Delivering the National Automated Clearance System (NACS) solution to Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) in 2017 was a debilitating yet satisfying experience, recalls Oluseyi Osifalujo, ED Technology at Precise Financial Systems Ltd.
The design, delivery, and deployment were far from smooth. The first go-live was on December 6, 2016, and it ended in crisis because the entire Nigeran banking industry had to roll back due to a major system glitch.
It was the lowest point for me personally and for PFS—we had never failed on a project before.
I felt personally responsible. I had led the system design, written critical code, and double-checked every aspect. Seeing months of hard work invalidated overnight was devastating.
The reputational damage was immense, and critics who doubted us from the start seized the moment. Threats of lawsuits followed, and the toll on my health and family was severe; I was hospitalised with high blood pressure.
Amid the chaos, one person stood by us: Mr. Ade Sonubi, then MD of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc. (NIBSS). His trust became a powerful motivation—we had to prove ourselves, even if it meant working without pay. It was no longer about money; it was about pride and redemption.
We went back to the drawing board, redesigned the system, and quietly launched a parallel live run.
According to NIBSS, “NACS is the automated clearing system of the entire banking and financial industry for both electronic instruments (ACH) and derivatives/images paper-based instruments (Cheques).”
For two months, the system operated live under the guise of User Acceptance Testing (UAT), running alongside the old ECPIX system without the industry’s knowledge.
Every day, we validated performance against the old system, and it exceeded expectations. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive: the system was faster, more user-friendly, and more reliable.
By September 17, 2017, under CBN supervision, the industry officially went live—though, in reality, they had been live for two months already.
It was a triumphant moment: an African, Nigerian-built solution outperformed an expensive international system at a fraction of the cost, with better flexibility, intelligence, and stability.
Since 2017, the solution has run without major incidents; the PFS-designed ACH requires no onsite presence.
We don’t even have direct access to it—any maintenance is managed through NIBSS staff. Today, NACS remains the most stable solution at NIBSS, outperforming other platforms with zero downtime and exceptional user satisfaction.
