The mammoth task of integrating systems that would allow the fusion of Access Bank Plc and its recently acquired Intercontinental Bank into one entity has created transactional headaches at the various branches of Access Bank, Nigeria CommunicationsWeek investigations has shown.
As a result, the bank has set up dual transactions channels, one for its customers and the other for customers brought along with the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank.
And with just days to the March target Access Bank set for the full migration of all the customers and closure of some branches of Intercontinental Bank, the vast tranches of sensitive customer and trading data, software systems handshake problems as well as other back office systems are posing challenges for its ICT experts.
In Access Bank branches and most former branches of Intercontinental Bank, customers of the two banks are being attended to by different tellers especially for lodgment of money or cheque.
As an account holder in Access Bank, this reporter could not have access to his account details at any former Intercontinental Bank branches visited.
Mr. Segun Fafore, head, Corporate Affairs, Access Bank, acknowledged that the situation exist, but noted that the Bank will crossover to a fully IT integration by next week.
Access Bank appear to have envisaged the problem when it said earlier in the year that the merger process would take between 18 and 24 months, adding that it was able to fast-track the process due to a number of factors ranging from the pre-merger integration process and the support of stakeholders.
Nigeria CommunicationsWeek however gathered that IT is a make or break of many marriages or acquisition of banks and other financial institutions.
Hussaini Yakubu, chief operating officer Mayakorp Nigeria, a total ICT Solutions Company said that for the acquisition to be a success, all the systems coming together must be able to quickly integrate, and go seamless.
He said that lack of a blueprint and documented planning may delay quick migration.
Nodding in agreement, James Agada, managing director, ExpertEdge Software described IT integration in banking business as adoption of common platform for IT operations, which includes software and hardware.
He noted that: “for two banks that merged to attain fully IT integration means that they have successfully moved their data to a common platform under same application among other IT infrastructure”.