First Bank has announced plans to transition to a new cloud-based procurement and financial platform as part of its ongoing strategy to improve operational efficiency and service delivery.

The migration, scheduled to begin on Saturday, October 26, is expected to result in temporary service disruptions, the tier one lender with over 42 million customers said in a Wednesday notice.

This move comes amid a wave of recent disruptions in the Nigerian banking sector, as several financial institutions undergo upgrades to their core banking systems.

Since September, at least four major banks in the country have switched their core banking applications, including tier-1 lenders such as Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank.

Part of the notice read, “As part of the bank’s continuous investments to improve operational efficiencies and service experience, we will be transitioning from our current procurement and financial platforms to a new cloud-based platform that provides additional capabilities and benefits.

“During the cut-over period, certain activities and transactions will need to be suspended to aid housecleaning and safe migration of transactions with minimal disruption.

“The cut-over period will be from Saturday, October 26, 2024, to Sunday, November 3, 2024, while the new cloud-based solution will be live on Monday, November 4, 2024, and normal activities will resume,” the bank stated.

The lender also noted that during the transition period, vendors would be unable to submit invoices on its current Electronic Business Suite.
Payments will only be processed if invoices are submitted for received purchase orders by Friday, October 25, 2024, the lender noted.

Additionally, FirstBank stated that its current supplier portal will no longer be in use effective November 4.

The bank will provide further communication on the details of the new Supplier Portal, along with a job card, ahead of the system’s go-live date on Monday, November 4, 2024.

“Kindly note to take proactive steps as indicated above to avoid business disruption during this critical period. Further details regarding onboarding, training, and user guides will be communicated before the end of the week,” the bank explained.

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved contracts of N44.2 billion for the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to procure vehicles and construct residential accommodations.

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, spoke to journalists at the end of the weekly FEC meeting on Wednesday in Abuja

The meeting was presided over by President Bola Tinubu.

Speaking on behalf of the ministry of finance, Idris said the council also approved a credit facility of €443 million and $141 million for the procurement of six M346 fighter aircraft for the Nigerian Air Force.

The minister also said FEC approved agreements to eliminate double taxation with Hong Kong and Botswana, aimed at preventing tax evasion

“The contracts include the construction of residential accommodations and procurement of operational vehicles,” he said.

“We are committed to enhancing the efficiency of the Nigeria Customs Service.

“The first one is that there have been approvals for some contracts, about seven of them for the Nigerian custom service.

“The next one is that there’s an approval for an agreement for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and prevention of tax evasion and avoidance between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China.

“The third one is that the council gave approval to obtain a credit facility in a sum of 443,330,781.49 euros and another $141 million from a group of financiers for the procurement of six units of M346 fighter aircraft and ammunition for the Nigerian Air Force. 

“And the last one from the Federal Ministry of Finance is the approval for signing of an agreement for the elimination of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Republic of Botswana.”

Zenith Bank has announced the successful conclusion of its system upgrade.

In a message on Tuesday, Zenith Bank expressed gratitude to its customers for their patience during the upgrade process, promising improved services moving forward.

“Dear valued customer, thank you for your patience. We have successfully concluded the system upgrade, and you will experience improved services going forward,” Zenith Bank said.

Zenith Bank made a similar announcement on October 14, noting that it has upgraded the bank’s core information technology (IT) infrastructure after embarking on the system upgrade on October 1, with assurance that the downtime will last from 12:01am and 2:30pm.

“We have upgraded our core IT infrastructure to ensure you enjoy memorable banking experiences going forward,” the bank said.

“Perform your transactions quickly, safely and conveniently 24/7 with our digital banking channel(s) of your choice.”

On September 29, Zenith Bank informed its customers via various channels that its app would be automatically updated to a new version on October 1.

Following the development, the bank’s customers took to X to complain about their inability to access the financial institution’s mobile app.

Due to the technical issues and challenges faced by Zenith Bank customers, Spectranet had advised its subscribers to avoid making payments via Zenith Bank.