Resource Type: Success Story
Integris Credit Union
Modernizing with purpose and discipline
British Columbia, Canada
At a Glance
● Successful self-delivered modernization of Temenos Core to R24.
● Transition to Temenos Application Framework Java (TAFJ) in parallel.
● ‘Close of Business’ (COB) processing time reduced from over 3.5 hours to under 2.
● 1.5 staff hours saved daily through automated member alerts.
● Faster third-party integration via regional APIs.
Integris Credit Union, with $1.5 billion in funds under administration, is located in northern British Columbia and has continually achieved results that rival much larger institutions. As a long-standing Temenos client Integris reaffirmed its digital-first vision in 2024 by executing one of its most ambitious initiatives to date: modernizing to the latest Temenos Core version, transitioning from TAFC (Temenos Application Framework C) to TAFJ (Temenos Application Framework Java), and integrating Temenos Payments Hub (TPH) into its operations.
Behind these moves was the risk of inaction. As new technologies and disruptors continue to reshape the Canadian financial landscape, Integris understood it needed to move with the times; a digital-first, mobile-first approach.
And they needed it fast. “Time was of the essence,” said Jeff Anderson, VP Information Technology at Integris. “We had one shot to get it right.”
On their own terms
Despite the project’s scale, Jeff assembled a lean, focused team—just himself, two developers, a project manager, and a small group of testers. The decision to self-deliver allowed for total control and discipline. “You have to guard the scope of the upgrade. Don’t let it change,” Jeff emphasized. Integris also chose to continue running its systems on-premises—a rarity in today’s market but a deliberate decision to maintain operational control.
Temenos’ flexibility played a key role in this success.
That flexibility in how we wanted to manage the upgrade is not something that you can do with other vendors. The people that you choose to either partner with—like Temenos, professional services or third-party partners—or your internal staff, they have to be excellent. You cannot do an upgrade on time, on budget without great people.”
– Jeff Anderson, VP Information Technology at Integris
With close support from Temenos and a clear strategy: move fast, minimize customizations, and align with out-of-the-box functionality—the team stayed focused on delivering a clean, agile result. “We didn’t want to carry legacy complexity forward,” Jeff said. “We wanted to come out the other side with agility, not technical debt.” The upgrade has given Integris improved operational control, a more consolidated view of its business, and a foundation for next-generation digital capabilities.
Zero payments downtime
Integris has been using Temenos Payments Hub (TPH) for several years to support e-transfers and ISO 20022-compliant messaging. The system has proved highly reliable, requiring little maintenance once configured. That gave Jeff and his team less thing to focus on.
“Through the recent upgrade, it didn’t require any changes. We were able to take it offline briefly and bring it back online without issue. That made a complex project simpler and less risky.”
Immediate results
The upgrade was completed in April 2025, and the impact was clear from day one. ‘Close of Business’ (COB) processing times dropped from over 3.5 hours to under 2. Staff gained back 1.5 hours per day through automated member notifications, which reduced the need for manual calls or emails. And audit logs improved dramatically, helping the team identify and resolve issues faster.
We saw improvements immediately after go-live. The system’s responsiveness, the logging, the automation, it all worked.”
– Jeff Anderson, VP Information Technology at Integris
Even more significant was the new ability to accelerate product launches. Pre-built configurations and parameterization has made it easier to roll out services faster, with fewer technical dependencies.
Set for future success
Beyond these immediate wins, the upgrade has set Integris up for the future. Jeff explained the most valuable of these would be the number of APIs they can now access. “We can increase the efficiency of integrating with third parties. It’s going to be super-valuable.” His team has wasted no time in leveraging that new capability. Just a week after the upgrade, Jeff and his team implemented an alerting system for accounts going into overdraft —soon to be a legislative requirement in Canada—putting Integris ahead of the regulators. “We implemented that by taking some events happening on a daily basis within Temenos Core Banking and could pipe it into some other systems to automatically send alerts, which is a real strength of Temenos Core Banking,” said Jeff. They are also already working on integrations for open banking, payment rails, and mobile wallets such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. Temenos Payments Hub gives the institution a modern foundation to support this roadmap.
“The upgrade isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting point,” said Jeff. “We’ve now got the architecture to compete with fintechs and deliver services at speed.” Crucially, the transition also changed how the business and technology teams work together. With the product now driving processes (rather than the other way around), collaboration is tighter, and delivery is faster.
History of trust
As a relatively small player in the market, the scale and speed of Integris’ modernization is even more remarkable. But having worked with Temenos for years, Jeff was confident it could be achieved “The world is full of people who want to tell you that what you’re trying to do is impossible. But if you have the right people and the right technology, anything is possible.” Ultimately, it came down to trust.
We knew the platform. We trusted it. And we knew we had the right people on both sides to make it work. By staying true to the core product and avoiding unnecessary complexity, Integris has laid the foundation for future innovation, scalability, and member-centric service. We’ve got a solution that can move at the pace we want, and scale as we grow, to wherever our members need us to be next.”
– Jeff Anderson, VP Information Technology at Integris
IIG Bank (Malta) Ltd
Scaling Instant Payments with a lean, well-rounded, and efficient team.
St. Julian’s, Malta
At a Glance
• One of the first banks in Malta to go live with SEPA Instant Payments.
• Transaction times reduced to seconds, with 24/7 availability.
• Compliance with SWIFT CBPR+ and TIPS, the European Central Bank’s instant payment settlement platform.
IIG Bank (Malta) Ltd., established in 2010, is a fully licensed credit institution regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The bank specializes in structured, supply chain trade finance promoting international trade and commodity finance in emerging markets. Despite having a team of fewer than 50 employees and a small IT department, it ranks as the 13th largest bank in Malta.
Regulation – the catalyst for change
Al Ziyani understood that proactive innovation alone would not be enough. The bank would also need to keep pace with a continually evolving regulatory climate, to ensure any new products and features were compliant. And in 2024 and 2025, he was proven right, as IIG faced a significant challenge in adopting the upcoming SWIFT CBPR+ and SEPA Instant Payments regulations. As the bank’s operations evolved, so did its technology needs. To support future growth and ensure compliance with evolving regulations, the bank recognized the importance of a modern payment’s infrastructure, one that offers greater automation, interoperability, and scalability.
But the bank’s ambitions extend beyond Malta. “We have a global outlook,” said Heytem Al Ziyani, Head of IT at IIG Bank. “We aim to support customers and provide financial services wherever they are. “Digital is core to this vision”; but an outdated core banking system proved an obstacle to progress. “We see lots of opportunities to improve and to provide better services to our clients; but without the right technology in place, they can only be ideas.” The Bank took a bold step forward in 2017 when it adopted Temenos as its core banking system and partnered with Stoics IT for the first time for implementation.
“We needed a platform that would adapt to changing regulation, able to scale with us, and connect seamlessly with the outside world.”
– Heytem Al Ziyani, Head of IT at IIG Bank
A six-month sprint to instant payments
IIG Bank turned to Temenos a trusted partner since 2017, and implementation specialists Stoics IT, recently acquired by Bahwan CyberTek (BCT), to design and execute a fast-track implementation plan. “As a small team, we work closely and collaboratively with our partners,” said Al Ziyani. “So, getting the right fit – not just the technology, but crucially the right team too – is always a big decision for us. We ask questions: Do we fully understand the scope of these new regulations? How will they impact our systems and the services we deliver to our customers? And what actions do we need to take?”
These were the key topics to focus on and to address by the bank, Temenos and BCT. By bringing all parties together from the outset, the bank ensured alignment and collaboration throughout every phase of the project. This comprehensive coordination is essential in any modernization effort, enabling the team to move swiftly and effectively. “Precision and efficiency are key, we focus on getting every step right the first time,” said Al Ziyani.
And they were. In just six months, the bank upgraded its Temenos core banking system to R24 AMR release and implemented the instant payment module TIPS (the European Central Bank’s instant payment settlement platform) within its existing Temenos Payments Hub (TPH) environment. This was followed by the successful finalisation of SWIFT CBPR+.
Go-lives were achieved in quick succession: the Temenos core banking system upgrade in December 2024, instant payments in January 2025, and SWIFT CBPR+ in June 2025. “We delivered major go-lives within months. For a financial institution with a lean but well-rounded team across all departments, this was a significant achievement.”
“Deep expertise and strong project discipline are always essential in these kinds of projects. With the right people in place and a clear plan, progress is achieved even better than in larger teams that are less structured. This was especially true at IIG Bank, where strong internal team alignment, together with a close partnership with Temenos and BCT, played a key role in the project’s success.”
– Madhan Visvanathan – Head of Temenos Practice at BCT
Real-time payments, real business impact
The implementation of TPH and the system upgrade to R24 AMR release has brought full SEPA compliance, enabling seamless cross-border transactions across Europe. The bank can now process SEPA transactions in less than 10 seconds, with 24/7 availability. All transactions are automatically screened and reconciled, with no manual intervention required. Additionally, the move to the Temenos core banking system means the bank can integrate with other European digital platforms, and EU customers can now open accounts and manage transactions entirely online from anywhere in the EU.
“Imagine a German depositor opening a term deposit at a Maltese bank, with no branch presence in Germany, acting completely online, no manual intervention and no delays. That’s the power of this transformation,” Al Ziyani added. “The number of requests we now receive online to open accounts versus the traditional method of visiting our Malta branch… it’s incredible.”
Platform stability and performance have also improved, supporting the bank’s growing digital network and reducing reliance on manual intervention.
Flexibility – the competitive edge
IIG Bank chose to expand with Temenos because of the platform’s ability to scale through automation and integrations, ensuring consistency with their lean operating structure.
“In modern banking, you need to be able to connect to a network of solutions. The strength of Temenos is its adaptability. We can integrate with any platform, comply with new regulations, and roll out new services quickly.”
– Heytem Al Ziyani, Head of IT at IIG Bank
The relationship goes beyond the product. Market expertise and a proactive approach during exchanges, especially when seeking solutions to the evolving requirement to remain compliant and meet regulatory expectations, are key ingredients of how Temenos continues to support its clients. “2024 and 2025 brought major changes in our sector. Temenos was with us for every step, helping us plan, adapt, and deploy effectively and on time,” Al Ziyani explained.
A smarter future
With the upgrading of the core and the payments layers, IIG is exploring automation in areas such as customer onboarding and fraud detection. Temenos Financial Crime Mitigation (FCM) already plays a central role in AML and transaction screening, and AI is firmly on the roadmap for future capabilities.
“Our future is digital. And with Temenos, we have the platform and the partner to keep evolving, while maintaining the focused, lean operating model that we value.”
– Heytem Al Ziyani, Head of IT at IIG Bank
We partnered successfully with:
BCT is an exclusive sales and delivery partner for all Temenos products and solutions in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan.
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Leading microfinance institution serving over 330,000 customers across Cambodia
• Temenos Financial Inclusion deployed in 2017 to support digitization and expand inclusion
• Upgrade to R22 in 2024.
• 57% customer growth since 2017, supported by a scalable and future-ready core banking system
• Expanded General Loan Portfolio (GLP) by 308% and almost halved its cost to GLP ratio to 4.31%
• Operational efficiency gains, including reduced manual processes and enhanced reporting capabilities
LOLC Cambodia is one of the country’s largest and most mission-driven microfinance deposit-taking institutions (MDIs). With a strong focus on rural communities, the institution provides a range of financial services aimed at empowering underserved populations. Alongside loans, it also offers deposits, a mobile banking application, ATM cards, and local fund transfer services. Since its founding in 1994, LOLC Cambodia has grown to serve over 330,000 customers, with loan assets exceeding $1.5 billion and customer deposits surpassing $1 billion. LOLC is nationally ranked first for number of borrowers and second for loan portfolio and deposit balance. It employs 3,700 people.
Despite this scale, LOLC’s mission remains elegantly simple.
Our goal is to provide financial services to those who need them most, with speed and convenience.”
Mr. Sok Sophal, CFO/DCEO at LOLC Cambodia
To this end, it has maintained a focus on the low end of the market, with 79% of its clients based in rural areas, and 60% of its loan book made up of group loans and micro loans.
The case for change
Prior to 2017, LOLC was hampered in a number of ways. The legacy core banking system had to be deployed as separate environments in each branch, resulting in significant technical support to maintain them and enable new branch openings. For example, database backups were carried out in individual branches and sent to HO for consolidation, while data was manually written from CD/DVD to tape drive for retention. Product updates required hard coding or SQL server scripting. There was an over-reliance on third-party applications to support some core processes, such as updating loan repayment schedules with EIR (Effective Interest Rate) and generating key reports such as the Customer Poverty Index. Also, individual databases were needed for each currency.
These inefficiencies filtered through to the customer experience. Manual onboarding processes made it difficult for new customers—especially in rural areas—to access financial services quickly. The outdated core banking system lacked flexibility and automation, limiting LOLC’s ability to scale. Regulatory requirements, including IFRS compliance, demanded a more robust reporting and risk management framework. At the same time, a rapidly evolving digital landscape was opening up new opportunities to integrate with mobile banking and real-time payments—such as Cambodia’s Bakong platform—which LOLC was not equipped to take advantage of.
Aligning strategy with solution
In 2017, LOLC implemented Temenos Financial Inclusion as the foundation for its modernization strategy. The decision to select Temenos initially rested on three essential attributes, recalls Sophal
First, cost efficiency. Temenos was shown to offer significant savings over time due to lower maintenance costs and the reduced need for expensive customizations. The standardized configurations and open architecture also contribute to a lower TCO. Moreover, ease of scalability has ensured that costs remain predictable and manageable as the bank expands.
Industry leadership was a second factor.
Temenos has a long-standing reputation in the banking industry, with extensive experience in delivering core banking solutions to a wide range of financial institutions.”
Mr. Sok Sophal, CFO/DCEO at LOLC Cambodia
Finally, LOLC was impressed by the pool of leading technology and consulting firms, certified professionals, and partners in the Temenos ecosystem. These alliances bring additional domain expertise, product innovation, and know-how of successful implementations, giving LOLC peace of mind that modernization could be sustained.
Alongside these strategic pillars were specific capabilities of Temenos Financial Inclusion that marked it out. These included automation and STP to increase operational efficiency; integration with digital banking, CRM, and regulatory platforms; real-time and cross-border transaction processing; multi-branch and multi-country flexibility; the availability of the Product Builder (Wizard) and the ability to originate loans from all channels.
Summarizing its decision, Sophal says, “We selected Temenos Financial Inclusion for long-term scalability, automation, digital transformation, and inclusivity.”
Building on success
In 2024, LOLC completed the upgrade to R22. The update included, among others, migration from TAFC to TAFJ; new hardware, databases, and OS; integration with multiple third-party systems and devices; and the implementation of 12 new modules.
The technical complexity of the upgrade was coupled with stakeholder challenges, explains Duleep Liyanage, CIO. “Colleagues had become very familiar with the R14 version and were resistant to change. We were very conscious about bringing all users with us, so training and communication were a priority.”
The move to R22 was managed by Temenos Upgrade Services (TUS). “They brought a very holistic and systematic approach to the project,” recalls Duleep
They implemented a robust governance structure, established clear communication channels, conducted extensive testing, and applied operational know-how, such as setting optimal data migration volume levels.”
Duleep Liyanage, CIO at LOLC Cambodia
Duleep adds that TUS was also highly aware of the importance of stakeholder engagement, with user feedback sessions, incentives and rewards, and milestone celebrations forming a key part of the upgrade project.
Modernization in action
The solution has delivered on its promises. From 2017 to 2024, LOLC expanded its General Loan Portfolio (GLP) by 308%, saw customer numbers grow by 57%, and almost halved its cost to GLP ratio to 4.31%.
Behind these numbers is a modern customer experience. Users are able to open accounts and access services in a fraction of the time and select from a range of highly personalized products. New offers are continually developed and deployed, increasing choice. Digital transactions include integration with Cambodia’s Bakong real-time payment platform to allow instant fund transfers across mobile. Advanced fraud detection, encryption, and real-time monitoring have improved security and trust. And the adoption of IFRS 9 accounting standards has enhanced LOLC’s ability to monitor non-performing loans and manage credit risks effectively.
Tangible impact
Growth numbers alone don’t tell the whole story. “Temenos Financial Inclusion has had a tangible impact on the lives of its customers,” says Sophal. Faster access to loans has helped small businesses and farmers secure funding without long delays. New loan products for women entrepreneurs and small businesses are increasing inclusion and boosting entrepreneurship in the country. Mobile banking adoption has surged, enabling customers in remote areas to manage accounts, send payments, and receive funds without visiting a branch. And simplified deposit services now allow families to save for their future more effectively.
For many of our customers, digital banking is their first experience with formal financial services. Temenos has made it possible for us to bridge that gap and provide them with safe, reliable banking.”
Duleep Liyanage, CIO at LOLC Cambodia
Leading from the front
With Temenos Financial Inclusion firmly in place, LOLC is looking ahead. Plans are underway to expand digital lending services, enabling even more customers to access credit with minimal paperwork. LOLC is also working to enhance real-time analytics, using AI-powered insights to better understand customer needs, and explore new financial products such as insurance and investment solutions tailored for Cambodia’s microfinance market.
“With Temenos, we are not just keeping up with change—we are driving it. We are building the future of financial inclusion in Cambodia,” says Duleep.
By adopting Temenos Financial Inclusion, LOLC has positioned itself as a leader in inclusive banking, ensuring that more Cambodians—especially those in rural areas—have access to modern financial services. With improved customer experiences, faster onboarding, and a scalable platform for future growth, LOLC is setting new benchmarks in the microfinance industry.
That elevates its relationship with Temenos well beyond a client/vendor, explains Duleep. “Temenos is more than a technology provider; it is a partner in our mission to bring financial services to those who need them most and an indispensable part of our success story.”
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
- Temenos Wealth has created efficiency improvements to portfolio management, client reporting, and digital front-end tooling
- Single code base enables multiple executions from a single development environment
- TPH is a high-performing payment engine and contributing to a significant increase in volume capability
- Temenos Continuous Deployment enables overnight regression for all the functional areas, hitting a 100% pass rate with a single touch
ABN AMRO is one of the leading banks in the Netherlands with a significant international presence. With its roots going back 200 years, the Dutch financial services institution today provides banking services to millions of individuals and businesses, with a primary focus on the Netherlands and Northwest Europe. The bank is also a global leader in clearing.
The institution offers a range of products and services – including business loans, mortgages, savings, investment products, and payment services – across three divisions: personal and business banking, wealth management, and corporate banking.
Its strategy for growth is centered around three key pillars; customer experience, sustainability, and future-proof banking. These provide the foundation for bank’s mission to provide “Banking for better, for generations to come”, based on a fundamental vision of “becoming a personal bank in the digital age for the resourceful and ambitious”.
Strength in collaboration
ABN AMRO’s partnership with Temenos has been important to delivering on this vision. The journey with Temenos began almost two decades ago, when ABN AMRO started leveraging Temenos Wealth Front Office (previously ‘Triple A’) to update its legacy private banking environment. This collaboration has since expanded with Temenos core banking for its corporate and private banking business and continued further with the co-development of Temenos Payments Hub. The introduction of Temenos Continuous Deployment (TCD) running on the Temenos SaaS is the partnership’s most recent milestone.
Bas van As, ABN AMRO’s Head of International Core Banking, highlights that the benefit of this long-term partnership has been “to bring consistency and standardization to our technology stack and so make it easier to innovate and modernize.”
World class wealth management
Temenos Wealth Front Office, which is deployed in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Belgium, has resulted in efficiency improvements to portfolio management, client reporting, and digital front-end tooling. The bank has also leveraged the sustainability insights made available from the solution to improve the guidance given by its relationship managers and advisors to clients.
Moreover, by using the same code base across its operations, the bank has been able to create multiple executions from a single development environment. It has been putting this capability to good use. Just recently, in Germany, the bank rolled out the Discretionary Portfolio Management (DPM) and has scheduled advisory services to go live in the near future.
Marnix Tummers, the bank’s IT Director of Wealth Management, explains that this single code base has also achieved efficiencies in other areas, such as lifecycle management, information security, and regulatory compliance. On the latter, he says: “Regulations and standards are forever evolving, within a jurisdiction and also between them. Temenos embeds these changes to its software, which empowers us to remain adaptable in fulfilling our compliance obligations in all our markets.” And on top of increased efficiency, scalability improves as well.
“Technology allows ABN AMRO to innovate quickly by bringing new features to clients and simultaneously strengthen regulatory compliance, which is also at the heart of what Temenos is striving for.”
Marnix Tummers, IT Director of Wealth Management at ABN AMRO
Composability at the core
Temenos core banking provides a stable platform that runs across multiple business lines in multiple countries and markets, all from a single instance, which has become integral to the bank’s efficiency and performance goals. Initially, it was deployed in international corporate business and later in European corporate and private banking operations.
These advancements reflect ABN AMRO’s ongoing commitment to simplicity, or what Bas calls ‘hygiene’. “Our solutions need to be available, safe, and compliant. So, it remains incredibly important that we have a stable and reliable core banking system, because it also allows us to focus on managing our legacy technology effectively,” says Bas.
Marnix echoes those sentiments, pointing out that
“The Temenos platform’s design—a single codebase, API architecture, and suite of pre-integrated modules—delivers operational efficiencies and scalability, with the flexibility needed to tailor solutions and products for individual countries.”
Marnix Tummers, IT Director of Wealth Management at ABN AMRO
Adoption and integration of new capabilities is far easier, including access to third-party providers via the Temenos Exchange. In turn, it allows the bank to decouple outdated systems.
Cutting edge payments
Building on the success of the core modernization, ABN AMRO also looked to enhance its payments processing capabilities. The bank co-developed Temenos Payments Hub (TPH) together with Temenos as a centralized, global payments hub. Fully integrated with Temenos core banking, the solution enables real-time cross-border and domestic payments, supports various payment types, and processes complex transactions.
TPH continues to keep ABN AMRO at the forefront of the payments industry; it is a high-performing payment engine and contributing to a significant increase in volume capability. As Bas explains, “Especially in the payment area, among others, we have tried to leverage the product as much as we possibly can, and that has been truly beneficial.”
Engine for innovation
In its latest collaboration with Temenos, ABN AMRO has introduced Temenos Continuous Deployment (TCD) running on Temenos SaaS. Its DevOps teams use TCD to provision test environments, automate test cycles, and accelerate the delivery of innovative new client services.
They are now able to run overnight regression for all the functional areas, hitting a 100% pass rate with a single touch. “It’s an incredible achievement,” notes Bas.
“TCD gives us an agility and speed to market that we didn’t have before, which brings a lot more opportunities into play.”
Bas van As, Head of International Core Banking at ABN AMRO
Pioneering AI-Driven Banking Transformation
ABN AMRO views AI as a powerful force for transformation, unlocking new opportunities across its banking operations. According to Marnix “AI not just as a trend, but a foundational technology that can enhance efficiency, drive innovation, and open up new possibilities for customer engagement and operational excellence.” In partnership with Temenos, which is actively embedding AI capabilities into both its Core and Wealth platforms, ABN AMRO will be leveraging these advancements to future-proof its systems and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. This strategic alignment ensures that AI is not only integrated into their technology stack but also plays a key role in shaping the bank’s long-term vision for smarter, more adaptive banking.
People-led partnership
The story of ABN AMRO’s nearly two decades of partnership with Temenos has been one of transformation and growth. It has also been characterized by both technology and people. “We talk about technology being innovative, but that’s only achieved by innovative thinkers. People who think ahead and predict what we’re going to need. That ability to stay on top of things—be it technical innovations or regulations—is a really valuable aspect of our partnership with Temenos,” says Bas.
“Temenos’ people are key. Its services, products, and account management teams have really been outstanding. They have enabled us to be very agile and deliver with speed and confidence. That was exemplified when the bank pivoted to concentrate its growth efforts on Northwest Europe, and the partnership allowed for a smooth adjustment. We were able to do that knowing that Temenos could flex with us and so minimize any disruption.”
Marnix Tummers, IT Director of Wealth Management at ABN AMRO
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
President’s Choice Financial® (PC Financial®), part of Loblaw Companies Limited – Canada’s leading food and pharmacy retailer, aims to make everyday banking more rewarding for its customers. With the introduction of a savings feature to its PC Money™, Account holders already save on banking fees and earn points linked to PC Optimum™, a popular loyalty reward program with more than 16 million active members. PC Financial recently deployed Temenos core banking on SaaS in just 6 months to achieve fast time to market for its first interest-bearing offering.
Our partnership with Temenos aligns perfectly with our ongoing commitment to providing Canadians innovative and simplified financial products with exceptional value. This partnership gives us access to world-class banking capabilities and allows us to streamline efficiencies, while enabling continued focus on delivering best-in-class products that help Canadians Live Life Well.”
Daksa Mody, SVP Central Operations at PC Financial
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Instant increase automation in loan applications by 5%
• 20,000 loan applications immediately cleared
• 70% (c.40,000) of all loan
applications completely automated, an increase of 20%
• Loan application and funding times cut by 50%, to 12-18 minutes
• HELOC application periods reduced from one month to 18 days
• Customer base grown by 10-15%
• Customer satisfaction improved by 5-10%
Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) is the largest state chartered credit union in Idaho. In the last 5-7 years it has expanded its footprint beyond Idaho, to encompass people living and working in Washington state, and also parts of Oregon. It currently has $10bn in assets, making it in the top 20 credit unions in the country.
Launched in 1940, its mission has been to help members achieve financial success. Alongside traditional consumer services, such as deposits, savings and loans, it offers wealth management, financial planning and insurance products, and also has a business division.
An appetite for innovation
As a member-led organization, ICCU is continually having to adapt to changing consumer sentiment shaped by macro-economic trends. For example, in recent years, high interest-rates have encouraged savers, but put lenders at risk while also increasing living costs, which can negatively impact membership. Innovation has been key to this adaptability, explains Wade Saunders, ICCU’s SVP of Consumer Lending.
“The purpose of our innovation has a lot to do with how our members engage with us. Increasingly that is via digital channels, but we also want to enhance the branch experience, so that whatever channel our members prefer, we are their first choice.”
Futureproofing better lending
A recent focus for ICCU has been on improving the loan application experience for members. Its incumbent Loan Origination System (LOS) had been sunsetted by the vendor, which forced ICCU to look for alternatives. A key criteria was automation.
“We wanted to identify points of friction in our processes that can be eliminated with automation, and create the ability to process loan applications without employee-intervention.”
Wade explains that Temenos was one of the first options out of the gate, because of the ability to customize its solution. ICCU also had an eye on the future, and a partner that could support deposits and accounts as well as loans. More generally, this scalability was a key reason why ICCU selected Temenos. Having experienced growth of up to 20% in the last decade, and forecasting a similar trajectory, ICCU wanted a provider that could manage this expansion.
“We wanted a technology partner that is willing to grow with us, and invest in its entire suite of solutions as we continue to scale.”
Immediate impact
ICCU deployed three products from the Temenos digital platform: Account Origination (through Journey Manager) which went live in 2020; as well as Collections and Loan Origination (both live from 2021). The impact was immediate.
On day one of flipping the switch on Account Origination, we increased automation in loan applications by 5%. From a workload perspective, that was an immediate relief. We were able to clear over 20,000 loan applications, and redeploy the manpower to learn other parts of the new system.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Wade puts this success down to the expertise that Temenos has in managing large deployment projects.
“We didn’t have any red flags with the launch, and that’s down to all the testing we did with Temenos, and the transparency of our conversations. Being able to be really honest with each other, and take points professionally not personally, has been a key feature of our partnership so far.”
One area where the new solutions have had a big impact is the ICCU’s credit card division.
Previously we needed a person to process every credit card application. Temenos enabled us, almost immediately, to automate that. A person could apply online, get approval, get their loan documents, sign them and get access to their funds all without the involvement of an employee.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
ICCU has also applied the Temenos solution to its HELOC (home equity line of credit) product, with similar impact. HELOC applications had been taking up to a month to process; this has been reduced to around 18 days, 41% faster.
“We’re now able to order property title documents and integrate that within the system, so we avoid the delays from errors in manually inputting this information.”
Act like an underwriter
A major benefit of Temenos has been the ability to leverage historical underwriting data in the system, explains Wade.
“Because we have the data about how an underwriter is likely to score an application, we can go straight to approving or declining them, and so decrease the amount of ‘undecideds’ that need to be manually checked.”
Today, 70% of all ICCU’s loan and credit applications are processed completely automatically.
Today, with the push of a button, loans are processed and funded without a person having to do anything. We’re talking about 30-40,000 loans every year that don’t require any manual intervention.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Today, a customer can complete a loan application and receive funding in as little as 12-18 minutes, around 50% faster than before. And by using the data to continually retrain the system, Wade and his team will see that percentage improve further.
Accuracy, first time
Temenos IMM (‘Image Management Module’), an integrated feature of Originations, has also had profound benefits.
“We’ve seen an increase in the accuracy of the loan documents, so we don’t have to chase up members for the correct information.”
This has not only made the process more efficient. “These are key compliance documents. So the fact we can trust Temenos’ IMM more than our previous solution means we can go faster with the confidence that we are maintaining regulatory standards.”
The new system also makes it easier for members to submit the documents needed to support their application, by allowing them to upload them to a central portal instead of emailing, faxing or sending by post.
Happier customers = more customers
The result of all this has been to increase digital engagement and satisfaction; on the latter, the company has seen an increase of 5-10% in recent years. This growing reputation has attracted new customers. In the last few years, ICCU has grown its membership by 10-15%.
Temenos has helped us to figure out what a great online experience looks like. We’ve now got a viable product that is enabling us to accelerate in the market, and a partner that is proactively driving us to make more improvements.”
Wade Saunders, SVP of Consumer Lending at ICCU
Just the start…
ICCU is making good on its strategy to achieve growth through a deepening partnership with Temenos. Wade is looking to apply auto-decision making to its HELOCs business.
Looking to the future, Temenos’ API architecture offers huge potential, says Wade. “It gives us access to Temenos’ partner ecosystem, plus other vendors with solutions we may want to integrate. That’s almost limitless capabilities to allow us to move in any direction we want to.”
One example that Wade and his team are now exploring is the connector with ‘Dealertrack’. That integration will allow ICCU to automatically populate information from car dealers into Temenos, and so significantly reduce manual processes and paperwork when making car loans.
He is also keen to expand Temenos to reshape the company’s network loan business. “Our contractors use one of eight different loan systems and processes. So there’s a huge scope to bring efficiencies here too.”
Whichever direction ICCU will choose, Wade is confident that the relatively new partnership with Temenos has durability. That was recently evidenced when Wade was invited to share his story at the Temenos Credit Union Fall Forum. “We have hundreds of vendors, but our relationship with Temenos means a lot.”
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Digital account openings have more than doubled, with mobile accounting for two-thirds
• Online contributing 8% of the bank’s account portfolio (increasing from the peer average of 5.75% pre-Temenos)
• 90% of applications have been decided automatically
• Over 60 hours of manual work saved through automations
• Application to decision journey cut from 15 mins to 2 mins
• Time to new account funding cut from 2-3 days to 4.5 mins
Founded in 1934, MidWestOne Bank is headquartered in Iowa City and operates over 50 branches in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Colorado. MidWestOne provides a range of services in the retail, small business, and commercial sectors. These include banking, credit, mortgages, and wealth management. It has 140,000 customers and $6.6bn in assets, making it the third-largest bank in Iowa.
Its aim is to be the preeminent relationship-driven community bank, where its expertise and proactive approach generate meaningful impact for its customers and stakeholders.
Details matter
For Heather DeStefano, the bank’s SVP and Director of Digital Innovation, trust is the vehicle for that growth. “We don’t want to be a transactional institution. We really want to help and guide people. How we get potential customers to understand that is a challenge for us.”
She explains it’s about a carefully balanced approach. “We really want to differentiate ourselves in the fact that we’re small enough to really care, but big enough to deliver all of your needs.”
In practical terms, it’s about “reaching our customers where they want us to, when they want us to,” she says. Technology can deliver convenience, but what’s key is to do that better than the competition.
It’s not just about having a pretty user interface anymore, innovation is really about looking at every aspect of the customer experience, from start to finish, and finding automations that make everything more seamless.”
Heather DeStefano, SVP and Director of Digital Innovation at MidWestOne Bank
This approach was evident when the bank recently launched its digital account opening platform. “We really looked at every detail—the experiences of our customers and our back office employees—to make everybody’s lives easier.”
One aspect of the new platform is to create profiles of valuable customers upfront and enable auto-decisioning for suitable applicants. “We’ve got the process down to just four minutes from application to funding,” says Heather. The technology is also applied to ‘unqualified’ applicants, so they don’t waste time online but can instead go into the branch.
100% Digital
MidWestOne’s new account opening solution has been built with Temenos’ Digital Onboarding product. Heather recalls: “When we started thinking about the customer experience, it became clear that our incumbent vendor was not the right partner for us.” Despite the ‘digital’ name tag, their solution required all applications to be individually reviewed, which meant lots of manual data inputting and checking. Decisions were then messaged to customers manually by a bank employee.
In contrast, Temenos’ proposal demonstrated the automation capabilities that MidWestOne was looking for: the flexibility to deploy an out-of-the-box solution with the controls to customize it; API connectivity with the bank’s existing core system; ease of use; and a team of people it trusted to deliver.
Usability was particularly important, explains Heather, because MidWestOne did not have an in-house development team to call on.
We had to have a system that our back office and operations teams could use. It’s been extremely easy for them to manage the applications and decisioning processes.”
Heather DeStefano, SVP and Director of Digital Innovation at MidWestOne Bank
No problem too small
The bank’s choice of Temenos has also been vindicated by the commitment of its support team. “I have direct lines of communication with their key people, who have encouraged me to reach out with questions. Or I can create a service ticket, and usually get a response back from them within an hour or two, even on low-priority tickets. They are very responsive.”
Fast improvement
The bank went live with Temenos Digital Onboarding as SaaS (running on AWS) in November 2023, with the support of RCG Global Services for the implementation. The returns have come quickly. Online account openings have almost tripled compared to pre-Temenos rates (without any marketing spend), and online account opening rates have surpassed their peer median groups. Two-thirds of these are performed on a mobile device, and over 90% of applications have been decided automatically. Heather estimates that automating Qualifile denials alone has saved the bank over 60 manhours since launch.
Speed is another benefit. On average, it takes applicants under two minutes to complete an application and receive a decision. Previously, applications would take closer to 20 minutes, with decisions coming one to two business days later. For approved customers, funding is now completed in just four and a half minutes, whereas in the past customers would have had to wait two to three days to complete the micro deposit verification process.
MidWestOne has also taken advantage of the platform’s vendor ecosystem by connecting to a third-party ID verification solution and integrating it into its onboarding experience.
Increased customer satisfaction has followed, both for those who open accounts online and in-store.
Open up the throttle
The bank is understandably keen to keep up this momentum. It has just started a project – with its implementation partner RCG – to incorporate banker referrals into the platform, which will help drive more customers online. And it plans to expand the range of products it offers, including high yield savings accounts and private wealth products.
Heather says they plan to add more products from different business lines as they mature with the platform.
Year one has proved what Temenos can help us deliver. We like it, our employees like it, and most importantly of all, our customers like it.”
Heather DeStefano, SVP and Director of Digital Innovation at MidWestOne Bank
We partnered successfully with
Amazon Web Services
Temenos is an AWS Partner. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally.
RCG Global Services
CG Global Services leverages over 40 years of digital transformation expertise. Their highly skilled team empowers financial institutions by creating custom solutions and integrating fintechs
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Needed to upgrade 10yr old Temenos platform to support expansion
• Moving platform from on-premises to AWS cloud
• Agnostic architecture makes migration to new platform easier
• Expected operational efficiencies from automation of new platform
Ualá is an Argentine fintech, with a mission to improve financial inclusion across Latin America. Through a mobile application linked to an international Mastercard card, users can carry out a wide variety of financial transactions in an easy, secure, and transparent way. This includes money transfers, payments, credit and investment options, and access to a loyalty program. It also offers a range of solutions for businesses, such as payment terminals, payment links, and payment integration with online stores.
Ualá has more than seven million users in Argentina, Colombia and Mexico. In 2021 it was valued at $2.45 billion, following the largest investment round ever secured by an Argentine company. It followed this up in 2023 by securing a full banking licence. Consequently, it wants to move away from a partnership model (where it licensed third-party products) to develop and launch its own banking services.
Plan for growth
For Ezequiel Mina, Chief Technology Officer at Ualá’s Mexican business, this progress mirrors the marketing strategy they are now employing. “A large portion of the Mexican population still can’t access a bank account or credit products. Our aim is to introduce these people to modern finance through a debit card or investment product first. They will then be able to build a credit history, and so unlock credit options.”
Innovation at the heart
While innovation is key to this vision, it does not represent a challenge in the way it would for traditional banks.
Ualá was born digitally and in the cloud, because from the start we wanted to do things better, faster, differently. So innovation is in our DNA. We are constantly trying to understand what our clients are looking for and solve it.”
Ezequiel Mina, Chief Technology Officer at Ualá’s Mexican business
Ualá’s track record speaks for itself. It was one of the first financial companies in Latin America to offer fully automated onboarding and a digital debit card, and to understand the benefits of building native mobile applications. “It’s all about simplicity,” says Ezequiel. “How can we make things as easy as possible for people? There are always improvements to be made. That’s why we are always innovating.”
Time to move
In May 2023, Ualá signalled its ambition to grow by acquiring ABC Capital, at the time one of Mexico’s prominent retail banks. The opportunity also presented a challenge, recalls Ezequiel. “ABC had been running a 10-year version of Temenos Core (R13), which wasn’t going to handle the transaction volume that we expect to see in the next five years.”
Hence Ualá is now in the process of upgrading to the R24 version of Temenos core banking, and also extending the platform to its established business in Mexico. It is also moving from on-premises to a cloud deployment, with AWS providing the infrastructure. Go-live is expected in 2025. Key to that decision was the agnostic architecture of the Temenos platform.
It makes it much easier to go from one deployment option to another. We don’t have to rewrite any code or manage complex data transfers.”
Ezequiel Mina, Chief Technology Officer at Ualá’s Mexican business
Unleashing the new
As well as improving transactional volumes, the upgraded platform provides a range of features that are not available from the legacy version. Automation is also a key stepchange that Ezequiel is looking forward to embracing.
We are going to use these capabilities to improve the usability of our app, and also deliver efficiencies in the operational side. It will be much easier for our engineering team to develop and deploy new features and updates. This will make us much more efficient in our use of resources.”
Ezequiel Mina, Chief Technology Officer at Ualá’s Mexican business
A shared future
For all the excitement around the potential of the platform upgrade, Ezequiel equals Temenos’ people just as much. “At Ualá, we say we don’t have vendors, just strategic partners. And with the core platform at the heart of our bank, Temenos is and will be one of our most important partners for the foreseeable future. They are already proving this in their support of the upgrade project.”
With Temenos people and technology and a shared appetite for innovation, we are building a bright future together for Latin Americans.”
Ezequiel Mina, Chief Technology Officer at Ualá’s Mexican business
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Loan applications cut from 7 mins to 2.5 mins
• Increase in loan volume by 35% in 3 months
• Loan productivity grew at 17%
• Development of new ancillary loan products
• NPS score increased from 76 to 82
Texans Credit Union provides a full suite of financial products and services, including across digital and mobile channels. Launched in 1953, today it has more than 120,000 members across Texas, including the employees of the state’s 100 largest businesses. It operates 11 branches, and manages over $2.1 billion in assets.
For JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union, growth has been achieved with the ability to stay in step with what their customers need. “There are always uncertainties in financial markets. Our job is to forecast the weather and prepare for the financial storms, when they come. It’s about creating opportunities while others are managing the chaos.”
Opening ecosystems
Technology has been key to this strategy, says JJ, and in recent years has taken the form of APIs and SDKs that allow Texans to develop and customize solutions. “APIs and SDKs…these are the fundamentals of open banking, which has become critical to competitiveness. Temenos has very comprehensive Rest APIs, which has really opened the door to custom development. That’s why the partnership has become so important.”
Texans started working with Temenos in 2011, deploying Loan Origination and Collections. One impact of the API architecture has been in connecting with third-party loan providers that may offer more suitable products to their members, . “Before, we would not have been able to accommodate these applicants. Now, we have a lending ecosystem that can serve them.”
Faster lending
The improvements continue to come. “Recently, we used the Temenos SDK to revamp the virtual capture aspect of our loan applications” says JJ. “It cut loan application times to just 2.5 minutes from 7 minutes, which led to an increase in loan volumes by 35% in the first three months, which is phenomenal.” A high NPS score of 82 is further evidence that the improved customer experience is working.
JJ explains that this has repercussions beyond the loans business.
Lending has become a really important channel into full membership. The membership growth rate from loans is outpacing overall growth rate.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
Cross-selling and digitizing
He also points to the development of a new loans ancillary product that enables advisors to cross-sell debt protection add-ons, such as gap, warranty insurance, and multishield. It alone has API integrations with five different vendors.
We have been able to digitize the experience for customers. For example, applicants can view and sign-up to products online, including prospective loan repayment schedules, instead of us having to mail all this out in paper documents and wait for them to be completed and returned. So they are able to make more educated decisions in real-time.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
The new loans ancillary product also brings improvements to the back-office by automating process flows. “It has been overwhelmingly positive with our test group, so we are now rolling it out to all our advisors.”
Green and flexible
Innovation at Texans is increasingly approached through the lens of environmental sustainability – and to that end, JJ is looking at migrating Loan Origination and Collections from on-premises to cloud, either privately-hosted or in SaaS mode. Alongside the green benefits of moving to cloud, there are also operational gains.
JJ has the ‘dev and test’ flexibility of cloud in mind with plans to expand Texans’ lending portfolio. One is a lease-like vehicle loan product with a balloon payment feature; and also new credit card options. He expects this can be replicated to other areas of the credit union.
When you consider how the Loan Origination and Collections platform has cut workflows and improved productivity by 17%, the cloud version should enable us to improve efficiencies even more.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
Indispensable
This future planning speaks to the confidence that Texans has in Temenos. “Flexible, expandable, scalable, reliable – this is how we think about Temenos,” says JJ.
It’s a partnership that means we can keep bringing tailored solutions to our members, positioning us at the leading edge of the market.” He adds: “We want our members to think that they can’t do without us, and that’s exactly how we think about Temenos.”
JJ Bai, Vice President of Programming at Texans Credit Union
LOLC Cambodia
Modernizing to expand financial inclusion
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
At a Glance
• Consolidated collections operation, giving better user and customer experience
• New starters learn the platform faster than any other system
• Reduced working time 40%
• Cloud deployment has freed up IT resources and increased efficiency
All In Credit Union started as the Army Aviation Center Federal Credit Union in 1966. Today it is a full-service financial institution, serving both retail and business sectors. It offers a wide range of banking, credit, savings and insurance services. It operates 35 branches located across Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Mississippi. It has 190,000 members and more than $3.3 billion in assets and is ranked among the best credit unions in the US, with a 5-star rating from BauerFinancial.
Growth by Passion
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In CU, says growth over the last 58 years comes down to one thing. “We are passionate about our members and give them everything they need – products, experiences and help – to make their lives better.”
While this passion has been the goal of All In CU since its inception, it has proved more challenging in recent years, explains Melanie. “With the economy here underperforming, many families and communities are increasingly struggling to achieve financial security. Education has become more important to what we do.”
Connected
That ability – to constantly stay ahead of the curve – is really how the credit union defines innovation, she says. APIs have become core to that, using them to connect with other internal systems and third-party solutions: SWBC, FICO (data analytics), and PSCU (MasterCard program administrator), for example.
API connectivity was a key reason why the credit union first decided to deploy the Temenos Collections and Recovery platform, as it promised easy integration with the core system it was about to implement.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
Consolidated
All In CU has been working with Temenos since 2017 to deliver on its innovation strategy. “Our previous collection software did not have everything we needed, including connectivity to our core platform, so it was limited in scope to just the delinquent loan part of the business. We wanted a solution that could also work across all the other areas of our collections operation, such as negative checking accounts, auto loans and credit card late payments. We chose Temenos because it offered that consolidation.”
One benefit has been in the customer experience.
Before, we had to hand over customers between systems and have staff available who were specialists in each area. Now, no matter what their case is about, our staff can manage it all from Temenos. That means we serve our customers better and save lots of time too.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
Experts Not Required
That switch has been enabled by the usability of the software, says Melanie “Configuration doesn’t require any technical experience, and the interface is very intuitive. I remember when we first deployed Temenos, I was there doing the configuration for our go-live, and I was amazed how easy it was to just tailor everything to our needs. We could set up a workflow for this function or set up cases for this function. It just turned our world around.”
This is replicated whenever a new starter joins the team. “They can get up to speed really quickly. They learn how to use Temenos faster than any other solution we have.”
Ease of use, together with the decision to deploy Temenos in the cloud, has had a knock-on benefit to the rest of the business, explains Melanie.
Because we don’t have to rely on IT support, it frees up that resource for other departments. And if we do have an issue we can’t deal with, we just submit a ticket to the Temenos support desk, and we get a response really quickly.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union
This echoes her experience during the go-live phase. “Our Temenos consultant gave us great advice about who and how to train on the new system and explained all the functionalities. And he encouraged us to be proactive with questions and ideas. I’d share that advice. It’s no good having some of your people using the system effectively and others not.”
Time is Money
The impact of Temenos on the credit union can be measured in time, says Melanie. “Time is money. So, when you’re able to do something faster, it has a financial implication. And that’s precisely what we’ve achieved. Before Temenos, we worked late into the night – up to 9:00 p.m. – with paper files. Now, our day ends like a regular day should at 5:00 p.m.”
It has also had a positive impact on performance management. “From the platform, I can see which members of my team are performing at their best or who needs a little help.”
One Step Ahead
Always with one eye on the future of All In CU, Melanie explains that Temenos’ API architecture and established relationships with other financial software vendors, instills confidence that the platform can keep delivering.
Whatever we decide to do, we can do from the Temenos platform. It has the scalability and robustness we need to keep innovating and staying ahead of the curve.”
Melanie Robinson, Recovery Solutions Manager at All In Credit Union