There were numerous videos across social media platforms that showed the massive crowd that stormed banks in Lagos, Nigeria today as they threw all practices of social distancing into the wind. Why there were many people who showed up at the banks today remains a mystery. This is because the online banking system should have taken over the traditional banking system a long while ago. However, the scenes which played out today shows that the online banking system in Nigeria is only known among a selected few, compared to the overall population in Nigeria.
The possibilities of having a large number of people in banks today can be as a result of a plethora of reasons. This is because certain banking procedures are not covered by the online banking system. One of such procedures is the receipt of a new ATM card after the previous one might have expired or been misplaced by the owner. This procedure requires a physical interaction between the customer and the bank officials. Due to the pre-existing lockdown measures in Lagos, that was bot possible as banks also joined in the lockdown effected by the Federal Government.
Certain customer complaints which would require the attention of a customer service personnel might also be one of the reasons why there was a flood of people at banks today. Also, most people are not enlightened about the available and alternative banking options. These people consist majorly of the aged and the illiterate, who do not have a smartphone and thus, do not know the rudiments about online banking system. The flood of people at banks today is an eye-opener to the Central Bank of Nigeria to come up with alternative measures where online banking system can be broken into understandable bits and pieces that the illiterates and aged can chew.
