Abuja – Most banks within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have witnessed heavy influx of customers who transacted various businesses in readiness for the yuletide celebrations.
Checks at the banks showed that the Automated Teller Machines were also as crowded as the banking halls in the various banks.
Some of the banks visited included Ecobank, Karu; Key Stone bank in Wuse; First Bank Plc, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Zenith Bank, Diamond Bank and the United Bank for Africa.
It was observed that although the banks were crowded, customers were being attended to without much delay.
At the GTB in Area 3, Mr Gabriel Ojo, a civil servant, told newsmen that he came to pay in some money for his family as he would not be able to travel home to see them for the holiday.
He said he came to the bank prepared to spend some time, knowing it would be crowded but fortunately for him, he did not spend much time.
“ I am really surprised that I did not waste so much time in the bank because I came prepared to spend more time than I did right now.”
At the Keystone bank in Wuse, some customers complained of an unusual slow network connection and called on the management to ensure better service as it was discouraging them from the bank.
Miss Rebecca Audu said there was no crowd at the bank compared to others but the network was unusually slow.
At the Zenith bank, it was also observed that there were fewer customers and they were being attended to as they came in without delay.
However, Mr Tondo Chile, a public servant, who visited the First Bank, said he had spent 35 minutes at the premises and was yet to do his transaction.
Chile said he was not surprised by the crowd as it was always the case with most branches of the bank during holiday seasons.
He called on the management of the bank to do something about the situation, to encourage customers to continue patronising with the bank.
On the long queues in most of at the ATMs, an official of GTB who preferred anonymity, said the bank was aware of the rush during the period and had taken appropriate measures to handle it.
“ As you can see, our customers are being attended to and we are trying to manage the crowd.
“ We know there is usually rush at this period and we have put measures in place to be able to handle and satisfy the customers.
“ I am sure that as time goes on and the Christmas draws closer, our customers will not have course to grumble,’’ he said.