Zenith Bank says banking services restored after over 48 hours of outage 

Zenith Bank on Thursday said it has made progress in its IT upgrade which disrupted its banking services for over 48 hours, adding that its customers can now transact across its various channels.

The bank announced this via a statement posted on its X handle.

Zenith also apologized to its customers over the disruption saying it was in a bid to serve them better.

According to the bank, its customers can now perform transactions through their debit cards, mobile app, internet banking, and through its agents nationwide.

What the bank is saying 

The Zenith Bank’s statement suggests that the IT upgrade has yet to be completed as the bank only said it has made ‘significant progress’. The statement read in part:

“We sincerely apologize for the service disruptions you experienced recently on our banking channels. This was due to an Information Technology upgrade aimed at improving the quality of service we provide you. 

“We have made significant progress with the upgrade and you can now perform transactions conveniently. You can also visit any of our branches nationwide to perform your transactions.” 

• Recall that Zenith Bank had on Tuesday, October 1, notified its customers of a routine maintenance that would cause service disruptions for a few hours.

• The period, which also coincided with salary payments left many salary-earning customers of the bank stranded as they could not withdraw.

What you should know 

Meanwhile, earlier reports suggested that Zenith Bank was doing more than IT maintenance but migrating its core banking platform to a new one. The bank did not confirm nor deny the report.

• Zenith Bank, which previously used Phoenix, a software developed by London-based Finastra, is reportedly migrating to Oracle’s Flexcube, a platform used by many other Nigerian banks.

• For banks, switching their core banking software is a significant change that requires transferring large amounts of data and more rigorous action than regular IT maintenance.

• Tier-1 Zenith Bank was one of the biggest earners from electronic transactions in half-year 2024, according to its financial results.

• The bank generated N41.2 billion in half-year 2024, a remarkable 85.6% increase from the N22.2 billion it earned in H1 2023.

• For the period, the bank also upped its IT spending from N8.6 billion in the first half of 2023 to N23 billion in half-year 2024, representing a 167% increase.
• However, the recent disruption in services for days may see its electronic transactions revenue decline in Q4 2024.