The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) inaugurated its new centralized, online, real-time, electronic (CORE) banking system after months of delay, Fortune reported.

The NBE launched its new CORE banking system, called Quantum Intellect, replacing the previous Bank Master system, on Monday, November 18, 2013.

Quantum Intellect was developed for US$3.4 million by Indian software company, Polaris Financial Technology Ltd, following the conclusion of an agreement between the NBE and Polaris on October 5, 2012.

Following the implementation of the NBE's national payment system (NPS) in 2011, a platform which integrates all electronic inter-bank money transactions, all Ethiopian banks were required to deploy CORE banking solutions.

Quantum Intellect, which is developed specifically for central banks, is said to resolve issues with regard to currency reserve management and government accounts by allowing the integration of currency management, securities, payments & settlement and the enterprise general ledger.

Additionally, the new system is expected to speed up the Bank’s operations, and allow it to keep accurate management of regulatory reports, Fortune reported citing Polaris’ press release at the time of the contract signing.

Although, the original schedule for completion of the project was August 2013, the NBE indicated that the launch would be delayed until the end of September and further delaying for another three months due to its complexity and a failure to deploy technical staff by Polaris, according to Fortune.

Source: Fortune