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GTB GETS COURT ORDER TO RECOVER N1.9BN WRONGLY CREDITED TO CUSTOMER ACCOUNTS
Guaranty Trust (GTBank), a tier-1 Nigerian bank with a market capitalisation of ₦1.68 trillion, has been granted a court order to recover ₦1.9 billion mistakenly credited to customer accounts between October 28 and 29, 2024. The error occurred when the bank processed duplicate transactions while handling unapplied NIP (NIBSS Instant Payment) inflows.
Upon discovering the error, GTBank began an internal investigation, which revealed that some of the funds had been moved to other banks, according to court filings. GTBank asked the court to place restrictions on accounts that received duplicate funds. That order was granted by Justice F.N Ogazi of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Thursday and has been served on receiving banks, clearing the way for the funds to be returned.
Guaranty Trust Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The incident coincided with a period of significant disruption in GTBank’s services following its decision to switch its core banking application from Basis to Finacle in September 2024. Developed by Infosys, Finacle is the most popular banking application in Nigeria’s banking industry, and GTBank’s leadership visited India as part of the process of deciding on the switch.
While the switch to Finacle was expected to streamline operations and enhance customer experience, it was fraught with difficulty. After the bank announced the completion of the migration in October 2024, customers began reporting erroneous transaction alerts, and for weeks, the bank’s banking channels were either unusable or unstable.
While the court documents do not explicitly tie the duplicate transactions to the migration, documented incidents of customers completing without receiving credit or debit alerts may suggest a link. GTBank customers shared their frustrations over the disruptions and the bank’s silence on social media platforms like X between September and November.
The bank issued a public apology in November 2024.
Technology challenges centering around core banking upgrades were a major theme of 2024, with at least four commercial banks switching or upgrading their software. This led to weeks of customer disruption and a central bank directive stating that banks must first receive regulatory approval before commencing such upgrades in the future.
