FOLLOWING a recent update on GTWorld mobile banking app, customers of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) have been unable to access the new version, cut off from the old application and thereby left stranded in efforts to effect transactions.
GTBank, a subsidiary of Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, had announced an app update, informing its millions of customers through text and email that it would automatically update to the new version on July 12.
“On the 12 July, we will release the new and updated version of the GTWorld Mobile Banking App to Play Store and App Store. This means that when you launch the GTWorld Mobile Banking App, you will see a newly designed interface if you have App Updates set on automatic.
“However, if App Update is not set to automatic on your mobile device, you will need to manually update your GTWorld Mobile App to experience the newly designed app. Please note that we will discontinue support of the current version of the GTWorld App on 12 August,” the message read.
The bank’s customers are, however, finding it impossible to update to the new version as the process keeps returning errors.
“I have been trying to update the GTWorld banking app on my phone to the new version since July 14 but to no avail,” Tope Somuwa, a GTBank customer told The ICIR.
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The process of updating to the new version is a total failure, Somuwa lamented.
The customer, a technology expert, said the project manager was supposed to test-run the update processes before launching the new version.
He explained that when he attempted to update the app, the process requested he put his phone number, but after he did, it returned an error, saying no Internet connection.
He said he tried with another Internet network, but the same issue persisted.
“You can keep trying it for a whole day without a result,” Somuwa lamented.
When the process of inputting the phone number eventually went through, the OTP (One Time Password) code expected to be generated did not arrive on his phone line up till the time he spoke with The ICIR.
“Subsequent retry will ask you to put another phone number,” Somuwa said.
He spoke of how he tried unsuccessfully on Friday, July 14, to transfer money to a client.
“I even tried to use the bank’s website but it was down as of Friday, July 14. I tried it out many times,” he added.
A GTBank staff, who spoke with The ICIR on Saturday, July 15, admitted to the issue, and said the bank had been having a network problem over the past three days.
The staff said GTBank marketers had been appealing to customers to be patient with the bank, but that in the meantime, customers can use the USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) code, *737*1*amount*account number#, for their transactions.
Many of the bank’s customers have gone to the social media to express their disappointment for being locked out of the GTBank’s app.
A customer Ahmadu Galadima with handle, @AhmaduGaladima, tweeted, “@gtbank don’t know what happened to you, but why on earth will you force an app update and not allow me log in with old credentials, do a password reset, use a secret question, the actual account number or card last 6digits etc? Why ask for just a phone no with an OTP that takes a year 2 drop?”
Similarly, @jude_chiji said, “Please fix this app asap, I am not able to go from the first screen and stock on the OTP screen, cos no OTP is coming forth. Please fix this.”