Has anybody noticed that all the pro-intercontinental posts are new Nairaland posts, registered today or yesterday. Now, that's what i call an aggressive Public relations. God help Nigerian banks o cause i smell something in the air ooo.

Dear sweet T,

I do no work with intercontinental bank.As a matter of fact I worked with ZIB for three years(jan 2000-sep 2003) before I joined CBN and I have been in a special repoting protocol

My comments were coined from information I had on my finger tip.I have an account with intercontinental for sure and I can tell you that no bank in 9ija today is as sound as they were before the global meltdown.

However,if you are looking at the banks in term of their SWOT analysis as at today,IBPLC comes 2nd after FBN.

Even though I do not know why they increased their min balance it is sure that no banks will increase min balance becuase of liquidity, a troubled bank demands for deposit at all cost, not selective, that is my point,

Let us not be unnecesarily be panicking

Permit me to say that i am highly disappointed in the way guys have been contributing to the intercontinental bank issues, the truth is that if any of the top five banks goes down in this country today we will all feel it. Apart from this, the intercontinental bank issues is obviously being bad mouth here. As far as i am concern i know that the bank stand 'giddigba' for ground and i am sure that nothing will happen to the bank. Talking about the savings account minimum balance, how are we sure what they are trying to do is not the principle of 80/20 which is very common in business, this is not new in the industry Zenith and Citi bank has done it before. Why was it not an issue? Infact i am beginning to think that those of you bad mouthing Intercontinental are jealous of the banks achievements in recent time or you are purely agents of bad competitors. To all of you i advise that you change your ways and let us join hand together and ensure that all our institution stands and stop running our organisation down. This is a bank that has taking the country's name to a very high level. I wish to rest me case for. As for me Intercontinental is a pride of this nation. ciao.

Well,Dear Sweet T,

I really want you to get more than enough information before you take any finacial decision.

I have no close relationship with intercontinental bank, but I have information

OVIABOY:

Well,Dear Sweet T,

I really want you to get more than enough information before you take any finacial decision.

I have no close relationship with intercontinental bank, but I have information

Thank you oga, i bank with wells fargo and FBN. was it not your boss Soludo that said the global crisis will not affect Nigeria?? Now see, what's happening. You guys @ CBN have some more homeworks to do. Thank you for your information, you can share it with your boss Soludo in his yeye office. OLE.

Hello All,

Abeg who are this people called jin ka wetin and ugly mouse abi na fine cat. You should be ashamed of urselves stating what u do not know.

Common sense should tell u that a distressed bank would not be looking for only customers who have above 10k. It follows that they must have too much customers and want to concentrate on just a few.

While i dont share their sentiment nor rationale for this new position, it is not a reason for u to use this forum to create panick amongst people. I have a close relative who works there and from him i have been getting enough info. Do u hav any idea what their salary scale is like? Well i can thank the likes of u for one thing though because as a result of rumour peddlers such as urselves, i now hav an idea of what my relative earns. abi! Because to prove his points, my relative had to show me his account statements. For God's sake this guy was just paid his QUARTERLY upfront and for just a second level officer, this pay is above 300k. (Bros abeg if u dey read, no vex o)Imagine this being paid every 3months to over 10,000 employees. Oh did i forget, his monthly salary is also above 100k, haba, Then since this rumour started, they have been paying all customers who have been swallowing rumours from people like you so how come they havent folded yet?

Lets talk facts, they are the 2nd fastest growing bank in the world, they have gotten more ratings than any other bank in the country, their staff are well paid and they actually have a service culture unlike some banks i know. Do u know better than all these agencies who have rated them as excellent or are u smarter than Soludo?

see, if not for my bros working there, i would also luv to look for work there because dem dey try. Haba, dey even give scholarships to some higher institutions self. Just like someone earlier commented, e be like say u don find job go there and them bounce u or u fail their test. Olodo.

abeg for those who love the truth, the fact is actually that they suffered some very serious system issues last tuesday but this was resolved on Friday. The text messages they sent on this their new policy for me was ill timed and i have not hesitated to yab my bros for it but thats their business plan and they reserve the right to do so even though me i dont support it.

In fact, it looks as if the feedback from this forum and others must have reached their CEO because they have rescinded on that plan and that for me is listening to ur customers. I dont have so much money but all i have is with them because i trust them.

After all, u were all there when the Zeniths of this world said their own opening balance for individual current account was 250k, why didnt u write ur rubbish? So everyone, fear not, bad belles are at work.

i rest my case.

carfreak=enilowo=OVIABOY=boyskie


this guy means business, intercontinental must not distress or else there will be trouble for him. How else will he pay his N10million Car that he burrowed from intercontinental? what will the girls he's been forming for all these while think? what else will he do beside using the car to carry passenger from Ibadan to Lagos. What will he do with all them Okrika suits he's been buying, Iya sule is sowing another 2 for him as we speak. Finecat becareful o, u wan make this guy have heart attack?? Kai, i sorry for Nigerian bank workers ooo. He go better my people !! like Dr. King said " We shall overcome, we shall overcome someday".

Ha Ha, this is what happens when a jobless wanna be without info goes out to write thrash about serious minded people. He/she gets shot in d ,

Now u have suddenly dreamt about a conspiracy theory of having four identities as one. U are such a serious Olodo, U hav just given urself away that u r the one using multiple identities on this forum. My response was to fine cat abi wetin and err jaz ki abi what. u be their lawyer? Na so e pain u reach u come collect work on their behalf? OLODO, I'm sure u graduated with a third class which is why u can not make a simple analysis of a business decision. Its people like u tht make foreign nationals to question the integrity of the quality of our graduates.

Yes oooo, Intercontinental must not and will not go under,

Yes ooo, i am credit worthy to drive N10m car and that chick i hav been toasting that left your okada like legs for me must not return to u. Are u jealous that u are not credit worthy? I think u have just revealed to us wht precisely ur issue is with this bank. U envy their staff and how they dress and u are not credit worthy, shame on u. Go and struggle and God will answer ur prayers.

Olodo, let me tell u what i do, i am not like u hiding behind an identity. I sell Cars, u hear, I am a Marketing Executive with a leading automobile firm and have been with them since December 04. My banking relationship with Intercontinental started in February 2005 and i have neva had any issues with them. The pay is not much and of course i wouldnt mind to work with Inter but that doesnt mean that i should run someone's business down simply because i can not afford his service.

In the course of my duties, i have met many organisations who can not afford the price of some of our cars yet they dont run us under. They pay for what they can afford. We have six leading brands in this country and perhaps when u repent of ur evil ways, u will be able to afford one of our cars. The most affordable goes for just 990k and we have cars that cost as much as 19m.

So Olodo, who u be?

Sweet T:

carfreak=enilowo=OVIABOY=boyskie


this guy means business, intercontinental must not distress or else there will be trouble for him. How else will he pay his N10million Car that he burrowed from intercontinental? what will the girls he's been forming for all these while think? what else will he do beside using the car to carry passenger from Ibadan to Lagos. What will he do with all them Okrika suits he's been buying, Iya sule is sowing another 2 for him as we speak. Finecat becareful o, u wan make this guy have heart attack?? Kai, i sorry for Nigerian bank workers ooo. He go better my people !! like Dr. King said " We shall overcome, we shall overcome someday".

Sweet T , i just registered 2 mins ago.i am a staff of intercontinental bank and i believe that not only are you a nigerian banker working in one of our competitor banks,you also have the same identity as finecat.
are you that sadistic that you actually rejoice at people losing their jobs becos of your engineered rumours.
make no mistake about my purpose on this blog, im here as an advocate of intercontinental bank if you are not shy about the bank you working for,pls annouce your name,bring it on,let us debate issues and stop being political and sentimental.
your bank will not rise becos another has gone down,
learn to compete properly and not resort to using guerilla tactics
im excpecting your response.

sweet T, pls do us a favour what bank do work for?
SPEAK OUT!!! and let's see if u are proud of it. bloody ass

i can't just imagine why u are facing only "inter"bank. is it b'cos u don't want to pay back u took from them,

na lie, u go pay,

i'm still waiting for ur "mouth diarrhoea",

Leave this matter.I What I know is that I cannot cope with the outrageous charges of this bank and therefore I am closing my account.
If some guys have extra change to waste on internet banking charge and atm which I can get free of charge from FBN, then they can wait. As for me I am withdrawing my little coins there.

I think as old as I am I should me able to use my head to think and not allow anybody here to think for me.My own thinking is that there is no fire without smoke.

Forget about ordinary workers in the bank, Management in any company is privy to some information that may not be known to all staff, that is not even my problem, mine is I can't cope with the outrageous charges, FBN still dey gidigba.

its good to realise that Nairaland has gotten the attention of chief executives who can even advice their loyal staff to register and fight for them.

lamex22, you are welcome to Nairaland, I hope you'll contribute immensely to other issues apart from playing IBplc advocate.

We don't have to get abusive over this matter. the simple truth is for people to use their wisdom and decide who to bank with,
After all, no bank in their selfish nature gives any benefit to their customers. As for me and my household we have decided to bank with ?.

lamex22 welcome once again to Nairaland.

Fellow Nigerian my position is very clear. We need to be weary of anybody that is runny down any organisation, the reason being that there is always an intention. To the best of my knowledge i want to say categorically that there is no bank in the world that does not have one issue or the other in the face of meltdown. For God sake sweet T where were you when this same bank paid back a foreing loan brfore due date? Please lets get something else doing. IBPLC cannot die. For God sake this bank is presently of systemic importance! enjoy your evening.

I have read with interest the comments of everyone in this thread, first off let me say this; carfreak, I believe you can get your point(s) across without being abusive.

That said, based on the happenings in the international market I really don't think any Nigerian bank can claim to be safe or insulated from the global crisis.

What amazes me is why only Intercontinental bank? Why isn't this thread titled "Nigerian Banks have become useless" someone said "FBN still dey gidigba" the same FBN that wrote to its customers in February notifying them of an increase in rates on all it's existing loans (even leases) by about 6% effective February? Could it be due to their approaching year end in March 2009? I wonder, smells like a desperate quest to boost their income to me.

The same person said their charges are outrageous, do you bank with ZIB? They charge their customers N65 for withdrawing on their ATMs using cards issued by them. These charges have been in effect for almost 2yrs. Stanbic IBTC charges N50 for using their ATMs using their own cards as well. UBA does the same, likewise Access. One could go on and on naming the banks that charge for using their ATMs. I know of these charges because I bank with all the banks mentioned here. I'm also charged for using internet banking in various banks annually, including Intercontinental.

To me this whole thread smells like a  smear campaign against Intercontinental Bank. Personally I agree with the person that said we should all think of the impact the failure of any of these banks will have on the Nigerian economy. believe me, it won't be pretty.

I will aggressively defend any bank that people attempt to run down for the mere reason that I have investments in most of them by way of either family, friends, fixed deposit, cash and shares. The drop in share price is bad enough so nobody should mess with my money any further! My eye dey red and my blood dey hot.

That's my 2kobo's worth on this matter. Nuff said.

lamex22:

Sweet T , i just registered 2 mins ago.i am a staff of intercontinental bank and i believe that not only are you a nigerian banker working in one of our competitor banks,you also have the same identity as finecat.
are you that sadistic that you actually rejoice at people losing their jobs becos of your engineered rumours.
make no mistake about my purpose on this blog, im here as an advocate of intercontinental bank if you are not shy about the bank you working for,pls annouce your name,bring it on,let us debate issues and stop being political and sentimental.
your bank will not rise becos another has gone down,
learn to compete properly and not resort to using guerilla tactics
im excpecting your response.

I am not even inside Nigeria at the moment but i will be in a few. If you don't believe me give me your cell number and i will give you a buzz and see what your caller ID says. I will rather be a teacher than work for a Nigerian bank , they don't even pay well for all the wahala. I bought hundreds of thousands of intercontinental bank only to lose some serious money. They was deducting unexplained fees from my account before i closed it and went to FBN. intercontinetal still owe me roughly 200K but i won't sweat that, it's their loss. Now i bank with FBN and Union bank. that yeye bank is full of tricks.

Dear Sweet T,

What will you profit if you see the Economy of this country going down. You are an agent of doom that sees nothing good in this great country. Apologies to all the other gentlemen in this forum. This is a public forum for Godsake, while have you decided to ruin down one of the fasting growing financial institution in the World. Are u on a payroll of Intercontinental Bank competitors? Please lets us know.

Your assertion that you are not in Nigeria and that you can buzz someone's cell with your international call seems that you are desperate for something. I hope you are aware that yahoo boys have International numbers here in Nigeria that they use to defraud people claiming to be outside the shores of this country. I hope yu are not one.

Please contribute something meaningful and lets leave Intercontinental Bank Plc alone. Infact, i just move my Fixed deposit with FBN to them, so why must i listen to comments like yours to move my account from them. Am rather increasing my business deals with them.

Thanks and have a lovely wekend.

Kudeti:

Dear Sweet T,

What will you profit if you see the Economy of this country going down. You are an agent of doom that sees nothing good in this great country. Apologies to all the other gentlemen in this forum. This is a public forum for Godsake, while have you decided to ruin down one of the fasting growing financial institution in the World. Are u on a payroll of Intercontinental Bank competitors? Please lets us know.

Your assertion that you are not in Nigeria and that you can buzz someone's cell with your international call seems that you are desperate for something. I hope you are aware that yahoo boys have International numbers here in Nigeria that they use to defraud people claiming to be outside the shores of this country. I hope yu are not one.

Please contribute something meaningful and lets leave Intercontinental Bank Plc alone. Infact, i just move my Fixed deposit with FBN to them, so why must i listen to comments like yours to move my account from them. Am rather increasing my business deals with them.

Thanks and have a lovely wekend.

You must be drunk! Was i the one that started the post?? I could care less if the bank set N1M for their saving deposit i don't bank with them. If the economy down turn is making you shiver, that's your mug of tea. Get my profile out of you dirty mouth. If you are scared of losing your job go to church.

Dear Sweet T,
You didnt start the post but you were doing a yeoman job to ruin an institution that put something on the table for some of your relations, friends and people that are related directly or indirectly with you. So why not keep your mouth closed than sprteading rumours where there is none on Intercontinental Bank.

Responding to your comment, How will i be scared of loosing my job, when am a self employed. Why not come over to Nigeria so that i can offer you a job in one of my establishment rather than the menial job you are currently doing in Europe.

Do have a lovely weekend and go to church to ask for forgiveness from God for spreading false rumours to the public where there is none.

Kudeti:

Dear Sweet T,
You didnt start the post but you were doing a yeoman job to ruin an institution that put something on the table for some of your relations, friends and people that are related directly or indirectly with you. So why not keep your mouth closed than sprteading rumours where there is none on Intercontinental Bank.

Responding to your comment, How will i be scared of loosing my job, when am a self employed. Why not come over to Nigeria so that i can offer you a job in one of my establishment rather than the menial job you are currently doing in Europe.
Do have a lovely weekend and go to church to ask for forgiveness from God for spreading false rumours to the public where there is none.

How can you possibly afford to employee with your road side vulcanizer business. Mental Job in europe?? This guy is a drunk, i shutle between US and Nigeria doing a very profitable and legitimate business. You are obviously a loser, i want everything in Nigeria to succed but i want us to re-build and transparent so we can build a stronger foundation to build on. We need to shake the fakes and get rid of any aspect of Nigeria that is crooked. I can tolerate some Nigerian banks but most of them are biting more than they can chew. Like i said, unlike you that depend on a bank loan, intercontinental still owes me. I contribute to their developmental not take out of it like you do. yeye man.

nokturnal:

I have read with interest the comments of everyone in this thread, first off let me say this; carfreak, I believe you can get your point(s) across without being abusive.

That said, based on the happenings in the international market I really don't think any Nigerian bank can claim to be safe or insulated from the global crisis.

What amazes me is why only Intercontinental bank? Why isn't this thread titled "Nigerian Banks have become useless" someone said "FBN still dey gidigba" the same FBN that wrote to its customers in February notifying them of an increase in rates on all it's existing loans (even leases) by about 6% effective February? Could it be due to their approaching year end in March 2009? I wonder, smells like a desperate quest to boost their income to me.

The same person said their charges are outrageous, do you bank with ZIB? They charge their customers N65 for withdrawing on their ATMs using cards issued by them. These charges have been in effect for almost 2yrs. Stanbic IBTC charges N50 for using their ATMs using their own cards as well. UBA does the same, likewise Access. One could go on and on naming the banks that charge for using their ATMs. I know of these charges because I bank with all the banks mentioned here. I'm also charged for using internet banking in various banks annually, including Intercontinental.

To me this whole thread smells like a smear campaign against Intercontinental Bank. Personally I agree with the person that said we should all think of the impact the failure of any of these banks will have on the Nigerian economy. believe me, it won't be pretty.

I will aggressively defend any bank that people attempt to run down for the mere reason that I have investments in most of them by way of either family, friends, fixed deposit, cash and shares. The drop in share price is bad enough so nobody should mess with my money any further! My eye dey red and my blood dey hot.

That's my 2kobo's worth on this matter. Nuff said.

Norktuna,
Where did you get the info on FBN loan? I have about 2.5m loan I'm servicing in FBN and there is nothing like that at all.

I wonder where people get these funny info in Nairaland.

Anyway if you can afford those funny charges that are freeelse where you can continue paying them.For anybody that can't, FBN is not charging a kobo on internet banking and Atm.I'll rather bank with FBN (strong and reliable) and enjoy some free services than bank with Intercontinental and pay some funny charges.
We are free to decide what we want.

Dear Sweet T,

If u are good citizen of this country as you claimed, then don't spread rumours that are non existence. I remain to be corrected, the organization you want to run down with your evil intentions put something on the table for alot of people that are related to you directly or indirectly. A bank that is facing liquidity problem will not be increasing there minimum balance, rather they will reduce it to the barest minimum. I will continue to bank with them and even introduce more people to them.

Kudeti:

Dear Sweet T,

If u are good citizen of this country as you claimed, then don't spread rumours that are non existence. I remain to be corrected, the organization you want to run down with your evil intentions put something on the table for alot of people that are related to you directly or indirectly. A bank that is facing liquidity problem will not be increasing there minimum balance, rather they will reduce it to the barest minimum. I will continue to bank with them and even introduce more people to them.

Good for you, i pray they remain in business if they engage in business that helps the long term prosperity of Nigeria and not engage in shady transactions that collude with politicians to our treasury dry. And i hope they distress faster than anything if they are contributing to the surfering of my people. No one wants People to lose their jobs but if the loss of 30,000 job improves the lives of 120,000,000 million then so be it. The likes of Intercontinental, Zenith, Oceanic e.t.c must tell Nigerian people what banks did the likes of Ibori, Fayose, Alameghesia, Kalu, Ladoja, borisade e.t.c use to siphone money out of Nigeria. My people we must wake up!! We use to accuse and curse the The world bank and others when Babangida and Abacha was using them to loot us blind. How come we act like act like we don't know that Nigerian banks does not collude with the politicians to loot the treasury all in the name of competitions. The other day i was reading about some former governor in the south-west complaining that he lost hundreds of millions of Naira in a bank and that the bank has helped him so many times to facilitates his deposits into his private accounts. Do you know what that means?? The people of his state has lost money to his personal accounts. Who would want a bank like that to succed?? You know that bank is not stopping at one Governor. Think of how many kids have lost education privileges, helath care privileges e.t.c because some ministers, governors and commisioners have fattened their bank account to the detriment of the Nigerian people. And the same banks sit on the money, will not lend small business community to help small local investors instead they use the money to polish their image by given some 50 N10,000 scholarships out of billions of illegal public money at their disposals. Insulting if you ask me. Only in Nigeria is thieves and shady business practice glorified. I was watching MSNBC last night and saw a report about how the FBI is set to deal with a Texan called Stafford. This guy owns bank all over the Carribeans and was heavily deep in fraudulents practises. Now most of his banks in those countries has distressed. And i guarantee you when FBI means deal with you, trust me you are in a pile of trouble. Nigeria has a tothless crimewatch called EFCC. they arrest a fraudulent politician today and by this time next week, he perform his big-man magic and gets out of jail without a scratch. No fraudulent politician has been brought to book by EFCC. abi dem no guilty?? Instead for Nigerian youths to worry about their future and take these crimes has robbery of their future prospect, no they are worried about Chelsea beating Liverpool or if Manchester united will win some stupid cup next year. Sad isn't it?

Come wait first, who is this slowpoke Sweet T?

U dey crase, no apologies nokturnal.

Its corpse washers like u that mess the good image of this country. What stupid legitimate business do u do that u can not talk about freely on the forum? Can u afford to call Naija without loading one of those ur useless call cards? If u r man enough, give me ur business name and i will run a bckground check on u and post it on this forum within a week. Yeye oaf, u do menial jobs that u can not take in ur country and and stay there (if u r not in Mushin) and pass judgement on those who actually sweat it out here.

Can u afford to buy ur boyz beer in a joint? Stingy nitwit. A staff of Intercontinental has joined this forum and i dare u to give him ur account no to verify ur useless claims of being owed.

Drunk, ? U r on cheap drugs and i hope u O.D. I met a jackass such as u in my last trip to the U.K last summer. I had bought some gear from Burton and when i was about to pay, the dude asks Cash or Card? I told him Cash of course and he said "Oh, u must be Nigerian and launched into a tirade of Yoruba stating how difficult it is over here and blah blah blah, I simply told him, oh boy come home, life don beta for home. How am i not sure u were the person, okkkkkkkkkkkkkkk u said u shuttle U.S  and Eko? how recession dey hold u, We see poor desparate individuals such as ur sorry ass loosing jobs everyday, Even my mother in law who is a Citizen, works with the INS says it is not easy and considers returning home. So how much more a looser just like u who prob married a latino just to get papers.

Dick head, GO STRAIGHT TO HELL,

Oh,

U've suddenly gone political,

What is with u and this country self?

U r out, please stay out,

DEM,wish can of bank is dis u better move ur money to skyebank there minimumbalace is 1000,4 savings acct,and min4 current is just 100naira,and they wil ask if u want smsalert.100naira 4 atm charges monthly, . saying yes to ur dream.HAKUNAMATA, KO SI WALALA,

ALL THIS POST NA JAGONZ as FAR as Im concerned!

I go for GTB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GBA!

Other Banks me I dont know! Zenith dem be BIG THEIF! Intercontinental, my little bro is complaining about the charges,

UBA!! another THEIF here, ! You get charged withdrawing at another branch,, N205, hehehe

@Carfreak

Truth hurts don't it?? You are a fool!!! Your days of crooked bank workers are numbered. Since you like to know, I worked for Exxon Inc. for years before the merger . Now i'm in Biotech and i supply medical facilities to Hospitals in developing world while still working for US government. Life is good!!!

I'm sure in the next few months when the budget squeeze harder your bosses will not have enough to steal therefore your little crumbs off the table will dry off. You in London?? Big deal, you went to London, A-hole! there is nothing in London, i was getting posted to London b/4 quitting exxon, I bet you never enter inside a plane. You wish to run to run to London, but your crooked ways will not allow you in the country. You better start looking a agbero job, Crude oil is $40.00, your crooked bosses knows what that means but will not share it with blockhead like you. If you had any sense you will know that your ogas are panicking. Idiot. The guy you met in Lodon lives a better life than an average overworked Nigerian bank worker who closes @ 11.00 pm every night including weekends, you are a slave in your father's tents. Don't let your N100,000 a month salary (that's if you make that much these days) fool! open your eyes that's a chop change. Get wise and see what independence can do for you. A-hole !!!

Your true color is slowly showing, so you want to know my account #. i knew you combine yahoo/with your useless bank work. No wonder i keep getting yahoo E-mails. I see why your in-law is being held by INS. A family of crooks.

i had to quickly rush down other pples posts to send mine cos my mind is so filled with so mmuch to say about this bank.i op 2 a.c with them.a normal savings then an IPSA cos of my dividends.d first is now domant i thank God.the othervwill soon be closed.i went to thier bank to know if the tx i got wuld be for only IPS they said it is for the two types of a.ci told d lady at the CS i wanna close and she was smilin.i thing they are in troubled waters.may be they ve more customers that they envisage and cant handle the pressure again so they wanna close.pple ve started closin down.these days that ban ac are opened anyhow they are chasin customers agai.i will try my luck with GTB.they 0.00 and no charge on ATM.i know they will ve hidden charges cos these banks aint this nice but they are still better than INTER.someone tell erastus he iwill regret this

This is going out of control ladies and gentle men ! intead of us to be praying 4 things to change positively, we are here critizing one bank or the other.  

While not defending Intercontinental Bank, I think it is necessary that we consider what other experts in the banking world has to say of the bank, Intercontinental Bank , paticularly agencies and bodies outside Nigeria that are not being influenced by our Nigerian factor.

First, the trend between most Nigerian banks and their overseas partners in the recent past has been that all form of support / credit lines are being withdrawn from Nigerain banks (Intercontinental Bank inclusive), however Intercontinental seems one of the few ones that is getting back the credit facilities back (http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/02/18/afx6067625.html). This, to me is a sign of good health on the bank, cause due diligence are always carried out by the overseas banks before such facilities are extended to any bank.

For those of in Lagos, most of us will have experienced the bitter rivalry and pull-him-down syndrome among almost all the banks. From my observations, this is a result of desperate marketers wanting to convince prospective customers on why they must bank with their bank only. (probably to meet their always unrealizable targets). What do amuse me is that I have encountered situations where the person that is running down a particular bank came back about 2weeks after that she has just moved to that same bank!

To the issues raised about opening and operating balances that was increased by Intercontinental, I was in one of their branches in Lagos on Friday and was realiably informed that the action has been reversed due to pulic outcry that greeted the action. Though to me, that is not enough to ascertain the health of any bank.

From my discusions with friends that knows more than I do about banks / banking, some of the symptoms of a drowning banks  include:
, not paying salaries and allowances as at when due
, being out of clearing (even if for a day)
, staff lay-offs
, bad loans / unsecured facilities
etc

So, for now I don't think there is a cause for panic as per Intercontinental Bank, even if only for the sake of the WORD for TODAY being distributed freely in their branches.

LONG LIVE NIGERIAN BANKS

lexicon:

This is going out of control ladies and gentle men ! intead of us to be praying 4 things to change positively, we are here critizing one bank or the other.  

I appreciate your concern but the the fact is that those who know exactly what's going on will never come forward to disclose the state of things. They instead send out idiots like Carfreak to defend nothing he knows about. He claim to work for CBN and his idiotic boss Soludo told the whole country that the global recession will not affect Nigeria while other countries was busy facing the reality and preparing for the worst, Soludo gave everybody false hopes now see what is happening. One of my brothers was recently having a conversation with one of the Balogun siblings in Ijebu. This is the family that knows what is happening in the Nigerian banking system because they part-owned FCMB. You will be amazed at what this guy said. The problem is not particular to intercontinental bank but industry wide. Do you know that these banks can NOT afford to lend each other money like they used to do last year to cover their short falls during inspections and when they declare fake huge profits. He claimed that some banks are in hot water that they are considering reducing work force or cutting back on salary as much as in civil service pay scale to prevent mass lay-off. Can you imagine that?? It was only Otuba Shubomi that has the nerves to come forward and tell Nigerians that all was not rosy with Nigerian banks. That idiot called governor of CBN Soludo was busy lieing to Nigerians. Some banks like Intercontinental, Finbak, Citibank e.t.c that depend heavily on foreign loans or credits in addition to colluding with Politicians are the worst affected by the global downturns. So why wonder why Intercontinental increase minimum deposits. That is why Erastus has been running from post to pillar from Oba Eko to Ife to Kwara to various governors to solicits for business. Open your eyes investors, a word is enough for the wise. No one is saying go to the bank and close your account completely but invest in them wisely.

Intercontinental is not Useless, Just Plain Insensitive or Oversensitive as the case maybe

No body is trying to run down Intercontinental here, just reporting the decisions the bank execs made and how it affects their lives.(Doesnt matter how strong Intercontinental is but the customers are interested about their services and the affordability of banking with them)

Wonder how execs of a bank reached a decision to increase minimum savings deposit without  properly sensitizing their customers,
and without enough notice (barely 3 weeks). I was informed yesterday with the deadline being March 31st.

For all the pro Intercontinentals, be objective, seems you are not even aware of the reason for all the inflated service charges
and the new minimum deposit.

Me thinks, the purposes and aims of the increase in minimum deposit to N10000 by the execs are being achieved thus - Public uproar and panic
hence effectively reducing the customers by prompt withdrawals and closure of accts. to what end I know not.