For desperate customers needing to pay for food, medicine and everyday essentials, a bank transfer that should take seconds has become a source of anxiety, arguments and lost sales across the country particularly Ibadan, Oyo State capital, following persistent network failures that crippled electronic payments.
Traders stated that customers have been stranded at shops after successful debits failed to reflect in sellers’ accounts, while some buyers have been forced to search for scarce cash to complete purchases.
A check on Saturday at the popular Kunle Ara Pharmacy, customers seeking to pay through bank transfers were reportedly asked to produce cash, only to discover that nearby Point of Sale operators had also run out of money.
The disruptions, as gathered, have left traders facing an agonizing choice: release goods without confirmation of payment or risk losing the sale.
An electronics dealer at Bashorun, Korede Ogundele, said delayed transfers had become a recurring source of suspicion and tension between buyers and sellers.
“The delays sometimes made sellers suspect customers of attempting to defraud them, particularly when successful transaction alerts were not received promptly,” Ogundele said.
He said customers were sometimes forced to wait before goods could be released, turning routine purchases into stressful encounters.
A businessman, Mayowa Oluyinka, said the network problems had directly affected his business and caused financial losses.
“I even entered the banking hall thinking that would help, but it is the same issue of no network,” he said.
For a foodstuff dealer, Samson Ayodele, the disruption has created an impossible choice between trusting an unconfirmed transfer and forfeiting a customer.
“This has been a frequent experience lately and it is not helpful at all. So, I am left to choose between selling while hoping the transaction would go or forfeiting the sale,” he said.
A bank officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed that network challenges had affected customers across different banks, attributing some of the difficulties to weaknesses in banking infrastructure and payment-system operations.
He said some intra-bank transactions and transfers involving certain fintech platforms were still going through, while noting that fintech operators could also be affected by network problems.
The officer also identified challenges involving the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), including BVN verification issues, as factors that could compound transaction difficulties.