Naira scarcity brings out the worst in Nigerian banks

By John Awe

The ongoing cash crisis afflicting the nation has brought out the worst in many Nigerian banks.

At the same time, some of the banks have risen to the challenge and have earned accolades from their customers.

A naira redesign policy introduced by the banking industry regulator, the Central Bank of  Nigeria (CBN) has led to the withdrawal of old high-value notes of N200, N500 and N1000 from circulation.

The plan was for the money to be instantly swapped with the newly redesigned notes of the same denominations.

However, this plan has not worked out seamlessly as envisaged. While the old notes have been largely mopped up from the public, replacement has been scarce to come by, leading to situations where citizens are left stranded even though they have money in the banks.

Bank customers daily besiege the Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) to obtain the elusive new notes.

Tempers flare in the process and fights ensue after people have been in the queues for hours without getting the required cash.

There have been cases of full-fledged violence in a few locations, such as Ibadan, where many ATMs were vandalized, Abeokuta, where one protester was shot on Tuesday, and Benin, among others.

The banks have been trying to manage the situation as best as they can. Many have optimized their online platforms, especially as people have turned to those online platforms to transact business following the paucity of cash.

Even petty traders, such as sugar cane hawkers and ‘Ewa Agonyin’ sellers, now use digital platforms to accept payment. Trending clips show some street hawkers using POS to accept payments.

However, in this resort to digital platforms, the lapses of some of the banks hitherto believed to be strong have been magnified.

Among this lot are Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank, two of Nigeria’s foremost banks. They have both taken turns to trend for days on Twitter largely for appalling service delivery.

Customers complain of unusual delays in the implementation of their online transactions.

The online service platforms of the two banks simply buckled under pressure and became unavailable to their customers on many occasions.

Internet banking platforms, mobile apps, USSD platforms and even customer care platforms were inaccessible for hours, forcing their customers to resort to social media to vent their spleen.

A frustrated customer, @Are_omotoyosi wrote: “Zenith bank should probably leave this banking thing and focus on Christmas decorations.”

Another, @dotunesNFT, wrote: “After all these Bank and Naira stress, one girl go come tell me make I come open Zenith Bank Niboooo😂😂😂 if I catch you ehn, iku pa e”.

When online trolling did not seem to be working, some of their customers became violent and reportedly threatened the safety of staff.

In a trending video, staff of a branch of the bank in Delta State had to escape from the premises by clambering over the back fence.

Zenith Bank on Tuesday confirmed the threat to its staff and shut down some of its branches in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other states across the country.

The News Agency of Nigeria, which monitored developments across the FCT and environs on Tuesday, reports that the bank’s branches were under lock and key in all the locations visited.

GT Bank is not any better. A quick check revealed that the bank has generated over 600 tweets in the last one hour as this report was being filed.

Most of the comments have been negative and related to poor service.

On the other hand, a couple of banks have earned the accolades of their customers.

A few of the banks that have been raved on Twitter as doing well in the ongoing crisis include Sterling Bank, SunTrust, Opay and Fidelity.

Sterling Bank, SunTrust and Fidelity have tried to keep their online platforms working fairly well and have tried to maintain some sanity in their offline service delivery.

There are a few clips online of the banks maintaining orderliness on their ATM queues and also occasionally offering their customers refreshments during peak hours.

See a clip showing Fidelity Bank serving customers refreshments here.

Sterling Bank also announced a waiver of all personal account transaction fees to encourage its customers to engage their digital channels.

Opay has also managed to withstand the pressure. Customers reported seamless transactions even at times when the big banks were struggling with network-related challenges.

For Nigeria to fully embrace the cashless culture, many of the banks will have to reexamine the robustness of their digital infrastructure as this ongoing challenge has exposed the inadequacies of their existing infrastructure.