… as CWG offers core banking solution as managed service on cloud
Financial institutions in Nigeria have been given the opportunity to play in the Fintech space by using technology solutions to make banking more seamless. This is as Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) plc has announced that it will offer Infosys’s core banking solution called Finacle as a managed service on cloud.
At a time when the world is going through a digital revolution, every sector of any economy including the financial sector is leveraging technology as an enabler for growth and transformation, and so managed service on cloud will allow banks focus on their core business and be less worried about the sophistication of customer’s digital requirements and increased competition.
CWG had earlier made public its plans to strengthen partnership with Infosys, an Indian Information Communications Technology (ICT) company, in order to meet the banking needs in Nigeria.
Speaking at a media parley to announce this offering of Finacle solution which will enable banks running on it to optimise infrastructure and technology management costs, while assuring agility and flexibility to scale operations rapidly, James Agada, CEO, CWG, said: “Banks understand that technology is critical for simplifying banking to create sustainable business growth.
“However, many of them are burdened with disparate host systems added piecemeal, over time, and developed on aging technology. These legacy systems are simply not equipped to readily respond to change. A pain-free approach to banking transformation, with an adaptive solution at the core, will prove invaluable for banks looking to gear themselves for tomorrow. We are happy to offer Finacle on Cloud, as an adaptive solution to give banks the leverage to innovate and transform.”
Giving an example of the incredible benefits of the solution, Agada said; “First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) piloted on Finacle in six months and since then has rolled out the solution to over 170 branches and today they are recording about three million transactions a day on their electronic channels.
“When we sold Finacle to First Bank, the then CEO said we much write an undertaking that it can do two million transactions a day, because it was so out of this world to think such a solution could help make two million transactions when their initial plan was to put up six data centers. Today, FBN did 300 million transactions on their electronic channel in December alone and it is still growing,” Agada said.
Also speaking, Venkatramana Gosavi, Senior Vice President and Head – Growth Markets, Infosys Finacle said: “Increasingly banks will need to adopt flexible cloud deployment strategies, so that they can manage the growing banking transactions load from digital age channels, even while reining in technology management costs. The cloud play is a game changer to improve cost efficiency and agility. We are happy to see CWG take the lead in helping Nigerian financial institutions of all sizes, begin their cloud journey with confidence, with the benefit of the proven Finacle solution.”
With the cloud deployment, banks can easily integrate new innovations from Finacle on an ongoing basis, and minimise the costs and efforts of implementation
“Nigerians were initially worried if banks will ever become digital, but recall that we were also worried that Point of Sales (PoS) terminals might not be well received and see how popular they are today.
Half of the world in going to be millennial by 2025, so we have to look at how they consume. Millenials are not going to write a cheque, so if you don’t address the consumption pattern of the millennial which is technologically driven, we are going to be left behind,” Austin Okere, founder, CWG, told BusinessDay.
