WHY WE HATE THE BANKS IN NIGERIA
INTRODUCTION
Recently, I went to a POS outlet, (a place where you withdraw money using your ATM card with some extra charge) to get some cash for some expenses. So, I slot my card into the POS machine with the expectation of getting a successful transaction, then I can collect my money from the POS attendant. Unfortunately for me, the transaction was taking more time, which was quite unusual compared to how I have done several transactions in the space of 3 to 5 minutes. Then the worst happened, the transaction was unsuccessful and I was still debited by my bank for the unsuccessful transaction. Honestly speaking, I was really upset because I could not make the purchase I wanted, but what got to me the most was how the bank reacted to the problem. Then it got me thinking, how best can I express my anger and it clicked to me, “you are a Hive Writer for crying out loud, just write about it”. That was when the idea and Topic “Why We Hate the Banks in Nigeria” popped into my brain and I am sure am not the only Nigerian that feels this way too. Also, always remember that this article is strictly based on a Nigerian’s Experience but if the content relates to your experience, feel free to engage with my plight.
SLOW CUSTOMER DELIVERY
Slow customer delivery has to be the first shortcoming of the bank on every Nigerian's list of reasons why they hate the bank. After being wrongful debited by my bank, my first move was to contact my bank by all means. So I dialed their customer care line, but I was placed on hold for a very longtime, probably over 30 minutes and the worst of it all, the cost of the call duration was actually deducted from my airtime. Like, why charge me for wanting to speak to your customer care, after taking several charges from my account on regular bases. When a customer care agent finally answered, I complained about my issue with a lot of disappointment in my voice. It was even more disappointing to know that after several minutes of lamentation, I was told it will take 4 to 7 days to solve my transaction problem. I know they are a bank and it is part of their job is to follow the money trail but come on, 4 to 7 days is a lot of time to solve a simple failed transaction.
The slow rate of customer delivery over the phone is not the bank’s only means of delaying customers. They even do it with their email response and their attendance towards customer in their office. It is quite upsetting how you will send a mail to their customer care email address just to get a response mail that is completely automated. The bank will always send an automated message that responds to your mail immediately, telling you that a customer care agent will attend to you shortly and your complaint will be solved as soon as possible, yet it will still take about two days before the customer agent will even reply the message. With all these slow deliveries in attending to customers, especially at their office where they can keep you in a massive queue for a problem they can solve within minutes. I keep wondering why can’t the Bank just employ more people in order to ensure quick response?
DELAY IN TRANSFER
Down to the next. Delay in transfer is a major issue most bank users in Nigeria will probably experience during this season. This is because we are in that time of the year were expenditures will be high and money will definitely fly from one bank to another, just to show our love and care, get the things we feel will make us happy this season or just to spend time and create memories with the ones we love. Thereby increasing the number of work the bank or bank server will have to carry out this year. There will be tons of transfers for payments and several purposes, all probably occurring at the same time, which can serve as a reason for the delay in transfer. Since, the tons of transfer can affect a bank’s processing time, the receiver’s bank might take a longer period before it receives the money or the transaction might not go through. This has made it a justifiable reason why I tend to rely on cryptocurrency and block chain technology because it is designed to process transaction volumes that are even double the amount the bank server can process.
STRICT LOAN REQUIREMENTS
It is well known that the strength of the banking sector says a lot about a county’s economy. The bank is a major role player in the supporting businesses which is the back bone of the economy. With the availability of loans, grants and investments, the bank tends to show its support. But with Nigerian Banks, it is a different case. The requirements needed for a loan for business is quite enormous and the procedure is quite difficult. Thereby making it discouraging for people to gain access to such loans. And even if it was not difficult to obtain such loan, there are individuals who tend to use such platforms to embezzle and even launder money. The bank will claim that the difficulty in loan requirements is the way it is, because of the tendency for person to default on repayment, which they claim can affect their problem. The truth behind this, is that the larger portion of the bank’s outstanding debts comes from loans they have offered to the government to invest in oil and gas and other big business they believed can repay with high returns, but not small scale businesses that are every essential for our country’s growth.
EASILY INFLUENCED BY THE GOVERNMENT
After the Central Bank of Nigeria banned crypto, Banks in Nigeria began to freeze accounts that had any form of involvement with crypto. This drastic move has affected various crypto exchange platforms in Nigeria and made Nigerians to see how the government can easily influence the decisions of the banks in Nigeria, which is something the Nigerian government cannot do with cryptocurrency.
IN CONCLUSION...
The poor state of our country’s economy and the Naira’s (Nigeria’s Fiat Currency) consistency in depreciation in the International market has made it a poor choice for me when it comes to saving money. Luckily for me, I have found the better way to save and earn money by using Crypto. Through crypto, I have been able to save my money in a currency that is stable by buying USDT, investing in Hive sometimes when I have which has the tendency to appreciate because of its growing community and the best of it all, I look forward to starting a very good HBD savings next year.
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