurred over the Christmas holiday.
The Guardian’s enquiries indicated that the scenario was the same in several states, as annoyance over a poor electronic payment system and unsuccessful ATM transactions reached a boiling point.
When financial transactions soared nationwide during the weekend leading up to Christmas and Boxing Day vacations, banks and other formal businesses closed their doors to clients.
But since the channels were overloaded with increasing demand, depositors had a terrible experience with withdrawals at ATMs and Point of Sale (PoS) terminals or when making transfers.
Some retailers, including well-known restaurants and gas stations, shifted to “cash only” transactions as the crisis, which was being closely watched by journalists in Lagos, Abuja, and other major cities, persisted.
Regular digital contact methods, such as email and social media, were sluggish, with responses taking up to 48 hours in many instances as consumers battled the aggravation of not being able to access their money.
Most banks opted not to discuss the outage in public. However, employees who are aware of the difficulties defended the banks, claiming that changing firms is not doing enough to enhance their services.
The effectiveness of e-payment methods has deteriorated recently. Although there are no readily available recent government numbers, social media trending topics have been triggered by the annoyance of consumers.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said in its Financial Stability Report that complaints concerning dishonest and fraudulent actions by financial institutions increased from 1,973 to 2,483 in the previous year.
From 2,483 in the second half of last year, the overall number of complaints received against financial institutions in the first half of this year dropped by 2% to 2,432. The majority of complaints (93%), which were submitted, were against banks, while 7% were against other financial institutions.
According to the statistics, 35% of the complaints included cards and other electronic services. According to the apex bank, there were N8.13 billion and $0.01 million in claims, while N3.36 billion and $0.03 million in total refunds were implemented after resolutions.
