The Flaws of Heritage Bank Ussd & Mobile App Platforms

On March 14, 2013, Heritage Bank successfully began its operation as a fully-fledged commercial bank, this was after meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) new operational #25billion average capital requirement. Heritage Bank also successfully refunded all frozen funds in the liquidated Societe Generale Bank of Nigeria they acquired.

Since 2013 till date, Heritage bank has grown to become one of the most innovative banks in Nigeria, rolling out products and services that help make banking easier for her customers across the country.

One thing I can personally attest to is the fact that their ATM service is top-notch, I have used it since 2016 and I have not had a reason to complain - Also, it seems their security guards are specially trained to maintain good conduct.

While Heritage bank is indeed a promising bank to trust one's finance with, haven been in operation for about 8 years now, I feel there are areas that they need to pay attention to. I am talking about the tech aspects of their banking.

For example, their Ussd banking services have been having issues on the MTN network for months now and it has been frustrating for many customers - And their mobile banking app isn't near perfect either.

I will include some screenshot evidence to this post below to show exactly how this glitch has made banking frustrating especially for those of us who prefer banking on the go or at the comfort of our home.

The above screenshot shows when I was dialling the Ussd code on the MTN line(s) both the Sim I registered with the bank and the unregistered one. The result is the same! 

The result is what you're seeing above - This network glitch issue has lingered for too long, although this began when the Mtn network was in dispute with the banks, its been months now and other banks have resolved it and equally moved on with smooth banking transactions on the MTN network. Yet, the Heritage bank Ussd platform is not working.

My second observation is with their mobile app - I opened a Padie account and since the Ussd platform is not working, I decided to download the mobile app so that I can use it as an alternative, although I do not have the bank's ATM yet I feel I should be able to register & login without having to link my card.

I think it should just allow customers to register on the mobile app using their bank account details and create a mobile app login password which of course some other banks do allow, but the case is different, hence my money hasn't been accessible.

Look what happens next! 

When I clicked on the register link, this page came up and I was expecting that I could simply put in my BVN details and every other relevant information which I included during my registration process. (Note: this account was opened via Ussd before the glitch started) But the next page that is displayed is disappointing.

Still, at this point I thought all will go smoothly, since I do not have the debit card, I opted for the "From Old Accounts" option, but this didn't turn out as expected.

My hope was still very much high, seeing that I could just click on the Padie option on this page - I quickly tapped to finalize so that I could experience seamless mobile banking.

What? Profile details? You didn't allow me to create that on the app, how can I possibly have a username?

I thought I was supposed to create one and merge it with my existing information.

Well, at this point, I had no way to move forward with the mobile app registration and no way to link my account so that I can withdraw, transfer or load airtime from my account.

I think that as a new generation bank that is focused on innovation, one key area to master is the technical and technological aspects of their business.

I have been waiting for months now hoping that the Ussd platform will be restored, but my hope has been in vain - I do not know whether Heritage bank's technical team isn't competent enough or the management of the bank's attention hasn't been drawn to the issues customers are facing with their platform.

Kustomers editors team will update more information here as new developments surface.