With a market valuation of ₦1.68 trillion, Guaranty Trust (GTBank), a tier-1 Nigerian bank, has been ordered by a court to retrieve ₦1.9 billion that was inadvertently credited to customer accounts between October 28 and 29, 2024. The issue happened when the bank handled unapplied NIP (NIBSS Instant Payment) inputs and processed multiple transactions.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
According to court documents, GTBank started an internal inquiry after realizing the mistake and found that part of the money had been transferred to other institutions. GTBank requested that accounts that received duplicate funds be subject to restrictions from the court. Justice F.N. Ogazi of the Federal High Court in Lagos issued that ruling on Thursday, and it has been sent to the banks that received it, allowing the money to be returned.
A request for comment from Guaranty Trust Bank was not immediately answered. Following its September 2024 decision to move its major banking application from Basis to Finacle, GTBank had a period of severe service disruptions that corresponded with the incident. The most widely used banking app in Nigeria’s banking sector is Finacle, which was created by Infosys. As part of the decision-making process, GTBank’s leadership traveled to India.
The move to Finacle was challenging even though it was anticipated to improve customer satisfaction and streamline processes. Customers started complaining false transaction notifications after the bank declared the migration was complete in October 2024, and the bank’s banking channels were either unstable or unusable for weeks.
Between September and November, GTBank customers vented on social media sites like X about the interruptions and the bank’s lack of response. In November 2024, the bank apologized publicly.
Although the court filings don’t specifically link the migration to the duplicate transactions, at least four commercial banks upgraded or switched their software in 2024, highlighting technology issues related to core banking changes. Following weeks of consumer inconvenience, the central bank issued a directive mandating that banks obtain regulatory approval prior to initiating similar improvements in the future.CONTINUE FULL READING>>>>>
