GTBank Hit By Mass Staff Resignation, Banking App & USSD Malfunction

Guaranty Trust Bank, one of Nigeria’s top banks that prides itself in making banking easy has come under fire in 2020 and 2021 for actually making banking difficult for its customers.

Many customers have been left distraughted over their continued failure to carry out simple transactions on GTBank mobile app or via USSD.

This led to unbearable levels of embarrassment.

Downtimes

Naija News had gathered that many of the bank users at first thought it was a problem with their mobile network but this turned out not to be the case.

These frequent downtimes on the bank’s USSD or mobile banking services don’t seem to have been fixed as recent checks reveal that customers have been left with finding alternatives to carry out transactions.

It was gathered that a great number of GTbank customers have taken to social media to complain about their USSD platform, mobile application, unexplainable SMS charges, One Time Password (OTP) and people they send money to not receiving alerts, amongst other issues.

@gtbank the app has not been working since yesterday .fix it now pls

— 1click (@Kingsizzz) June 4, 2021

What is going on @gtbank_help. I am fed up with you guys @gtbank. Everything is stressful.
Why have I been experiencing this all evening 😩? Now it's CT11, no more E150.
I am starting to tire of your channels pic.twitter.com/cmLjiiaiEL

— Dr. Amina Ahmed El-Imam (@amkmusty) March 22, 2021

@gtbank why is your bank frustrating customers? I have not been able to access my GT Mobile App for days now. And when money is sent to my account I don't receive alert be it SMS or Email alert.
I recharged 1k few days ago I was debited, but my phone wasn't credited.

— Precious Oye (@BarrypOye) April 30, 2021

@gtbank_help,@gtbank GtBank, your mobile App is not working especially when you want to transfer to other banks, likewise *737# is not working too.

— Ale Babatunde (@AleBabatunde) June 4, 2021

Promotion and resignation

Some staff of the GTBank, who do not want their name in print told Naija News last Friday that the bank has carried out mass promotion this year, adding that this happened because the institution did not promote anyone in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19.

However, this has not stopped some members of the bank from resigning and taking up appointments with other financial institutions.

The bank’s Information Technology (IT) department has also not been spared by the resignation.

Most complaints of downtime on the mobile app and USSD services comes towards the end of the month when transaction volume increases due to salary payments and other month-end transactions.

The shortage of adequate staff has made it practically impossible to sort these issues quickly.

This GTbank thingy is a mass yo.
Alot of staff moved to Canada and other European countries immediately after the lockdown. The team worked remotely all through last year till some months ago. Immediately official mail was sent for resumption, massive resignation mails rolled in

— Modibbo. Sam. Olowolaiyemo Jnr ⛽️ (@iam_mohh) July 9, 2021

Nigerian banking is still in the stone age. Imagine a merchant being hit by this suddenly from nowhere because of the bank's own mistake? People should start suing these people for causing distress. The rumors that they lost a lot of tech people is probably true. I have left them pic.twitter.com/PLMVxMo9Nn

— Osaretin Victor Asemota (@asemota) July 8, 2021

USSD Charges

Naija News reports that the problem with GTBank’s mobile app and USSD is coming at a time Nigerians are being asked to pay a flat fee of N6.98 for each transaction on the Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) service.

A joint statement released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had said the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) agreed to the new charge.

The statement noted that the new charges replace the current billing structure, adding that the new fee takes effect from March 16, 2021.

It added that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami chaired a meeting of key stakeholders to discuss an amicable resolution in the interest of the general public.

The statement said it was resolved that effective March 16, USSD services for financial transactions conducted at DMBs and all CBN – licensed institutions will be charged at a flat fee of N6.98 per transaction.

It added that the impending suspension of banks from the USSD channel is hereby vacated.