Inside sources said the bank was experiencing technical glitches, which started since Wednesday, September 2025 and have remained unresolved, as at the time of this report.
While customers could hardly conduct intra- Bank transfer (First Bank to First Bank), unless one went physically to the bank, inter bank transfers were impossible to conduct in almost all the First Bank branches in Port Harcourt, Rivers State visited by The Atlantic Bell.
Customers who thronged bank branches early Thursday morning with the hope of having their transfer issues sorted out were left in utter disappointment as they learnt that transfers, especially to other banks, were impossible.
Though no official statement has been issued by the bank, at least to customer’s phone lines, which is usually the practice, a staff of the bank at the Station Road Branch in Port Harcourt Township, told The Atlantic Bell that, they “were having technical issues “. The female staff who refused to disclose her name and had no name tag on her refused to give further details as to what the technical issues were, but pointedly told customers who besieged the bank, that the “issue will be resolved by next week.”
One customer (name withheld ) said she had visited three branches of FBN in Port Harcourt to carry out an inter bank transfer, but all her efforts were in vain. She said she was expecting her goods from outside, Rivers State, but that the customer was not willing to release the goods without receiving the funds. “Unfortunately, my customer, on the other side, does not have a First Bank account . I am stuck and confused, ” she lamented.
Another FBN customer who spoke with The Atlantic Bell was luckier, as he(name withheld) found a way to navigate the glitch.
According to him, he pleaded with his supplier to help locate anyone with a First Bank account, and they were lucky to get one of her neighbours to receive the money and the business was successfully transacted.
The “technical glitch” has put customers in quantry as frustration and lamentations filled banking halls of First Bank in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Worst still, customers were yet to be notified officially as to the cause of the glitch and when likely they were to be rectified to enable them have seamless transfer. For now, the trauma of the customers continues.
