THE CHALLENGES OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN NIGERIAN BANKING INDUSTRYÂ (A CASE STUDY OF ZENITH BANK PLC, IKOT EKPENE)
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Information technology is the application of suppliers and telecommunications equipment to store, retrieve, transmit and manipulate data, often in the context of a business or other enter price. It is advancing the development of product and concept in application of these products and also concept to specific areas of human activity. Information technology is a fast developing one that keeps changing every now and then. It has touched on every profession, thus changing our ways of life, in particular of the financial industry where it has brought about speedy, timely and efficient information processing which is very significant to the customers as well.
Firstly, the word information is data to which its meaning has been given above. Thus data that has been structured in a way that can be used for decision making. Data as a general concept refers to the fact that some existing information or knowledge is represented, coded in some form suitable for better usage. It is also a set of symbol that has some value or that carries some value and meaning, decision cannot be taken on the basis of data, it must first be transformed. Information bears a diversity of meanings that ranges from everyday to technical; the concept of information is closely related to constraint, communication, control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning mental stimulus pattern and representation. It processed data which helps to reduce uncertainty. A system is an arrangement of entities for mutual interaction.
These has non-computerized information system, class information, human information system and organization information system. For information to achieve its purposes, it has to be communicated. Therefore, communication is the process of transferring or passed information.
1.1Â BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Information technology has its origin in the technologies related to a restricted view of information, the generation, processing and also distribution of representation of information whereby every information has a central structure; a thing and a person within a particular context, the relation of a sign. It was that which lay at the base of all things, an effective theory would account for how information flowed and how it could be used. The technology into accounting systems changed the way data stored, retrieved and controlled.
Thus, Albert Borymann said the contemporary use of the word information emerged only in the middle of the 20th century, the increased demand for a reduction in man-hours computation, in many fields of science and technology, stimulated further investigation into ways and means for speedier computation. The first attempt to design a computer distinct from a hand calculator was made by an English man called Charles Babbage in 1835, for his reason, he was known to be a father of computer. The analytical engine was quite close in concept to a modern computer which automatically performs simple computation, store instructions and result was retrieved as information. During the year 1960s, information became part of popular culture as something roughly synonymous with facts, with the rapid diffusion of digital computation, the basic digital bit became the building block of a new way of approaching reality; the age of information (Negroponte, 1995).
After few years, activities in banking system in Nigeria have increasingly depended on the deployment of information and communication technology. Customer’s insatiable appetites for efficient service have compelled financial institutions to fast forward to a more radical transformation for their business by embracing electronic banking. In the bid for Nigerian banks to catch up with global development and improve the quality of their service delivery, they have invested much on information technology and have widely adopted electronic and telecommunication network for delivering a new range of value added product services.
Zenith Bank Plc is one of the biggest and most profitable banks in Nigeria. The bank was established in May 1990 under the company and Allied Matters Act of 1990, the bank started its operations in July of the same year as a Money Deposit Bank. It became a public limited company on June 17, 2004 and was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on October 21, 2004 following a highly successful Initial Public Offering (IPO). The bank presently has a shareholder base of over one million, revenue of N89.2 billion, Net income of N17.2 billion, total assets of N1.2 trillion, employees of 3911 and numerous subsidiaries to mention but a few viz: Zenith Insurance, Zenith Securities, and Cyberspace Networks, etc.
1.2Â STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Separation of technology by the consequence of computing, telecom and video techniques has arisen from information technology. Prior to the consolidation exercise, many banks struggled with liquidity and profitability problem. It becomes doubtful if information technology has any desirable impact on their corporate performance. This project research is undertaken to identify the challenges of information technology on service delivery in the Nigerian banking industry relating to information communication technology as the rapid growth and service delivery depends solely on it. Hence, to find measures to counter the challenges of information technology in the banking sector.
1.3Â OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- To sort out the challenges of information technology on service delivery
- To make suitable recommendations for improve service delivery through information technology
- To analyze the benefits of information technology on service delivery in Zenith Bank Plc.
- To find possible measures to counter the challenges posed by information technology in Zenith Bank Plc.
- To examine the information technology used in Zenith Bank Plc.
1.4Â RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- Are there challenges posed by information technology to your bank?
- What are the benefits of information technology on service delivery in Zenith Bank Plc?
- What are the possible measures to counter the challenges posed by information technology?
- What are the information technology networks used by Zenith Bank Plc?
