FirstBank Digital Glitch Sparks Customer Complaints
Atume Terfa
Nigeria’s oldest financial institution, First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), faced a storm of customer frustration on Thursday after a sudden service disruption hit its digital banking platforms.
The glitch, which began in the early hours of September 4, crippled transactions on FirstMobile, FirstOnline, and the bank’s USSD code (*894#)—with interbank transfers bearing the brunt. Customers reported failed or delayed transactions, sparking complaints across social media and in business circles.
In a statement, FirstBank admitted the disruption and apologized to its customers. The bank explained that its technical teams, working alongside service providers, were deployed to restore normalcy. To cushion the impact, customers were urged to use FirstMonie Wallet or debit cards for urgent payments, with contact channels opened for support.
Still, the outage came at a cost. Many customers spoke of money being deducted without successful transfers. A Lagos-based entrepreneur lamented:
“Each time you try USSD, N6 disappears instantly. The transaction fails, but the charge is always successful. Imagine losing that repeatedly in a single day.”
Another customer recounted spending over ₦3,000 in extra fees to withdraw via POS just to pay a supplier.
By late Thursday, relief came when FirstBank announced the restoration of services with a brief update on its X (formerly Twitter) page: “We are back.”
For customers, the brief outage highlighted the growing dependence on digital banking—and the ripple effect when those systems falter.
