Zenith Bank announced on Thursday that significant progress had been made in its ongoing IT system upgrade, which had caused a major disruption to banking services for over 48 hours. In a message via its official X handle (formerly Twitter), the bank assured customers that they could now access transactions across its various channels. However, despite these reassurances, many customers are still unable to complete transactions using their debit cards, mobile app, internet banking, or USSD codes.
The disruptions have sparked widespread frustration, especially among customers who are yet to receive funds from transfers initiated days earlier. Some customers reported that despite receiving transfer confirmation from their clients, the money had not reflected in their accounts—even after four working days.
Many customers took to X to voice their complaints. One user, @FareedahAlee, shared her ordeal, tweeting, “Dear Zenith Bank, I sent a series of DMs to you without a reply. 1.7 million naira was sent to my account since Tuesday, but I haven’t been credited even when the sender has printed their bank statement as proof showing the money is with my bank. @cenbank @ZenithBank please HELP!”
Similarly, another frustrated user, @Ebuqriz, expressed, “@ZenithBank please credit my account! It’s almost 4 days since this money was sent to my account with you guys, but I’m yet to receive it.”
Zenith Bank had initially notified customers on Tuesday, October 1, of a scheduled routine IT maintenance expected to cause temporary service disruptions for only a few hours. The bank promised that services would resume by 2:30 pm that same day. However, the disruptions persisted for more than 48 hours, leaving customers unable to access their funds or carry out basic transactions.
The timing of the service outage worsened the situation, as it coincided with the beginning of the month—a period when many salary earners receive their payments. Many customers were left stranded as they could not withdraw money, transfer funds, or even check their account balances during this critical period.
Further reports suggest that Zenith Bank may have been conducting more than just routine maintenance. There are indications that the bank is migrating its core banking platform from Phoenix, developed by London-based Finastra, to Oracle’s Flexcube, a more advanced platform widely used by several other Nigerian banks. This type of migration, which involves transferring massive amounts of data and reconfiguring internal systems, is a significant change and often requires more time and caution than regular IT maintenance.
The extended downtime has caused a significant backlash, with thousands of customers venting their frustrations on social media platforms. Many complained about the lack of communication and transparency from the bank during the period of disruption, especially considering the scale of impact on salary earners, businesses, and individuals reliant on seamless electronic transactions.
For some customers, the disruption has had severe financial consequences. Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and small business owners who rely on swift bank transfers and payments from clients have been particularly affected, as they’ve been unable to complete transactions or receive payments. This has disrupted business operations, contracts, and even personal finances, leading to a growing sense of dissatisfaction.
In response to the public outcry, Zenith Bank reiterated that the technical team is working tirelessly to resolve the remaining issues, urging customers to remain patient while the final stages of the upgrade are completed.
