A Fresh Approach to Core Banking Technology

  • Eugene Danilkis, Co-Founder and CEO at Mambu

  • 08.08.2014 09:54 am

 

Today, we are witnessing a new global trend in the banking industry, the rise of disruptive technologies which will replace the old- fashioned banking model based on a traditional bank branch network, with online cloud-based payment systems that are fast and simple to use. The fundamental shift in banking technology has developed in part, in response to the appearance of new channels for customer interactions, known as “omni-channel” banking, as well as the need to lower the financial burden and physical time spent serving transactions, gaining better transparency and more agile reporting tools, and of course, increased competition among financial institutions themselves. However there are a few modern technology vendors who offer truly flexible, fully functional and secure cloud based banking platforms that enabling financial innovators, some banks, some new market entrants, to serve untapped markets, including both consumers and small businesses, worldwide.  Financial IT is speaking about one of these vendors - Mambu. Mambu enables innovative new banking providers to rapidly create, launch and service loan and deposit products through its agile, flexible and affordable cloud banking platform.

 

Eugene, let’s talk about company’s flagship product that you wish to showcase in Featured Interview

- The name of the product is Mambu, alike the company itself.

How would you describe the key functionality of Mambu?

- Mambu is a native cloud software-as-a-service banking application. Its business and revenue model mean new providers can get to market fast, craft innovative customer experiences, at a drastically lower cost of technology than existing players. From loan and deposit product creation and servicing, to client relationship management and reporting, Mambu allows any financial institution of any size to rapidly deliver state-of-the-art cloud banking services, at a fraction of the cost and time of a traditional core banking solution.

What benefits does Mambu bring to its end users?

- Built entirely for the web with a ‘cloud-first’ approach, Mambu enables new financial innovators and existing banks looking to expand, to launch rapidly, reach untapped new markets, and compete with existing banking providers who have a ‘bricks and mortar’ approach.

How long does a typical implementation of this product require?

- The Mambu implementation process is very simple, for greenfield sites we have had customers go live in less than a week. Typically an implementation including user training, integration and data migration takes from four to eight weeks.

Who are the primary users of the product?

Mambu services a few types of customers:
- We first enable existing banks to rapidly and affordably launch new products, brands and digital-first loan and deposit products into previously unreached markets.
- We also help existing microfinance and credit unions to transform their business process by migrating from legacy in-house solutions to Mambu.
- Finally, we also support digital-driven financial services start-ups by enabling them to rapidly build on top of our platform as they launch and rapidly grow across the globe.

Are there any principal competitors to this product?

- Among the principal competitors are:T24 from Temenos,FlexCube from Oracle and some of the core banking solutions from FIS. Recent entrants into the market offering a SaaS Cloud Banking platform include Oradian, FiveDegrees and OhPen.

What are the competitive advantages of Mambu app over rivals?

- Compared to traditional core banking systems, Mambu offers a complete retail and SME banking solution including CRM, Core Banking, Document Management etc. in one simple to use web-application that is available to get started at a fraction of the cost of buying a traditional solution stack. Mambu also makes launching new products, adjusting workflows or integrating with new service channels far easier and faster by having a simple open API and integration platform. By providing everything in the cloud, we enable our customers to go to market in weeks, at a fraction of the cost of legacy systems with functionality
tailored to the retail and SME banking market.

How often does company upgrade the product? And how these upgrades delivered to end users further?

- We release major new product upgrades every 2-3 months with smaller improvements and bug fixes released on as-needed basis (1-3 times a month). All our customers run on the same software and all get seamlessly upgraded to the new version. We perform the upgrade on behalf of our customers after allowing them time to explore the new functionality for 1-3 weeks in a sandbox environment.

What’s the pricing model for Mambu app?

- Mambu provides a simple all-inclusive fee based on the revenues processed on the platform. By paying annually for the complete solution, our customers do not have to pay anything for additional software, hardware or licenses but simply pay for a platform which enables them to earn revenues. We do not put any constraints on users, functionality, transactions or accounts or require any longterm
contracts. Customers simply roll out their products, integrate with their payment and customer- facing channels and pay for the platform based on revenues they earn. This allows them to bring products to market at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional core banking solutions and rapidly experiment, innovate and grow with little risk or cost.

In your opinion, what are the most important industry-wide trends affecting today’s market?

- There are a few mega-trends that create the market need for our product. First is massive opportunity to service the missing middle. McKinsey predicts the SME Lending market is the biggest banking opportunity in the decade ahead and could yield up to $350B in revenues for those who service it. There will be many new entrants in this market including bank spin-off brands, new banks as well
as non-bank players looking to leverage their distribution, brand and customer base to offer banking services that banks currently do not and cannot provide to this segment. Likewise, cloud and SaaS technology is now becoming more ubiquitous in banking as institutions looks to increase agility, and reduce costs to be able to reach new markets. Lastly, internet penetration, mobile phones (including
smartphones and tablets) are just now becoming a reality in most emerging markets meaning billions of people and millions of small businesses will soon be able to be reached by financial services and access products that were unreachable before.

Do you have any specific marketing strategy for this product?

- Our focus in on new banking entrants, spin off bank-brands and non-bank financial institutions looking to launch banking services: all in a digital/online-first model. We plan to reach these customers through industry events, online content including case studies on our existing customers and use cases and whitepapers emphasizing the opportunity and challenges ahead and how our technology can help.

 

Watch our latest Sibos video interview with Mambu here

 

 

 

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