• Temenos partners with Silicon Valley-based Mbanq to power innovative Credit Union-as-a-Service (CUaaS) offering for US Credit Unions, a market estimated at $3.6bn annually
• Mbanq’s CUaaS, powered by The Temenos Banking Cloud, enables Credit Unions to gain faster time to market with cutting-edge digital financial services for members at a reduced total cost of ownership
• CUaaS integrates modern digital financial technology with comprehensive operations and legal compliance and is the world’s first end-to-end Credit Union solution

Silicon Valley-based Mbanq, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) provider and one of the world’s fastest growing FinTechs, today announced it has signed a strategic agreement with Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the open cloud banking company, to launch an innovative Credit-Union-as-a Service (CUaaS) offering, and to accelerate BaaS adoption across the US.

CUaaS is offered by Mbanq’s Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) and will be powered by The Temenos Banking Cloud. This solution is a new end-to-end comprehensive service to help US Credit Unions of any size accelerate their digital transformation and deliver innovative digital financial services and outstanding experiences to members. Mbanq’s CUaaS combines Temenos’ modern cloud technology with operations, legal compliance and financial services solutions, wrapped into a single Credit Union ecosystem.

The two companies are already engaged in customer acquisition and proof of concepts in the US with Credit Unions.

The US has over 5,000 credit unions with over 100 million members representing over $3.6 billion per year in technology spend. However, many credit unions are burdened by legacy systems unable to offer basic digital banking services such as digital onboarding, which emerged as a ‘must-have’ capability during the pandemic. Together, Mbanq and Temenos will offer rapid digital transformation so Credit Unions can deliver competitive financial services to their members through all touchpoints. This powerful combination will also reduce the time required to launch and operate a de novo Credit Union.

These capabilities will be powered by Temenos open cloud technology. The Temenos Banking Cloud, which combines Temenos Transact, Temenos Infinity and Lifecycle Management banking services, will connect via REST APIs to the Mbanq cloud platform.

Mbanq will also offer a fast-track solution based on Temenos’ technology to FinTechs and e-commerce firms wishing to embed banking services, such as payments and lending and broaden their portfolio of products rather than develop their own technology or go through the lengthy and costly process of obtaining a banking charter. Furthermore, Temenos will offer value-added BaaS capabilities to banks such as lending, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) or credit card services through Mbanq.

Max Chuard, CEO, Temenos said: “Following our strategy to accelerate the adoption of Banking-as-a-Service in Europe, we are now excited to expand in the US. With this strategic agreement with Mbanq, we are opening up a new channel to the BaaS space and are increasing our penetration in the US Credit Union market. Existing Temenos Credit Union clients will benefit from Credit Union-as-a Service to run their operations in a seamless and cost-effective way on modern cloud technology. Together with Mbanq, we can support Credit Union digital transformation, taking away the complexity of managing technology so they can focus on providing innovative banking services to members.”

More than 3,000 financial services institutions around the world leverage Temenos’ modern, open, cloud technology. The Temenos Banking Cloud enables financial institutions to consume, manage and maintain banking services in a secure, continually evolving, self-service platform while allowing them to develop new business models.

Vlad Lounegov, CEO, Mbanq, said: “We are delighted to partner with Temenos, the market-leading banking technology provider. Powered by The Temenos Banking Cloud, Mbanq takes to market a Credit Union-as-a-Service offering that automates every operational requirement a modern Credit Union needs. This game-changing partnership will drive our company’s growth and help regulated and unregulated entities transform their offerings, technology and customer experiences in the digital post-pandemic world.”

Mbanq CUSO prioritizes rapid digital transformation so Credit Unions can seamlessly deliver competitive financial services to members in niche markets through online and mobile channels.