Zenith Bank, a Tier-1 Nigerian bank with a market capitalisation of N1.19 trillion, plans to finalise the migration of its core banking platform in October, after a glitch in the process disrupted online banking services and left customers unable to access their accounts.
The bank, which previously used Phoenix, a software developed by London-based Finastra, is migrating to Oracle’s Flexcube. At least eight Nigerian banks use Flexcube.
Sources that claim to be familiar with the matter said that Zenith Bank is switching platforms because Phoenix could no longer meet its growing technological and customisation needs.
Zenith Bank did not respond to a request for comments.
For banks, switching their core banking software is a significant change that requires transferring large amounts of data.
The volume of data and the unique features of each system make this step particularly complex, increasing the risk of disruptions.
Data migration also requires extra steps such as revalidation to prevent human errors and functionality checks to ensure accuracy.
Reports said an error during this stage typically causes glitches, which could be the reason Zenith is pausing the migration plan.
“If you can solve data migration, then the rest (of the migration process) is straightforward,” one banking software engineer reportedly said.
Zenith Bank is part of a growing list of Nigerian banks changing their core banking platforms.
While some migrations – such as GTBank’s switch to Finacle – had gone smoothly, others, such as Sterling Bank’s move to a custom-built platform, left customers unable to access banking services.
* Media Report