- Several customers of the bank have continued to complain of difficulty accesing their accounts and delay in the delivery of transfers to recipients.
When GTBank PLC began operations in Nigeria in February 1991, it positioned itself as a future-forward bank and set precedence for banking in Nigeria. The bank also contributed immensely to providing what we now know today as mobile banking and other bank-on-the-go services.
The bank gained public trust quickly and grew beyond projections to become one of Africa’s best-managed banking franchises, with over 24 million customers across 10 African countries and the United Kingdom.
In the last decade, GT Bank attained a top position in the Nigerian banking industry as the bank of choice – especially for the younger generation and tech-savvy experts who want to bank on the go.
However, in recent times, the bank has been subject to huge criticisms for erratic service, especially with its online channels, which millions of Nigerians and Africans alike depend on for their day-to-day banking transactions.
Recently, it was widely publicized that Britain’s financial watchdog fined GT Bank approximately 7.7 million pounds ($9.3 million) for what it described as repeated failures of the bank in its anti-money laundering systems and controls.
Experts, however, disclosed that the anti-money laundering failures were not deliberate actions of the bank but the actions of unscrupulous elements who are taking advantage of the recent service failures of the bank’s online channels, which have exposed existing loopholes.
Exclusive Africa took a further look into the reasons behind GT Bank’s recent erratic online service failures. From the findings, it is evident that the current issues plaguing the bank can be relative to its shortage of key IT staff.
In its report, the UK watchdog said it took a move to fine GT Bank heavily again because of its failure to act on earlier warnings.
“GT Bank should have acted quickly to put in place adequate AML controls following its fine in 2013 but it failed to do so. GT Bank did not develop a plan that was capable of addressing its AML weaknesses, exposing it and the broader market to financial crime risks for a prolonged period,” said Mark Steward, executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight of FCA.
“Firms must protect themselves and those dealing with them from financial crime risks, especially money laundering. The FCA is determined to ensure the market for financial services is safe, clean and trusted with robust systems and controls in place to stymie financial crime.”
The document released by the watchdog also revealed that the bank did not dispute the claims. “GT Bank has not disputed the FCA’s findings and agreed to settle.” Experts say this is another action confirming the bank’s knowledge of its shortcomings.
The shortcomings here refer to a shortage of IT staff, as the company continues to be rocked with mass exits and staff overloads which has led to continued mobile app and USSD transaction failures. A comparative online analysis conducted by TC Insights of customer complaints on Twitter about the GT Bank mobile app and USSD services between the first half of 2020 and 2021 showed a 54% spike as more customers were willing to air their frustrations.
According to a report by TechCabal on a review it carried out on 19 former and current employees of GT bank’s IT division, it noted that “the division has suffered a spike in attrition within the last six months. It has resulted in technical gaps and work overload for current employees.
“At least ten team members resigned this year from the application development team, a unit which often consists of 20 members, according to a former software developer with the bank.”
Quoting a staff member who pleaded anonymity, the report revealed that “there’s a particular team where three members left in the space of one month. Now, four people’s responsibilities are being juggled by one person.”
Along with this, Exclusive Africa sought to find out the experiences of some customers of the bank. Several individuals complained of repeated difficulty in signing into their account on the GTBank mobile bank and it regularly becomes a case of luck as they never know if they’ll be able to easily log in.
One respondent said, “All through this past weekend, I’ve been virtually locked out of my account, I can’t seem to access my account on the mobile app no matter the network I try using.”
Another respondent said, “After multiple attempts in signing in, when I finally did, I transferred an amount to someone and till now, the person is yet to receive it. I have tried reaching out to the bank via their customer care line but no response.”
It is evident that the constant loss of experienced talents and key IT personnel without concrete measures by the bank to fill the positions has contributed to the lapses that translate to poor services, that the bank has experienced in recent times.
This gap is exposed when there is a server outage or at the end of the month when the bank experiences an increase in the number of transactions, especially as a result of salary payouts and other needs.
For GT Bank to retain its position in the African banking space, there is no doubt that the bank needs to employ more experienced hands in operations and IT departments. What are your thoughts?
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