Poor Service Networks: Urging Banks’ Image Managers To Keep Customers Informed -By Isaac Asabor

There is no denying the fact that since the leadership of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made its intent known in November 2022 that it would launch new currency designs to replace the naira notes from December 15, 2022, that not a few bank customers have been having negative digital experiences when interacting with banks due to persistent system outages or app downtime. The reason for the foregoing view cannot be pooh-poohed as disappointed customers with each passing day continue to narrate their sad and frustrating experiences on both social media and conventional media platforms, and even personally in offices, markets, and neighborhoods. Their experiences, as gathered, paint a negative picture of banks given the increased use of Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) channels by customers to engage with their service providers.

For instance, Mr. Kingsley Imaseun, who was unarguably distraught when engaged at a media parley by this writer narrated how he was literarily detained at an eatery where he went to eat as the money transfer he made in his bid to make payment for the drinks and food he bought was not timely credited to the seller.  According to him, after consuming the food and drinks which costs N1800, he severally tried to make the transfer from his account to that of the seller, and unfortunately, the credit alert emanating from his transfer was not seen by the restauranteur who on that note insisted that she must see the alert before he leaves. According to Imaseun, he spent close to 3 hours at the eatery while waiting for the confirmation of the payment made to the seller through a USSD transfer format.

In a similar vein, Mr. Matthew Arokola said he got frustrated and pissed off with Nigerian banks when he on a particular day severally made monetary transactions with his bank’s USSD short code but continued to receive unresponsive code messages that say “Transaction Declined” only to afterward repeatedly receive debit alerts from his bank for transactions that were not consummated.

Also in a similar vein, there were instances where customers who attempted to check the balance status of their accounts were debited applicable USSD charges of N6.98 in each transaction as approved by the CBN even when all transactions made were not consummated as they were all declined transactions.

Without a doubt, many banks have since the move to replace the old naira notes with the newly introduced notes been dealing with angry or unhappy customers due to shoddy services, and without being told, one can in this context guesstimate that it has not been easy for the banks in calming the frayed nerves of not a few of their customers.

Unfortunately, it is not an exaggeration to say that virtually all banks are not talking to their customers about the causes of the digital service glitches that they are all experiencing. As it seems, it is obvious that the banks do not know what to say, and there is no denying the fact that if they know what to tell their customers, and how to say it, that such public relations effort would have saved the situation and portrayed them in good light. In fact, updating their customers would have placed them on the pedestal of even ending up with a better relationship with their customers than they had prior to the prevailing service network challenge.

In fact, if there is a frustrating experience that banks customers in Nigeria, collectively and individually have been passing through in the bid to meet the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) directive for the return of old 200, 500, and 1,000 naira notes to commercial banks not beyond January 9, 2023, it has been that of persistent service network failures. This, for real, prevented them from consummating digital banking transactions so much that not a few Nigerians have had to struggle with bad networks from their banks amidst the naira scarcity, which makes the implementation of the cashless policy seem even more unrealistic.

In fact, the situation has become knotty that some Nigerians are now turning to payment solution providers, like OPay, Smartcash, and Palmpay, among others as a way out of the quagmire. Without resorting to exaggeration, a lot of people have experienced disappointments over transaction failures to a worrisome level so much that it has drawn the attention of key stakeholders in the banking and financial sectors of the economy.

At this juncture, it is expedient to say that the kind of crisis which Nigerian banks are today facing is not unusual as most corporate entities are bound to face bad PR at some point, but how they respond can determine the extent of the damage. Against the foregoing backdrop, it is not an exaggeration to assert that if the crisis is not promptly and professionally responded to that social media can spread and exacerbate the issue. What happens next might be completely outside control. Thus, a lack of a strong response will likely result in the escalation of false rumors and even endanger business relationships.

Given the foregoing view, there is no denying the fact that a particular new-generation bank in the country, which has ubiquitous branches is somehow suffering from a bad image due to a persistent poor service network that characterizes its banking operations so much so that POS operators often sigh, and even refused to transact any business that has to do with the bank, particularly when a customer presents the bank’s ATM Card to them for cash withdrawal or transfer purpose. The bank’s service network is notoriously bad that even market women, bus conductors, and virtually everyone talk about it.

Unfortunately, virtually all the banks are not telling customers subscribed to their services why their networks are bad. In fact, it is expedient to say that not having answers to questions asked by not a few bank customers is the worst thing Nigerian banks can do in this prevailing crisis. However, PR experts can agree with this writer that sometimes, it is difficult for a given corporate affairs manager of a bank to give a good answer with the information at his disposal for fear of making existing customers of the bank lose confidence, and consequently transit their patronage to other banks considered to have faster and reliable service network. 

While some PR gurus may agree that using “no comment” is better than making something up just to give an answer, it is easy to see how the phrase “no comment” can be misconstrued as an attempt to cover up or avoid an issue. Given the foregoing, it is expedient to advise that if a corporate affairs manager of any affected bank doesn’t have credible and convincing information to give to customers, he or she should say so, and assure the person asking that statement will be issued when more details are available.

At this juncture, it is expedient to inform corporate affairs managers of Nigerian banks, particularly those affiliated with the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks (ACAMB) that not a few Nigerians are conjecturing that banks are not investing enough in digital infrastructure. In a similar vein, not a few customers are alleging that digital infrastructure which the banks have individually and collectively invested in cannot withstand the quantum of electronic transactions that are been made by Nigerians, particularly since the failed attempt of the CBN to phase out the old N200, N500, and N1000 currency notes.

In fact, not a few Nigerians are insinuating that failed financial transactions currently being experienced by bank customers are been caused by telecom operators (Telcos) whose infrastructure the banks ride on to provide financial services to customers.  Expectedly, the Telcos have distanced themselves from such failed transactions.

Rather, the Telcos are blaming the situation on the inability of mobile apps, provided by the banks, to absorb the sudden pressure from customers who have switched from other payment channels to mobile banking channels because the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) are no longer dispensing cash as they should.

However, the Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Mr. Gbenga Adebayo, whom on the heels of the now abating cash crunch and failed network exonerated the Telcos from all failed financial transactions, said that the Telcos do not have control over what happens between banks and banks’ customers during financial transactions because the Telcos only provide the pipe that relays the financial transactions.

Again, there is another school of thought that has it that due to “Japa Syndrome” that not a few banks are losing their best hands in their ICT departments as most of them are migrating overseas in search of greener pastures.

To my view, the foregoing conjectures are still not convincing enough as to why Nigerian banks are individually and collectively facing unprecedented and persistent service network challenges to the detriment of their customers across the country, and even in the diaspora.

Be that as it may, to my view it is expedient for image makers across Nigerian banks to keep customers informed, particularly as to the reasons behind poor network service.