First Bank, one of Nigeria’s tier-1 lenders, has announced its transition to a new cloud-based procurement and financial platform aimed at improving operational efficiency and service delivery.
In a notice sent to its vendors, the bank indicated that the transition is set to begin on Saturday, October 26, and may result in some service disruptions.
This announcement comes amid service disruptions at two other tier-1 banks, Zenith and GTBank, which are currently experiencing issues following their recent transitions to new core banking platforms.
In the notice issued on Wednesday, the bank said, “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 noted that during the transition period, vendors will be unable to submit invoices through the current Electronic Business Suite.
Payments during this time will only be processed if invoices for received purchase orders are submitted by Friday, October 25, 2024.
Additionally, the bank announced that its current supplier portal will be discontinued effective November 4. It indicated that further communication regarding the new Supplier Portal and a job card will be provided before the 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 stated.
Efforts to reach the Head of Media Relations at the bank, Mr. Ismail Omamegbe, was unsuccessful. Omamegbe did not respond to the text messages sent, despite indicating a preference for text communication after a call.
