People’s Bank of Zanzibar to overhaul core banking tech with ICS Banks
People’s Bank of Zanzibar in core banking tech overhaul with ICSFS
People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ), a state-owned bank in Tanzania, has concluded its core banking system selection. The bank has signed a deal with ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) to implement the vendor’s ICS Banks platform.
ICS Banks will support conventional and Islamic banking services offered by PBZ. The implementation will commence in January 2017.
PBZ went to market for a new core system in spring 2015. The RFP closed in September that year. It is understood that around nine regional and international vendors competed for the deal, including ERI Bancaire with its Olympic system, Temenos with T24, JMR Infotech with Flexcube, Simba Technology with Finacle, and Craft Silicon with Bankers Realm.
The bank was established in the 1960s and is owned by the government of Zanzibar. It offers commercial and retail banking services across 16 locations (service centres and branches), four of which provide Shari’ah-compliant financial services. PBZ plans to open another four conventional and four Islamic banking branches in the course of three years.
PBZ has total assets of around $143 million and employs 230+ people.
ICSFS is a provider of banking software to conventional and Islamic banks. It has a head office in the UK, and a regional centre in Jordan. The vendor has around 80 customers, predominantly in the Middle East and Africa. Among them are Jordan Ahli Bank in Palestine, Warka Bank for Investment and Finance in Iraq, Guaranty Trust Bank, Jordan Kuwait Bank, and Arab Jordan Investment Bank.
