…as Consumer Protection Commission Blasts Banks Over Poor Customer Service
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank ranked worst among the Nigerian banks with the highest number of failed bank transactions by volume and intensity of failed transaction complaints recorded on various social media sites in 2024.
Meanwhile, Stanbic IBTC had the best reputation for reliability in 2024.
Incidents of system outages and failed upgrades dogged these three major banks leading to persistent complaints, with thousands of customers reporting failed transfers, frozen accounts, and delayed funds reversal.
Large volumes of unresolved failed transactions have also led frustrated customers to switch to fintech platforms.
More than 60% of customer complaints in early 2024 related to failed electronic transactions, with failed transfers as a major category.
Persistent failures have eroded public trust and forced many individuals and businesses to seek alternatives with fintech providers like OPay, Moniepoint and PalmPay.
Mobile money and fintech (OPay, PalmPay) processed ₦41.5 trillion in transactions (Jan–July 2024) compared to negligible levels in 2020, reflecting a shift away from less reliable bank payment channels, according to data from Ecofin Agency.
Meanwhile, failure rates on POS rose to roughly 13–15% of all card transaction attempts by mid-2024, a significant uptick compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the NIBSS.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed banks to speed up reversals and upgrades, with the National Assembly calling for scrutiny of high complaint rates.
MoneyCentral looked at incidents of social media complaints by Nigerians about failed bank transactions on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram as well as TikTok, Youtube, WhatsApp and online social sites like Nairaland, in the past year to underscore the ranking.
Key Nigerian Banks with Most Failed Transaction Complaints
GTBank (Guaranty Trust Bank)
GTBank recorded nearly a million (941,241) public complaints in 2024, including waves of unresolved issues tied to a botched core banking system upgrade and persistent failed transaction episodes.
The social media outcry lasted for weeks and many complaints cited unreversed debits, account freezes, and inaccurate balances.
GTBank’s system migration in October 2024 led to a multi-week period when thousands of customers could not access funds, transfer money, or even see correct account balances. This extended outage affected payroll cycles and essential expenses, amplifying personal and business hardship.
Social Media Outrage: The crisis dominated social media, with hashtags and posts highlighting users stranded for days or weeks, especially around salary payment periods. Many complaints centered on failed resolution, lost money, and lack of transparency.
Critical System Functions Broken: GTBank’s failures were especially glaring because both digital and physical channels (app, USSD, and branch systems) failed in parallel, making the bank seem inaccessible and unresponsive at a national scale.
Delayed Restoration and Poor Communication: Despite promises and even weekend branch openings to resolve the crisis, customer complaints persisted long after the incident, and customers noted poor updates and ineffective customer care.
Timing During Salary Cycle: The outages coincided with payroll week, causing thousands of workers to miss or delay their salaries, a deeply emotional and economically disruptive trigger that intensified backlash.
UBA (United Bank for Africa)
UBA logged over 3.2 million complaints in total, with more than 1.1 million cases unresolved at one point—many directly linked to e-payments and money transfers.
The customer complaints were highly visibility on social media platforms due to failed transfer disputes.
Zenith Bank
Received around 203,787 social media complaints with a significant pattern of complaints focused on failed transactions after an October 2024 system upgrade.
Zenith Bank was repeatedly cited in customer posts about inaccessible accounts, slow reversals, and poor communication.
Access Bank
Access Bank is noted for high social media traffic about failed transactions (sharing many customer service complaints with the top three banks), though slightly lower than the above leaders in negative prominence.
First Bank
First Bank had significant complaints, but overall it was less than GTBank, Zenith, and UBA. It however was still regularly mentioned on social media for failed reversals, which improved by late 2024.
Stanbic IBTC
Stanbic IBTC was ranked as the best performer among top Nigerian banks, with the lowest failed transaction complaints and highest customer satisfaction/issue resolution rates by survey and social media data analysis.
Customer Complaints Themes
Failed Transactions: Over 60% of complaints in 2024 and 2025 center on failed or delayed transactions, with many users voicing frustration over unreversed debits and lengthy complaint processes.
Fintech vs Bank Reliability: Customers on social media praised fintechs (such as OPay and PalmPay) for prompt transaction reversal and high reliability, in contrast to banks like GTBank, Access Bank, UBA, and Zenith Bank, which saw frequent criticism on social media about system downtimes, failed transfers, and weak response to complaints.
Complaint Handling: KPMG’s 2024 survey found complaint resolution is banks’ weakest area, driving loyalty away from mainstream banks to fintech alternatives.
Trends in Failed Transaction Volumes (2020–2025)
Failed transaction volumes in Nigeria have sharply increased since 2020, with the years 2022–2024 particularly turbulent due to banking system strains and cash policy disruptions.
The pandemic shutdowns caused a 50%+ year-on-year surge in e-payment volume between 2020–2021, overwhelming legacy banking IT, leading to frequent app/USSD failures and delays.
In 2022, a renewed focus on cashless policy fueled online transfer growth, but many bank IT systems experienced scaling issues, particularly during spikes in demand and system upgrades.
The naira redesign and cash withdrawal limits of 2023 was a tsunami that triggered a national cash crisis, sharply raising transaction failures; only 60% of failed e-payments were resolved by March 2023, leaving about 40% unresolved (often for weeks). POS and transfer failure complaints then rose to crisis levels.
Even as the cash crisis eased, several major banks’ system upgrades caused network outages, payroll delays, and persistent spikes in failed transfers in 2024, especially at GTBank, UBA and Zenith Bank.
Despite bank investment in infrastructure, outages and reversals remain a concern in 2025, especially during high traffic (salary dates, major events, system migrations).
Fintech payment providers now dominate routine/retail payments largely because customers believe they offer more reliable uptime.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Reacts to Banks Poor Service
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) on September 11, 2025 released updated data on consumer complaints received and resolved across key sectors of the Nigerian economy, showing that banks were the worst offenders.
The data, covering cases lodged with the Commission between March and August, 2025 compiled from the Commission’s complaint resolution platforms, provides insight into the patterns and prevalence of consumer dissatisfaction across 30 sectors.
The top ten sectors by number of complaints received between March and August 2025 were led by banking (3,173 complaints), followed by Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FCMG) (1,543), fintech (1,442), and electricity (458). Other notable sectors included e-commerce (412), telecommunications (409), retail/wholesale/shopping (329), aviation (243), information technology (131), and road transport and logistics (114).
Reacting to the findings the Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Commission, Mr. Tunji Bello, said: “These numbers are not just statistics; they tell the story of consumer frustration, and the daily challenges Nigerians face in essential services. However, the FCCPC is determined to hold businesses accountable, ensure compliance with the FCCPA, and promote fair market practices that protect the welfare of all consumers.”
Banking is the dominant source of consumer complaints, both in volume and financial exposure, highlighting recurring issues in loan deductions, account charges, and transaction disputes, and reflecting public reliance on the FCCPC to intervene in systemic financial service challenges.
Banking and fintech dominate by financial impact, showing consumer vulnerability where services are both essential and high value, signalling an urgent need for stronger joint regulation with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the FCCPA said.
