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Transactions went on smoothly at the branches of Polaris Bank, formerly Skye Bank Plc yesterday – the first business day after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) withdrew its licence.

Announcing the licence withdrawal at the weekend, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele assured depositors of the safety of their funds and that N786 billion had been injected into the new bank to shore up its capital base.

But many of the branches of the bank visited still had the old bank’s logo, contrary to expectations that logo change would have commenced.

At the bank’s branches at Lagos branches in Ogba and Matori as well as in Abuja, workers, clients and customers were seen transacting businesses without hitches.

Few customers that approached the customer service officers for clarifications on what the takeover meant for their deposits. They were assured that there was no cause for alarm.

However, bank managers and customer service officers had a constant and more than normal flow of customers making inquiries, clarifications and assurances on the safety of their funds in the bank.

One of the Abuja-based customer, Mrs. Adeyemi Adeosun, an octogenarian and a school owner, said she initially went to the bank with a resolve to withdraw or transfer all her funds to another bank but changed her mind after discussing with the branch manager.

She said: “I came here to withdraw or transfer all my money in the bank because of the experiences I have had in the past with liquidated banks. When I heard the news about Skye Bank, I almost had a heart attack. After speaking with the branch manager today (yesterday) , my confidence in the bank has been restored and my fears reduced; though not totally.”

Another customer, Moses Adigun, said he had a very long weekend as his mind was set on how to get out his money from the bank yesterday.

He, however, said that his fears were assuaged after his encounter with the bank’s customer representative.

Another customer, who came to open a current account at a branch of the bank, said she was assured and adequately educated by the customers’ service representative that the bank is not in any form of crisis and that her funds are safe and secured.

She, however, did not like the fact that the current account form given to her still had the Skye Bank logo. The customer service officer had to use her pen to strike out the name and wrote Polaris Bank at the top.

The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) had over the weekend, assured customers of the continued safety of their funds in furtherance of the regulatory authority’s resolve to proactively manage potential threats to financial system stability.

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