By JUDITH NAMUTOWE  –
THE Zambia National Credit Bank (NATSAVE) and Datacentrix have signed an agreement for the supply and implementation of IBM hardware and software at the cost of more than US$1 million.
The intervention is part of the K110 million recapitalisation of the bank which the Government allocated in the 2014 National Budget.
The new hardware system has been designed to provide for high availability and minimal downtime.
NATSAVE embarked on a business  transformation programme and had selected Finacle Universal Banking   solution to be implemented as part of  its transformation programme.
This transformation was expected to see the bank implement the new core banking system by Infosys known as Financle USB.
The new core banking software, designed by Indian multinational corporation, Infosys, was due to be fully operational by mid-2015.
NATSAVE managing director Cephas Chabu said during the signing ceremony that the vendor recommended an appropriate hardware platform and the bank settled for IBM.
“We carried out a competitive tender  as stipulated in the Zambia Public  Procurement Act and after thorough evaluations, Datacentrix was selected  as the most competitive bidder to supply, install and commission the IBM  hardware and related software platform to run the new banking system,” Mr Chabu said.
Mr Chabu said the new hardware platform would be able to support the current  and future banking needs of the  institution for many years to come.