FirstBank Leaves Over 42 Million Customers Confused as Its Digital Banking Channels Suffers Downtime
By: Israel Adeleke
OPEN TELEVISION NAIJA (OTN) News reports that the First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has left its over 42 million customers in a state of confusion after they found it difficult to complete different transaction following a temporary disruption across the bank's major digital banking platforms.
OTN News further reports that the bank who announced this digital glitch in a notice issued on Thursday, confirmed that the downtime is affecting transactions carried out on FirstMobile, FirstOnline, and its *894# USSD service.
According to the notice, “Please be informed that we are currently experiencing some downtime affecting transactions to other banks on FirstMobile, FirstOnline, and USSD platforms. Customers may therefore experience delayed or declined transactions.
The lender apologized to its more than 42 million customers, assuring them that its technical team, working with service partners, is working round the clock to restore full service.
“We regret the inconveniences this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding during this time. Our team is working with our partners to restore services as quickly as possible, and we will provide updates once services are fully restored,” the statement added.
OTN News observes that this disruption comes less than two months after FirstBank introduced a facial biometric authentication feature on its FirstMobile app.
The upgrade, which incorporates advanced facial recognition and anti-spoofing technology, enables customers to register and activate their devices without using a debit card.
OTN News further observes that the new feature was designed to enhance security, reduce fraud risks, and improve onboarding for diaspora clients, card-free users, and those with lost or expired cards.
Despite these innovations, Thursday’s outage highlights the increasing reliance of Nigerians on digital banking channels and the challenges banks face in ensuring uninterrupted service.
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