Guarantee Trust Bank (GTBank) has announced a temporary service interruption to enable its transition to a new core banking application system.

Starting from Friday, October 11, the bank will upgrade to Finacle Core Banking, a powerful software, to improve service delivery and the overall customer service experience, GTBank said in a statement on Wednesday.

The upgrade is scheduled to end by Monday, October 14. Both in-branch and online banking operations will be impacted.

GTBank informed its customers that all of its branches will close at noon on October 11 and reopen at 9:00 a.m. on October 14.

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Transfers, bill payments, airtime/data purchases to be available during system upgrade 

During the migration process, digital banking services such as transfers, bill payments, and airtime/data purchases will remain accessible.

However, certain services will be restricted for 11 hours, starting from 10:00 p.m. on Sunday, October 13, and ending at 9:00 a.m. the following morning.

GTBank promised its customers that this change is a result of the bank’s dedication to using cutting-edge technology to improve the quality of customers’ transactions.

The bank apologised for any inconvenience caused and thanked customers for their patience during this transition, stressing how the enhance service delivery generally.

Customers are advised to schedule their transactions ahead of the planned downtime.

GTBank assured customers will be updated at every stage of the procedure.

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Other banks announced system upgrades

Major Nigerian banks have upgraded their central banking systems before GTBank.

Access Bank made a similar announcement on Wednesday stating banking services will be temporarily unavailable due to a system upgrade.

Zenith Bank and Sterling Bank have similarly undergone system upgrades. Many Zenith Bank customers were unable to access their accounts for the entire duration of the upgrade.

Customers complained bitterly of getting stranded at different places given the upgrade shut them out of their accounts for longer periods of time than anticipated.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) supports the upgrade as part of a larger initiative to fortify the country’s banking system.