Mambu first to market with Sharia-compliant SaaS banking platform
Mambu, the newly-minted fintech unicorn, today announced the highly anticipated launch of the Sharia-compliant version of its SaaS banking platform. The solution caters to the needs of Islamic banks and lenders, becoming the first cloud-native platform to comply with the tenets of Islamic banking. It was made available to customers from the end of 2020.
Worldwide, over 1.8 billion Muslims are financially underserved and are looking for alternative Sharia-compliant solutions to manage their money. The limited size of the market for Sharia-compliant financial products has made it difficult for banks to meet the demands of a new generation of tech-savvy customers. Islamic financial institutions worldwide are looking for ways to transform and employ cloud-native solutions and API-driven architectures to create an open banking ecosystem.
Mambu’s new Sharia-compliant product enables Islamic banks to enhance their offerings and increase brand loyalty by delivering a more personalised level of service – all in the cloud. By developing and launching products on Mambu, Islamic banks get agility and speed while providing their customers with products that are aligned with their ethical codes. Mambu is already working with customers such as Ta3meed, the leading Islamic fintech in trade finance, to deliver innovative digital Islamic financing for SMEs and investors in the Islamic banking space.
One of the first customers to benefit from the Mambu’s product is Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, a Malaysia-based bank that is currently in the process of launching a new 100% digital Sharia-compliant bank. Bank Islam aims to create a platform-based solution to enable access to Islamic financial products that are based on risk-sharing and fairness. By using Mambu’s composable approach, Bank Islam can fully realise the benefits of cloud, assemble components and services flexibly, while ensuring the delivery of Shariah-compliant products to its customers.
Bank Islam’s Chief Executive Officer, Mohd Muazzam Mohamed said, “We view digitisation as a competitive advantage that is helping Bank Islam reach new customers and provide them with products that are aligned with their values. As we collaborate with a multitude of partners there are no boundaries in rethinking our business model and transforming our operations. This gives us a unique opportunity to create an open banking ecosystem to grow business and operate like a modern, platform-based tech company.”
Elliott Limb, Mambu’s Chief Customer Officer said, “We are delighted that Bank Islam has chosen Mambu’s platform to build their CDX’s greenfield operations on. It is an honour to work alongside Bank Islam and their mission to improve access to digital banking services for all, supporting economic development and financial inclusion through internet and mobile banking. Bank Islam continues to push itself to be the leading Islamic bank in the region and the CDX solution will make strides. We look forward to collaborating with them, as they embark on this exciting new phase of their journey.”
Kristofer Rogers, General Manager Australia & New Zealand at Mambu added, “The Islamic finance industry has been growing steadily in Australia, with several providers offering a range of Sharia-compliant financing solutions and the first Australian Islamic bank looking set to launch this year. Mambu’s new Sharia-compliant SaaS banking platform enables Islamic financial service providers the opportunity to leverage the power and agility of cloud banking technology, while still complying with the tenets of Islamic finance. We’re excited and honoured to lead the charge in the fintech evolution of the Australian Islamic finance industry. This announcement allows Mambu to deliver culturally compliant financial services for the Australian Muslim community, while also offering an ethical alternative to conventional banking for all Australians.”
After a successful 2020 with 100% YoY growth and a recent €110 million (A$170 million) round of funding, Mambu continues to provide customers with a world-class platform on which to build modern, agile customer-centric financial businesses. Bank Islam’s CDX solution is expected to be out in the second quarter of 2021.
