Nigerians lament bank app crashes as transaction failure persists
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria's directive for the swapping of old naira notes for new notes, Nigerians have begun to lament the difficulties involved in the process, despite the extension until February 10, 2023.
According to The Nigerianwatch, people are not only having difficulty exchanging old naira notes for new ones in banks, but they are also experiencing bank application failures and a lack of cash from Point of Sale operators across the country.
According to some bank customers who spoke with our correspondent, the major banks have been the most affected since the beginning of the week.
Nigerians have now become stranded due to a lack of cash in ATMs and even over-the-counters, while app transactions have become a nightmare.
While the apps do not open in many cases, when they do, making a transfer becomes impossible. In other cases where the customer can transfer, the intended receiver is not credited, which causes a problem.
"My two bank apps are currently experiencing problems," Annie (not real name) told an Ogun State bank customer. They're delivering error messages. And occasionally, the request takes too long to process."
"It's the same thing when I try to get money from the PoS attendants on the street. "Many of them have closed down as a result of their inability to obtain cash from banks," she added.
Another customer, Obe Comfort, who lives in Lagos State's Gbagada area, complained about how the PoS attendants were taking advantage of the situation.
Comfort decried the increase in charges by the PoS operators that customers use, saying, "They now charge as much as N300 on a N1000 transaction."
"I would have washed plates yesterday if someone hadn't paid my bills after eating in a canteen. My expectations were high that I would make a transfer after patronizing them, despite the fact that bank apps were currently unavailable.
"It's a serious problem that requires immediate attention," she added.
Meanwhile, Mrs Tajudeen Abike, an Ibadan-based trader, said she had closed her shop due to the scarcity of naira and the difficulties the bank apps were currently experiencing.
She urged the federal government to find a long-term solution to the problem because things were getting out of hand.
The situation appears to be worse in other remote areas, as traders who usually come to the popular markets in Lagos' Mile 12 area bitterly expressed their displeasure and difficulties in doing business.
Mrs Adefilani Sumbo, one of the women who volunteered to speak on their behalf, said their efforts to obtain cash to purchase goods had been futile, despite believing that Lagos would not face the same problem due to the state's large number of banks.
"Despite the large crowd, we have been queuing at the ATM stand since the morning, hoping to get money to buy our goods.
"Only two of the four ATMs here are working. We've spent all of our money on ourselves and aren't sure if we'll be able to get the goods we came here for before returning to our towns," she lamented.
Despite the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, announcing a 10-day extension to the deadline to phase out the old currency, the new naira notes remain scarce.
The apex bank directed commercial banks on Thursday to begin issuing new naira notes in banking halls.
While the CBN continues to claim that it has issued more than enough new notes to deposit money banks, the reality on the ground suggests otherwise.
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