Customers of the Ghana Commercial Bank hoping to access the bank's ATMs for quick cash Monday returned home disappointed as the auto tellers were switched off across the country. But bank officials are pleading with all stranded customers to hold their patience just a trifle longer as technicians work around the clock to complete a planned systems upgrade. GCB, Ghana's most capitalised commercial bank with 149 branches nationwide, last month announced it intended a scheduled upgrading of its systems between May 1 and 3 to improve service delivery and turn-around-times at its counters, however Head of Public Relations, Nana Duncan, told Myjoyonline.com that engineers and technicians were still engaged in resolving technological challenges with the upgrading works late Monday evening. He was hopeful the challenges, which he described as usual with systems upgrading, would be resolved within the week. The bank's halls Monday particularly in Accra, were overflowing with anxious customers returning from a long weekend, including Friday's May Day holiday for labour, with many needing urgent cash. The ATMs shutdown during the entire holiday and weekend, according to Duncan, was nationwide as the unresolved challenges affected the bank's network. The situation at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle branch of the bank left many customers locked in the banking hall long after the bank had closed for the day, and Duncan explained, that could always be expected. He said the branch is situated in a vital location that sees customers and non-customers, including students flocking in at working hours for various services. "What worsened the situation on Monday, apart from the ATMs not working, was that the branch's systems also went down early in the day for a while." Story by Isaac Yeboah/Myjoyonline.com