Irate customers of GTBank, who are protesting unfair treatment by the management of the bank have threatened to close their accounts or burn some of its branches should the top bank executives fail to address their problems urgently.
Some of the customers complain they stand for long hours in the bank premises in recent times for transactions that ordinarily should not take more than 10 minutes.
Accordingly to the protesting customers, unlike what obtains in other banks, where tickets are issued to ensure smooth operations, and seats provided for waiting customers under canopies, GTBank allows its customers to stand for 10 hours or more in rain and sunshine unattended to.
At Ogba, Ikeja, where the bank has two branches, only one branch is in operation for some time now, prompting hundreds of customers, including the elderly to wait endlessly at the only branch in operation.
Most customers visit the bank up to four times before accessing the banking hall owing to the long wait. At other times customers wait for long hours and yet unattended to.
The inhuman treatment is so bad that some customers who arrive the bank as early as 7.30am end up leaving at 4pm without being attended to.
The situation is getting worse by day as checks this morning showed that the bank’s branches at most strategic locations such as Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Isheri Road, Ogba, Oba Akran were not in operation.
Also the ATMs in these branches are not functional. For instance, in the past three weeks, customers have not been withdrawing from ATMs at Adeniyi Jones, Isheri Road Ogba as well as the ATM gallery on Toyin Street, Ikeja.
One of the customers said he visited five GTBank branches this morning and could not access the banking hall because of the mammoth crowds. He was to take his aged mother for medical appointment.
At Opebi and Alausa branches, the security men attached to the bank informed customers waiting to withdraw money from their domiciliary accounts that the “bank has been battling with dollars shortages “
Other customers who had issues with online transactions were not being attended to as the poor network has hampered access to customers accounts, making it impossible to resolve such issues.
Some of the customers complained that the bank debited their accounts more than ones and has not reversed them till date despite CBN’s directive that issues of such nature should be resolved within 24 hours.
At Opebi branch, a security official claimed that the bank stopped issuing tickets or numbers to waiting customers because some people who had no business in the bank collect the numbers and sell it to customers in the queue.
“The CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele should call the GTBank management to order. A situation where customers are subjected to inhuman treatment just because they want to withdraw their money is very bad.
If they don’t act fast, we may be compelled to take the law into our hands”, said some irate customers.
” As I speak with you now, what I’m waiting for is to access the banking hall and I close all my accounts with the bank. It is obvious the bank is living on past glory” said a business man, who said he has banked with GTBank for close to 30 years”.
Asked why the bank decided to shut some of its branches, a security personnel said ” only the management can answer that question”.
“Although the management of the bank has not come out with explanations on the true situation of things, it is obvious that the bank is battling with sundry challenges”, said another customer.
Aside that most of its ATMs no more dispense cash, the lack of dollars to meet customers request is a key problem that should be addressed urgently, the bank’s customers said.