For a week, clients of Transnational Bank which was acquired by the Nigerian lender Access Bank have not been able to access services.
Some are now on edge and they have been sharing the experience on Twitter
“Since Monday Dear Customer, TNB APP, *862# and ATM services are currently unavailable. We are working to restore services. We apologize for any inconveniences caused”, complained Robert Langat (@Its_Roba)
Mwabili Mwagodi, a hotel manager wrote, “Day 4. We still do not have access to our online banking platform at Transnational Bank. This is a disaster of epic proportions. Supplier payments are piling up, I cannot prioritize. I need a very good lawyer”.
The bank has not released any statement and calls as to what is happening were met with the same explanation of, ‘we are migrating our systems’.
A spot check at the bank’s Twitter Account confirms that they haven’t done any communication to their clients. In fact, the last tweet was done on February 4th 2020, in honour of its late founder President Daniel Moi.
More complaints
Quick facts about Transnational bank
Past owners of the 36 year old Transnational Bank included, late President Daniel Moi, Joshua Kulei, Simeon Nyachae, former Vice President George Saitoti, Andre DeSimone, Nicholas Biwott, Archers and Wilcock Ltd, and Jared Kangwana.
The bank has 28 branches throughout Kenya.
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) early January endorsed the deal that gave Access Bank a 97 percent stake in Transnational.
Access bank is the largest in Nigeria with assets worth Sh1.17 trillion.
WikiLeaks, a London-based organisation, published a 2007 report in which forensic auditors Kroll Inc linked the bank to Sh21.4 billion ($200 million) money laundering.
“An estimated $200 million of Abacha money was laundered through Kenya, using Transnational Bank and its Nostro accounts held in Frankfurt and other jurisdictions. This money was parked in off-shore accounts,” the leaked Kroll report said.
Transnational, with assets worth Sh9.7 billion, made a loss of Sh83.9 million in the financial year ended December 2019, worse from a loss of Sh71.8 million the previous year.
At the end of 2018, it disclosed that it held Sh24.7 million deposits by companies controlled by directors or their families. Deposits by companies related through control by a common shareholder or their families hit Sh1.42 billion.
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