Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the banking software company, today announced that KAF, a well-diversified financial services conglomerate in Malaysia, has selected the Temenos Banking Cloud to launch a digital lending business.
KAF will use Temenos Banking Services for retail loans and Islamic financing delivered on the Temenos Banking Cloud to offer conventional and Islamic products.
KAF’s ongoing expansion into the retail market reflects an urgent need for digital finance in Malaysia, with people and businesses facing economic hardship and lockdown restrictions limiting access to branches. By providing a seamless digital onboarding and origination experience, KAF aims to offer customers digital straight-through loan processing that focuses on better accessibility and affordability.
KAF’s ambitions extend beyond lending to include digitalization of a whole suite of financial products and services, including asset management, investment banking and stockbroking. With regulator approval, the Temenos Banking Cloud will enable the bank to quickly turn on new financial services to expand its offering and scale efficiently. The agility offered by the Temenos Banking Cloud to innovate and bring new products and services to market faster will give KAF a competitive edge.
Demand for digital financial services in Malaysia has surged since the start of the pandemic. In 2020, Malaysians conducted RM 460 million worth of mobile banking transactions - a 125% jump compared to the previous year. The government’s Movement Control Order acted as a catalyst, helping to add 3 million new mobile banking service subscribers last year, pushing e-wallet usage and adoption to new highs.
Jean-Paul Mergeai, President, APAC - EMEA, Temenos, commented: “We are proud to welcome KAF, a trail-blazing bank and the first in Malaysia on the Temenos Banking Cloud. There is a huge opportunity for digitalizing financial services in Malaysia and with our open banking platform, KAF is well-positioned to capitalize on that growth. With new entrants in the digital space, the ability to self-provision financial services at the click of a button will be a real competitive advantage for KAF.”
Thariq Usman Ahman, Deputy CEO, KAF Investment Bank, said: “We chose Temenos as we needed the agility and speed of a SaaS solution, and only the Temenos Banking Cloud offered the breadth of financial services functionality to meet our current and future needs. Critically, it enables us to bring together digital lending for conventional and Islamic products on a single platform and seamlessly extend to full digital banking services. With Temenos, we will lead the way in bringing new and exciting digital financial products and services to all Malaysians.”