System upgrade: Stakeholders say Nigerian banks need one year to migrate customers’ data

• Tech experts say Nigerian banks may require up to a year to migrate customers’ data
• The experts say banks didn’t prepare for potential negative outcomes of upgrade
• The recent banks’ system upgrades that left customers stranded highlight the need for banks to adopt local IT talents and staff training

Following the recent system upgrade of core banking applications, stakeholders in the technology sector have said Nigerian banks will require up to one year to successfully migrate customers’ data.

They said the migration process involves transferring a large bulk of customers’ data from outdated systems to new platforms, thus requiring meticulous planning and execution.

It will be recalled that recently, some banks such as Access, Zenith and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) announced system upgrades and completion of the process, which left many customers stranded and disenchanted as they struggled to carry out essential banking operations.

The situation has become a recurring feature among bank customers and generates social media buzz each time as customers battle with network failures and transaction failures, among others.

In an interview, a technology expert and Head of Marketing at MIM Finance, Bobola Ojo-Ami, said banks can never be totally prepared for the outcomes of customers’ data migration process.

He said, “The migration process is inherently complex and daunting. Banks can never be 100 per cent prepared; initial planning only equips them for what lies ahead. The real challenges emerge during the actual migration.”

Banks didn’t prepare for potential negative outcomes of migration – AI researcher

Enakirrerhi Truthful, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) researcher at RealSearch and Partners Inc., said banks didn’t anticipate potential negative outcomes of customer data migration during system upgrades.

Truthful said, “This outage also revealed a lack of contingency planning. What happens if things go south during an upgrade? Do we have a backup plan? For many of the banks, the answer appears to be no.

“We saw firsthand how much we depend on our banking system for our daily lives. People couldn’t pay for groceries, businesses couldn’t settle payments and even international transactions were affected. This wasn’t just about a technical glitch; it impacted commerce, security and even our confidence in the financial system.”

Need for local IT talents, staff training on data migration

The reliance on foreign companies for the management and maintenance of information technology (IT) infrastructure means Nigerian banks have had to settle payments in scarce foreign currencies.

However, some banks have started adopting locally developed solutions and engaging local talents. The recent disruptions as a result of banks’ system upgrades also raise the need for staff members’ training on customer data migration and the workings of the new system.

Ojo-Ami noted that banks transfer vast amounts of data across various platforms and numerous branches, which might require hardware infrastructure changes to accommodate the upgraded technology,

21 Nigerian banks that were closed down between 2000 – 2024

Meanwhile, TheRadar compiled a list of banks that have been closed down between 2009 and 2024. They include Premier Commercial Bank, Ivory Merchant Bank, Rims Merchant Bank, African Express Bank and Eagle Bank Limited.

This was in light of the recent closure of Heritage Bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which sent shockwaves to thousands of individuals who operated accounts with it.