CRDB Bank upgrades its Core Banking System to International Standards

After 72 hours of upgrading the Core Banking System, CRDB Bank’s services have now resumed, better and faster, meeting international standards. The Chief Executive Officer of CRDB Bank, Abdulmajid Nsekela, said the Bank made great efforts to ensure this was completed on time to restore services to its customers and other stakeholders across all platforms, as promised in its public statement issued on Wednesday, 3rd September 2025. “CRDB Bank is an international institution, providing services in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), while finalizing arrangements to enter Dubai. You cannot provide services in all these countries without having a robust system that safeguards customer information and enables transactions with high efficiency. This is one of the reasons that led us to upgrade our core banking system. I am pleased to inform you that this exercise has been successfully completed,” said Nsekela. Nsekela explained that what took place during those 72 hours of migration from the old system to the new one was the transfer of all existing customer data and enabling the registration of new customers both within and outside Tanzania where CRDB Bank operates. Recognizing that CRDB Bank serves millions of customers who received information about this upgrade at different times, he noted that all of them showed patience and allowed the management to implement the intended upgrade smoothly. “Due to the scale of the upgrade, which involved shifting from the old system to the new one, we had to suspend branch services and some alternative channels were temporarily unavailable. I sincerely thank our customers for the patience and cooperation they showed us during this period, and I apologize for the challenges they encountered when some of our services could not be accessed,” said Nsekela. Given that the Bank operates in different countries with variations in law, language, and culture, Nsekela said the new system allows CRDB Bank customers to access services in their preferred language and currency. “In Tanzania, the official languages are Kiswahili and English, while in Burundi they use French and Kirundi. In the DRC, they speak French and other local languages, while in Dubai there is Arabic and other international languages. In all these places, customers will be served in their preferred language and carry out transactions in the currency of their choice,” Nsekela emphasized. To address concerns from customers who noticed changes in their balances and other areas of service, CRDB Bank’s Chief Operating Officer, Bruce Mwile, explained that this was due to the migration from the old system to the new one, which has a higher level of security, the capacity to deliver new and innovative digital services, and was built in compliance with international standards. “Those who saw differences in their balances and other areas should understand that this was caused by the transfer of data from the old system to the new one. Our customers need to know that we were not just upgrading the system but migrating completely to meet the standards of other countries and international institutions we will be partnering with,” Mwile said. Nsekela thanked stakeholders who participated in one way or another in making this upgrade a success, including the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), right from the initial stages until now. This upgrade has been carried out as part of the ongoing transformation of CRDB Bank at a time when it is celebrating 30 years since its establishment, having significantly contributed to improving individual incomes as well as strengthening the nation’s economy.