Established in 1963, this leading Banking Group in the MENAT region has 900+ branches across 13 countries. With a customer base exceeding 17 million, they manage over 213 billion USD in assets. The bank’s comprehensive range of financial products and services, including Corporate, Retail, Islamic, Investment, and Private Banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Asset Management, and Brokerage operations, enables them to drive value and help customers achieve their financial goals.
As a customer-centric institution, the bank prioritizes innovation and digital transformation to enhance customer engagements, automate operations and innovate to stay relevant in the industry. It has made significant investments in technology, developed digital platforms and mobile applications, empowering customers with convenient and secure banking services round the clock.
A Journey of Innovation with Infosys Finacle
The bank has had a longstanding partnership with Infosys Finacle, which dates back to 2007. Operating across six geographies, the bank has successfully utilized several key solutions from Infosys Finacle to modernize their application landscape. These include Core Banking, Islamic Banking, Wealth Management Solution, Liquidity Management, Customer Data Hub, CIF, and Payments in Foreign Operations.
In the recent past, the bank experienced substantial growth through both organic expansion and strategic acquisitions. Recognizing the need for scalability, agility, and standardization, the bank embarked on a mission to unify all operations onto a single, latest version of Finacle. The first step in this ambitious undertaking was to consolidate the operations of all six countries in which the bank had an onshore presence, starting with Singapore.
By migrating to the latest version of Finacle, the bank aimed to harness the advantages of componentized deployment, streamlined customization, and an agile technology stack.
The componentized structure of Finacle proved invaluable as it allowed the bank to establish flexible modernization milestones, mitigating transformation risks while expediting the realization of modernization benefits. Leveraging a scaled Agile framework and embracing concepts such as “Just in Time” and “Lean,” the implementation proceeded with precision and efficiency.
The business benefits derived from this comprehensive upgrade were truly remarkable. The bank experienced a significant reduction in the time-to-market for new products, cutting the launch timeline by 50% from four months to a mere two months. Additionally, the bank achieved higher productivity by utilizing 60% fewer resources during the rollout of new products. Post go-live, over 25 products were successfully launched across all entities, contributing to a remarkable 20% increase in revenue through the automation of charge collection.
Powering Corporate Lending
Carrying forward its pursuit of excellence, the bank has harnessed the power of Finacle to elevate its corporate lending offerings, delivering a seamless and efficient customer experience while optimizing its internal operations.
By leveraging Finacle’s capabilities, the bank has significantly reduced turnaround times, bolstered risk management capabilities, and enhanced overall operational efficiency. Recognizing that each business has unique financial requirements, the bank provides tailored financial solutions and advisory services to meet the diverse needs of its customers.
Among these offerings, the bank specializes in various financing solutions that cater to specific business contexts like –
- Asset-based Financing – The bank considers the entirety of a customer’s business assets, including receivables, inventory, property, and equipment. By leveraging these assets, the bank maximizes the customer’s working capital and financing capabilities, enabling them to fuel growth and meet their financial obligations with ease.
- Commodity Finance – The bank offers a comprehensive range of financing options to producers, commodity traders, and processors that support end-to-end commodity flows, empowering businesses in the commodities sector to effectively manage their financing needs and seize growth opportunities.
- Project Finance – With extensive experience and expertise in limited recourse project financing in the MENAT region, the bank stands as a reliable advisor and arranger, committed to providing tailored financial support to help projects thrive and succeed.
- Equipment Finance – This solution benefits both customers and suppliers, as customers enjoy improved payment terms, while suppliers benefit from accelerated cash flow. This symbiotic approach facilitates the smooth acquisition of equipment, driving productivity and efficiency for businesses.
To meet a broader range of financial needs, the bank offers a variety of products which can be customized to align with the specific requirements of each customer. Here are a few examples –
- Term Loans – The bank offers loans with adaptable terms and competitive interest rates, ensuring that customers receive the necessary funding to drive their organizations forward. With manageable regular payments over a suitable timescale, customers can comfortably repay the loan while maintaining their financial stability.
- Project Financing – By structuring repayment plans based on the cash flow generated by the project, the bank supports customers in securing the necessary long-term financing. With a thorough understanding of project dynamics and business needs, the bank collaborates closely with customers to develop financing plans that align perfectly with their projects’ nature and organizational requirements.
The bank offers an extensive range of loan products to its corporate clients on a global scale, and they derive substantial advantages from Finacle’s cutting-edge architecture, which encompasses various essential components:
- Contemporary Layered Design: Finacle offers a modern layered design that comprises data model layers, business components, service composition, customer engagement, APIs, and user experience (UX). This comprehensive structure enables seamless integration and facilitates efficient lending operations.
- Data and Analytics: Finacle incorporates pre-integrated data models capable of assimilating diverse data types from any source. This robust foundation empowers the bank to extract valuable insights embedded within the lending business flow, facilitating informed decision-making.
- Componentization: With this, the bank can bundle smaller packages as finely grained services. This architecture promotes faster assembly of lending components, ensuring agility, availability, and scalability. Leveraging microservices-based components, the bank can efficiently respond to evolving demands.
- Core Platform APIs: The bank is equipped with powerful Core Platform APIs, enabling collaborative innovation with external ecosystems. This co-innovation capability facilitates the development of advanced lending propositions, fostering strategic partnerships and expanding the bank’s offerings.
- Scalability, Performance, and Resilience: Finacle is designed to support the bank’s organic and inorganic growth initiatives in a digital lending landscape. The bank can effortlessly handle increased volumes, maintain optimal responsiveness, and expand its operations.
- Robust Security Enablers: Security is prioritized across multiple layers, including infrastructure, data, and applications.
- Continuous Deployment: Offers a comprehensive set of automation tools that facilitate continuous integration during development and continuous delivery during deployment. This agile deployment approach empowers the bank to respond swiftly to evolving lending requirements, enabling faster adaptation and efficient implementation of updates.
- Configurability, Localization, and Extensibility: With a high degree of configurability, the bank can tailor the solution to meet local practices and compliance requirements. Moreover, the platform offers flexibility for independent extensions, enabling the bank to address specific market demands and unique operational needs effectively.
Conclusion
The bank’s journey of digital transformation, powered by its partnership with Finacle, has paved the way for seamless corporate lending and enhanced banking services. The bank’s core banking transformation has standardized and optimized operations across multiple countries, resulting in improved efficiencies and cost savings.
By digitizing its corporate lending processes and leveraging the capabilities of the Finacle Core Banking solution, the bank has enhanced the customer experience, providing faster loan processing, streamlined onboarding, and real-time access to loan information. These advancements have empowered corporate customers to make informed borrowing decisions and manage their lending accounts conveniently.
As the bank continues to innovate and embrace technology, it sets a remarkable example for the banking industry, showcasing the potential of digital transformation to deliver superior banking experiences for customers. With its customer-centric approach and commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology, the bank is well-positioned to lead the way in the digital banking landscape.
