Zenith Bank’s ongoing IT overhaul program, dubbed “Project Tiger,” has resulted in a major disruption of its services, with customers unable to access their funds for over 72 hours.
The bank’s mobile app, USSD, WhatsApp, and internet banking platforms have all been affected.
Customers have besieged various Zenith Bank branches in Abuja, expressing anger and frustration over the interruption in services and transactions.
Many have taken to social media to vent their frustrations, with some having difficulties accessing their salaries and conducting business transactions.
With 2024 in its last quarter, the effects of a slowdown in banking services are much larger on business transactions than on consumer purchases.
In an interview with some customers of the bank, Micheal Ibinabo, a civil servant, said: “All my friends have received their salary except me. I borrow to get through each day for transportation and feeding. I am here at the bank to know what next to do.”
Another customer and entrepreneur, Femi Ojo, said: “These people have no idea of the damages they have caused for people and businesses across the country. It’s very unfortunate that in this country companies like Zenith Bank are not held accountable for stuff like this.
“I need to make supplies by Friday, but I haven’t been able to access my cash yet. They promised to fix the issue by Tuesday, but it’s already Thursday, and nothing has changed.”
A bank official told Persecondnews on Thursday, on condition of anonymity, that the major cause of hiccups on their channels, which include mobile apps, Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), WhatsApp (ZIVA—Zenith Intelligent Virtual Assistant), and internet banking, is the migration from the old platform to a new and robust IT platform christened “Project Tiger.”
According to the source, “Project Tiger is the new internet banking platform for Zenith Bank users, which is designed to deepen the overall digital payments suite and offerings, creating multiple channels for digital service delivery.
“The ongoing IT overhaul programme will reinforce the bank’s approach to investing in reliable and scalable IT infrastructure that can handle a high volume of transactions and withstand technological failures.”
Responding to concerns about hanging transfers and inter-bank transactions, the source said: “For now, I can assure you that transactions from Zenith to Zenith are up and running, but interbank transactions will start tonight or Friday morning.”
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