As the banking landscape across West Africa continues to evolve, Bridge Bank Group is investing in the technology needed to support its long-term growth ambitions. With operations in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, and plans to expand into two additional countries, the bank is focused on building an integrated platform capable of supporting its regional strategy.
According to Amos Konlambigue, Group Chief Transformation and Technology Officer, selecting the right technology partner was an important step in preparing the bank for the future.
Responding to a changing banking landscape
For Bridge Bank, transformation is being driven by significant changes across the financial services industry.
“The West African banking sector is driven by three forces,” says Amos. “The first one is the customer expectation. They don’t want a branch-centric product. They want a real-time product and they want accessibility 24/7.”
Alongside changing customer expectations, Bridge Bank is also responding to increased competition from new fintech entrants and an evolving regulatory landscape that is creating new opportunities across the region.
These shifts are helping shape the bank’s strategy as it looks to expand its footprint and reach new customer segments.
Choosing a platform built for the future
Having worked with Temenos for more than a decade, Amos has seen the Temenos Core platform evolve alongside the banking industry.
Temenos is a company that I know very well. Temenos Core is a global, robust and mature platform, and I can say that it’s one of the best platforms for universal banking today.”
Amos Konlambigue, Group Chief Transformation and Technology Officer, Bridge Bank
Beyond the platform itself, the bank valued Temenos’ commitment to continuous innovation.
“One important thing to mention is the product roadmap that Temenos gives to all clients to migrate to new releases and get the most from each new version”, says Amos. He also highlights the scalability of the solution and the strength of the Temenos partner ecosystem as important factors in the bank’s decision.
Enabling regional growth
As Bridge Bank looks to expand its footprint across Africa, technology will play a central role in supporting that vision.
“The Temenos capabilities that we expect are currently aligned with our group strategic vision to build a strong and integrated banking platform across the African region,” says Amos.
In particular, the platform’s multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction, and multi-time-zone capabilities align closely with the bank’s regional expansion strategy.
Amos notes, “There is a strong API integration that allows the platform to communicate with other satellite platforms that the bank has launched, opening multiple channels to our clients.”
As Bridge Bank continues its growth journey, it is building on a technology foundation designed to help the bank adapt to changing market dynamics while supporting its ambition to create an integrated banking platform across Africa.
