Customers laments as Zenith Bank’s internet banking crashes

Customers of Zenith Bank are groaning over their inability to access their accounts or carry out any transactions almost 24 hours after the bank announced a routine IT maintenance.

Contrary to the promise by the bank that online transactions would resume after 2.30 pm on Tuesday, October 1, 2024, as of 8.00 am on Wednesday, October 2, customers of the bank are still unable to log in to their app, or do any online transaction.

According to some of the bank’s customers, the downtime attributed to IT maintenance since Monday, making it the third day they have been unable to access their money.

Many of the bank’s customers have taken to social media to express their frustration as the service downtime continues without any hope of restoration in sight.

One of the customers, Bassey Offiong, in a post on X wrote: “Zenith Bank Plc! What’s the problem with your online banking platform? Is this not a height of insensitivity, recklessness, and negligence? 

“How many more Nigerians must be plunged into distress, trauma, heart attack, depression, suicidal thoughts or sudden deaths?”

In a message shared across its social media platforms on Tuesday, Zenith Bank said IT was carrying out a routine IT maintenance to improve its quality of service.

“Please be informed that we are currently undertaking a routine maintenance of our Information Technology Infrastructure, to enable us to significantly improve the quality of service rendered to you.

“On Tuesday, October 01, 2024, our Mobile Banking App., USSD Service, Internet Banking, and Corporate Internet Banking platforms will be unavailable between the hours of 12:01 am and 2:30 pm WAT.

“We solicit your understanding and offer our assurances that measures are in place to minimize any service interruptions during the exercise,” the bank stated.

However, reports suggested that the bank may be doing more than IT maintenance but migrating its core banking platform to a new one.

Zenith Bank, which previously used Phoenix, a software developed by London-based Finastra, is reportedly migrating to Oracle’s Flexcube, a platform used by many other Nigerian banks.

For banks, switching their core banking software is a significant change that requires transferring large amounts of data and more rigorous action than regular IT maintenance.