Nigerian bank customers should prepare for continued service disruptions in the upcoming weeks and months as financial institutions implement crucial system upgrades aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and improving customer experience.
Several banks have already initiated this transition, leading to customer frustrations as access to funds and transaction capabilities have been temporarily halted. Industry insiders indicate that more banks are gearing up to begin core banking system migrations in a competitive effort to bolster their technology infrastructure.
Sterling Bank, a tier-2 institution, was among the first to experience significant service outages earlier in September. The bank's switch from T24 to SEABaaS, a locally developed custom core banking application, left customers unable to transact for days.
Similarly, GTBank recently migrated from Basis/Banks software to Indian banking technology, Finacle, while Zenith Bank faced a severe service outage on October 1, attributed to ‘routine IT maintenance.’ Days later, customers of Zenith Bank were still grappling with accessibility issues despite the bank claiming to have made “significant progress” in restoring services after migrating from Phoenix software to Oracle’s Flexcube.
As of this week, many Zenith customers reported ongoing difficulties accessing the bank’s app. A source familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity, disclosed that migrating to a new core banking application is a complex process, often taking weeks or even months to stabilize. “It involves transferring customer data, and banks need to integrate with various channels—like ATMs, USSD, and internet banking—which can extend the timeline for achieving full operational stability.”
While some sources suggest that these upgrades are a response to directives from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), others argue that banks are independently striving to enhance their service offerings.
