The management of First Bank Nigeria, FBN has reacted to reports that funds kept in its care by customers are being stolen.
It also denied allegations that some employees in the bank are tampering with customers’ deposit at will.
The reaction came on the crest of a story published in the magazine penultimate week, where some customers alleged that their deposits have been tampered with.
Some customers have suggested that they may be forced to look for other banks where they feel their money would be secured, while others disclosed that they have already moved their accounts elsewhere.
But the bank has vehemently denied the allegation or that any of its staff is involved in the ignoble act of siphoning money in customers’ account.
Such fraudulent act is alien to the bank, the authority said.
Speaking to the magazine on Tuesday, a top staff of the bank, said the allegation was untrue and baseless.
The representative disclosed that, First Bank has nurtured and sustained its over 100 year’s reputation as one of the safest financial institutions in the country and will remain so, because of the dedication of the management and its teeming employees.
He explained that this has remained the Unique Selling proposition, USP of the Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan-led bank and that First bank can vouch for the honesty of its employees when it comes to handling funds belonging to its customers.
He also stated that all necessary firewalls have been put in place in making sure that, depositors can rest assured that nothing will happen to valuables lodged with the bank.
There is no cogent proof to substantiate the allegation that customers’ money is being stolen by the staff and that, customers are dumping the bank for competitors, the source said.
First Bank still remains the bank of choice for many Nigerians, she said.
“Anyone with enough proof to substantiate “the allegation should come forward, as the bank is prepared to investigate the issue and get to the bottom of it, he stated.
This is the right thing to do in this circumstance, the source said, so that the reputation of one of the foremost financial institutions in the country is not allowed to be smeared on the vestiges of unsubstantiated allegation.
The source also disclosed that the bank will not protect any members of its staff, but will punish anyone caught in the act of stealing funds kept in its care, if at all the allegation is true.
The report, he explained is capable of damaging the integrity of First bank among its numerous shareholders and customers who have relied on it for financial needs for more than a century.
First Bank is already investigating the matter and will soon come up with a more appropriate response through a designated authority.
Meanwhile, the bank said it will continue to provide seamless, safe financial solutions, a reputation that customers have relied on for many years.
