What NMB’s new system means for users and firms

NMB chief executive officer Ruth Zaipuna said the upgrade was driven by the bank’s rapid expansion and changing customer needs, rather than failure of the previous system.

“When we started using the previous system in 2011, the bank had approximately 1.8 million customer accounts. Today, we have more than 10 million,” Ms Zaipuna said yesterday.

The bank now operates more than 250 branches, over 80,000 agents and more than 750 ATMs, while more than 130,000 QR codes are used to receive payments.

The scale of that growth, Ms Zaipuna said, required a technology platform capable of handling substantially larger transaction volumes while supporting the development of new banking products.

The core banking system sits at the centre of NMB’s operations, connecting customer accounts and transactions with loans, branches, agents, ATMs and digital channels such as NMB Mkononi and internet banking.

The new platform is therefore expected to have implications beyond the bank’s internal operations, particularly for customers and businesses that increasingly rely on digital financial services.

For retail customers, NMB expects the new system to improve the speed and reliability of services across its banking channels. The bank also expects greater flexibility in developing digital products and services based on customers’ financial needs.

Ms Zaipuna said the new platform would strengthen services delivered through NMB Mkononi, USSD, ATMs and agents, while improving transaction security and efficiency.

The technology is also intended to allow the bank to introduce new products more quickly.

“For the ordinary customer, the value of the new system will be seen in four key areas: speed, reliability, security and the ability to access services that better match their needs,” she said.

However, the transition has not been entirely seamless, with some customers experiencing service challenges following the migration.

NMB temporarily suspended some services during the final migration stage to allow the transfer of information from the old platform to the new system.

Ms Zaipuna said the bank was monitoring the system around the clock and had prepared more than 540 employees to support customers and address emerging issues. She also assured customers that their funds, information and transaction records remained safe.

“No customer funds were lost, no customer information was affected and there have been no changes in ownership of accounts or customer records,” she said.

For businesses, the upgrade could be particularly significant as NMB seeks to increase its ability to handle high-volume transactions and provide more sophisticated financial services.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs are expected to benefit from the bank’s increased capacity to develop digital lending, payments, savings, insurance and other services tailored to their business cycles.

For larger companies and institutions, the new system is expected to strengthen payments, collections, cash management and payroll services.

NMB says its new platform can support payroll processing for more than 20,000 employees for a single company.

The increased processing capacity could become increasingly important as businesses move more of their financial operations onto digital platforms and require faster reconciliation and payment services.

Ms Zaipuna said the system would allow NMB to serve different categories of customers “with greater scale, quality and speed”.

For groups and entrepreneurs, she said, the platform would create opportunities for improved solutions around membership management, contributions, transactions and approvals.

According to Ms Zaipuna, the project involved repeated testing, system verification, risk assessments and collaboration between NMB’s Tanzanian specialists, international partners and regulators.

The final migration began on July 31, 2026, after the bank obtained the necessary approvals, including from the Bank of Tanzania.

The bank deliberately suspended some services because of the central role played by the core banking platform.

“Because the core banking system is the backbone of all services, it was necessary for some services to be temporarily suspended to protect the accuracy of information, transaction security and the integrity of customer records,” Ms Zaipuna said.

She said NMB chose what it considered the safer approach rather than trying to maintain all services throughout the migration.

The successful migration also comes as NMB implements its 2026–2030 strategic plan, which places technology, customer service, security and innovation at the centre of the bank’s next phase of growth.

Ms Zaipuna said the investment was designed to ensure that NMB could grow alongside individuals, small businesses, groups, institutions and large corporations contributing to Tanzania’s economy.

 “We have entered a new phase. We will continue investing in technology, people, security and innovation to provide services that are accessible, reliable and responsive to the needs of Tanzanians,” she said.