There are increasingly long queues at their banking halls and branches all over Lagos. Even their ATMs are always crowded.
When I opened an account with them in 2008, it was like heaven. You entered into the smiling cosy space of any branch and you were properly served with utmost courtesy. Today, all that is no more.
Longer queues make smaller number of staff members weary with work. The smiles have disappeared. The magic is gone. It has become like in the old days when going to the bank was like a deadly chore.
I remember at Ile Ife in 2000 when my friend Akinyele would receive money from home in minutes at the Chartered Bank branch only to go and queue for 30minutes to deposit it in his First Bank account. It was his way of saving for rainy days as the thought of even going to withdraw from the bank was enough to drive one crazy. That was then.
Today's GTBank is now competing with the murderous services we had back in the day. A bank that was synonymous with excellence is now teetering on the brink of incapability.
Many have said it is a result of management problems. Apparently, their hands-on boss Tayo Aderinokun is said to have slumped recently and is in bad health in a hospital outside the country. Aderinokun it was who built the reputation that the bank has today.
But must the corporate image of the company suffer annihilation because of his ill health?
Recently the bank has been trying to reach out to customers through Twitter. Several apologies have been sent through their social network handle in order to assure customers that they're feeling our pains. GTBank needs to make things better otherwise they'll begin to lose customers like refugees fleeing Misurata.
I have stopped using their ATM in Ojodu. These days I prefer to slot in my GTBank card at the old First Bank branch that has no hassles. The customer is king, you say? There are many fishes in the ocean o.
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