Sterling Bank is a tier-2 commercial bank in Nigeria with an approval license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Tier-2 banks in Nigeria require a capital base of ₦200 billion, whereas the international tier-1 category requires at least ₦500 billion in capital base.
The bank is a subsidiary of Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc. Like any customer-facing business, it is not out of place for Sterling Bank customers to have complaints, especially if their transfers fail or they do not receive payment(s) sent to them.
Free Shoutout: Sterling Bank is currently running a free transfer offer. This means that, by using their platform, you will save yourself transfer charges and only pay stamp duty remitted to the federal government on qualifying transfers.
Just as in the case of our review of iRecharge customer support service, this complaint was over 48 hours old at the time of the screenshot, and there was no response or follow-up from any member of the Sterling Bank customer support team. We would conclude that the bank still has a lot more to do as regards its customer service. For the record, Sterling Bank has an active and regularly updated X page, so this is not a complaint posted on a platform they are not active on.
That being said, we recommend that customers with complaints should reach out to these businesses via their official and maybe more monitored channels for a faster response. This article is about my experience lodging a complaint via one of the Bank’s customer support channels, WhatsApp.
I Tried Reporting Africard Debit Card Delivery Delay to Sterling Bank ― Here’s My Experience
I was sold by Sterling Bank’s free transfer offer and reactivated my account with the bank. As an Ijebu guy, “every kobo counts”. I am the type of person who will send a ₦9,999.99 payment to avoid paying ₦50 stamp duty, so sorry, my old bank accounts.
After downloading the One Bank app, the official Sterling Bank mobile app, I saw a promotion for Africard on the platform and decided to order one. For one, I am the kind of person that prefer virtual cards to physical, it saves a lot of stress from card renewal and delivery. Maybe because of the name Africard and free home delivery, I felt like getting one.
To my surprise, for over 5 months- could be a lot longer, because I lost count- the ATM Card was not delivered. There was no status report, and I was unable to request another s the app keeps alerting I already requested one. I decided to check again, and to my surprise, the system indicated I already have one, which means it has been delivered.
I tried contacting the bank customer support via the OneBank live chat with Naya (AI Chat Support). Despite the “Typically replies in a few minutes” promotion, the promise is only guaranteed if you are expecting a chatbot response. I tried connecting to a real human, but was informed that none is available at the moment. Well, maybe it was because it was late, so understandable.
The next morning, I tried contacting the Bank via the WhatsApp customer support channel, and without any bias, the response time was quick.
Timeline
- 7:54 am: Chat with theSterling Bank Support WhatsApp chatbot initiated.
- 7:54 am: Got a response with number options.
- 7:54 am: Number response to “Talk to a human” sent.
- 7:56 am: A human customer support agent joined the chat.
- 7:57 am: Description of issue sent to the agent.
- 7:59 am: The agent sent some follow-up questions.
- 8:11 am: After a series of confirmation questions, the issue was escalated to the respective department(s).
- 8:11 am: End of chat.
Seven (7) days later, I got a call from a dispatch rider that I had an ATM card delivery. So, hallelujah! I finally got my Africard after months of requests. The bank can do better; customers do not have to continuously follow up with the bank before a card is delivered.
Sterling Bank Customer Complaint Channels
- Live Chat via the OneBank App
- Email: [email protected]
- Snail Mail: The Head Office, Sterling Towers, 20 Marina, Lagos Island, Lagos
- Phone Lines: 02018888822, 07008220000
- WhatsApp: 09160313000
My Experience Using the Africard
The Africard so far has been great with all the transactions I have used it for, even faster to process than some debit cards I have used in the past. The activation does not require visiting any ATM gallery. It was activated via the OneBank app with a few clicks, and I was able to use it right away for a purchase at a filling station via the Point of Sale (POS) machine.
Disclaimer
The information in this article is the personal experience of the writer and not a standardized review, which may include tests conducted by professionals and authorised institutions.
This article is for informational purposes only and should not be substituted for product recommendations, endorsements, or otherwise. Always do your personal research and conduct appropriate due diligence before committing to any service or product.
Also, the details shared and experiences are from the time the writer experienced them. Real-time experience may now differ as some reviewed organizations, agencies, companies, products, or services may have improved or declined after these experiences.
