At a Glance

• Two banks acquired and migrated to Temenos Core within accelerated timeframes under eight months

• Temenos Core upgraded twice, validated by 1,500+ automated test cases, with all legacy systems now fully decommissioned

• 85% of processes automated

• 6x increase in IT capacity and 10x increase in telecom throughput

• Fintech marketplace OneApp launched and awarded Bahrain’s ‘Best Digital Transformation Project’

• 50+ AI initiatives launched, backed by strong enterprise-wide data infrastructure

A Bank on the Move

Al Salam Bank is the largest bank in Bahrain, and its technology journey reflects a broader institutional transformation, shaped by strategic growth, operational discipline, and a clear ambition to remain future-ready.

This transformation was driven by a clear strategic intent: to remove structural technology constraints and enable the bank to grow more effectively, integrate acquisitions with greater precision, and respond more efficiently to evolving customer and market needs.

From operational automation to the integration of acquired institutions, Al Salam Bank has delivered a transformation that has been both strategic and disciplined, enabled by Temenos and driven by clear business priorities. The focus has not only been on what was implemented, but on how it was executed, with strong governance, controlled delivery, and clear alignment to long-term strategic priorities.

Removing Limits

Before the transformation, Al Salam Bank was operating within a more complex technology environment, characterized by siloed systems, slower project delivery, and limited integration pathways. “Innovation was being constrained by the structure of the legacy environment,” said Ahmed Buqais, Deputy Chief Technology Officer at Al Salam Bank. “It was becoming increasingly difficult to move at the speed the business and our customers required.”

In 2021/22, the Bank completed its first major upgrade of Temenos Core. This foundational shift paved the way for the next phase of the Bank’s strategic growth, including the successful acquisition of Ithmaar Bank’s consumer banking business. The full migration was completed in just seven months.

A second acquisition followed soon with former Kuwait Finance House Bahrain, where the full institution operation was migrated onto Temenos Core in only six months.

Unlike many banks that merge systems or run parallel platforms, Al Salam opted for a clean transfer. “We made a conscious decision to move into one strategic core environment rather than carry forward unnecessary complexity,” said Hemantha. “That gave us a cleaner, more efficient, and more scalable operating model.”

Core Banking – Upgraded and Future-Ready

In 2025, the Bank completed a second major upgrade of its Temenos Core environment, modernizing not just the software but the full infrastructure stack. The move included a transition to Temenos’ latest Java-based runtime (TAFJ), improving performance, enabling the rollout of the new Temenos browser interface, and preparing the bank for future growth.

To manage the complexity, the team invested heavily in quality assurance and testing. “We replaced hardware, restructured infrastructure, and ran more than 1,500 automated test cases to validate system performance,” Ahmed said. “That level of preparation gave us the confidence to go live without disruption, and we had zero post-upgrade issues.”

The program was delivered in collaboration with TTF and Al Salam Bank’s internal teams, combining specialist implementation support with strong in-house ownership throughout the process.

“We approached the upgrade with a clear focus on resilience, continuity, and long-term scalability,” said Hemantha Wijesinghe, Chief Technology Officer at Al Salam Bank. “The outcome has given us a stronger and more future-ready core environment.”

Keeping Customers Live During Migration

A defining feature of Al Salam Bank’s transformational approach was its ability to execute major migrations while maintaining continuity of services for customers. The team built an internal orchestration platform called Oxygen, which acted as a live transaction bridge during critical cutovers.

“Usually during a transformation, systems go down for long hours,” said Hemantha. “With Oxygen, we were able to maintain continuity and allow customers to continue transacting without any disruptions. This was significantly important in protecting both our service standards and customer trust.”

Oxygen has since become a strategic internal capability, demonstrating the Bank’s ability to engineer complex transformation solutions in-house rather than relying solely on vendors.

Built by the Bank, for the Bank

A significant share of Al Salam Bank’s transformation was delivered through internal capability, reflecting the Bank’s long-term investment in technology talent, platform knowledge, and delivery ownership.

“We have built strong in-house capability across architecture, testing, deployment, and service delivery,” said Mohammed Saleh, Head of IT Service Delivery. “From architecture to testing to deployment, we have built internal capability that gives us greater control, continuity and agility in how we deliver transformation.”

That internal capability is not only about speed, but also about long-term sustainability and institutional knowledge. “Our team has developed deep Temenos expertise over time,” said Hemantha. “Many of them have been part of this journey for years. We have grown our people alongside the evolution of the platform.”

This autonomy has led to measurable results: 85% of processes are now automated, a 10x increase in telecom throughput, a 6x increase in system capacity, and service uptime is now mostly at 99.9%. “We have eliminated all legacy systems in production,” said Hemantha. “It gives us simplicity, speed, and easier-to-manage operating environment.”

The bank’s operations are now fully paperless, with onboarding and card issuance reduced from five days to five minutes. “And we’ve done it all while staying fully compliant and ISO-certified,” he further added.

OneApp: A Fintech Marketplace

In January 2025, Al Salam Bank launched OneApp, a digital financial marketplace offering everything from microfinance to investments and non-banking services. While operating under distinct platform identity, OneApp is fully integrated with Temenos Core.

Built within Bahrain’s open banking infrastructure, OneApp connects banks across the Kingdom, offering a seamless and instant customer experience.

“If someone needs financing, they apply in the app and receive funds instantly,” said Ahmed. “No paperwork, no employee intervention. And the financing is registered directly in Temenos.”

Beyond customer experience, OneApp represents a scalable monetization model, positioning Al Salam Bank beyond traditional banking by enabling ecosystem partnerships, fee-based services, and platform-led growth without increasing operational complexity.

In 2025, OneApp was recognized at Bahrain’s eGovernment Excellence Award for Best Digital Transformation, reflecting the platform’s measurable impact on financial inclusion, customer experience, and ecosystem collaboration.

A Partner and Enabler

For Al Salam Bank, Temenos is not viewed simply as just software, but as a key enabler of its strategic execution.

Daily transaction volumes average around 400,000, but the Bank regularly peaks at 1 million transactions per day, all handled smoothly by Temenos Core.

“The core system is robust,” Hemantha said. “And our team have built strong expertise around it. That combination of technology and talent is what gives us an edge.”

Temenos has also supported Al Salam Bank in strengthening governance operational resilience, and regulatory oversight within a highly regulated environment. “We operate in a market where control, auditability, and resilience are essential,” said Mohammed. “The operating model we have built enables us to meet regulatory requirements, maintain robust internal controls, and comply with ISO standards and regulators expectations, while supporting the Bank’s continued growth.

Business Value Delivered

Beyond technology, the transformation has delivered clear and measurable business outcomes:

• Cost efficiency through elimination of parallel core systems and legacy licenses
• Reduced operational and regulatory risk via a single system of record
• Faster time-to-market for digital products and AI initiatives
• Scalability to support acquisitions without the need for major re-platforming

These outcomes demonstrate how the bank’s technology investments have translated into stronger execution, lower complexity, and a more resilient foundation for sustainable growth.

What’s Next: AI, Data, and Payment Modernization

With its core now fully upgraded, Al Salam Bank is focused on data-driven banking, AI expansion, and payments modernization.

The Bank has launched various AI initiatives, including:

• AI-powered chatbots for customer support
• Automated decisioning for onboarding and credit
• Predictive analytics for internal service desk queries
• Smart document routing and workflow optimisation
• Voice-driven banking pilots for accessibility

“AI is not just an experiment, it’s a board-level priority,” said Hemantha. “It is embedded within our roadmap, ensuring that each initiative is aligned to business value and long-term strategic direction.”

What makes these initiatives possible is the Bank’s data readiness.

Banco da Amazônia (BASA), a leading Brazilian development bank, selected Temenos to power its digital transformation and expand its reach across Brazil. Founded in 1942 and headquartered in Belém, BASA serves over 1 million customers through 120 branches. With a strong mandate to drive sustainable economic development in the Amazon region, the bank is evolving into a digitally scalable institution with national ambitions.

Expanding reach and improving efficiency through digital transformation

The bank is adopting Temenos Core, Digital and Payments solutions to modernize its retail, SME and wholesale banking operations, alongside the launch of a new digital super-app. This transformation is enabling BASA to scale nationally, improve operational efficiency and deliver inclusive financial services beyond its traditional footprint in northern Brazil.

Following a competitive evaluation process, BASA is replacing its legacy core systems with Temenos’ modern banking platform. This transformation supports the bank’s ambition to triple its microcredit portfolio, reduce reliance on government-subsidized credit, and diversify revenue streams through new digital products.

Temenos’ technology enables fully digital client onboarding and servicing, helping BASA reach underbanked and remote communities. Its agile platform also supports the rapid rollout of new offerings in retail investment, SME lending and personal credit, while enhancing support for Brazil’s instant payments ecosystem with 24/7 Pix transactions delivering improved speed, reliability and scalability.

BforBank is the Crédit Agricole Group’s online bank. Founded in 2009, it operates in France and Germany and supports Crédit Agricole’s broader European digital banking strategy.

BforBank provides digital banking services through its mobile platform, offering everyday banking products, savings accounts, and 24/7 customer support. Its account offering includes the BforBASIC card and the BforZEN card, along with regulated savings products such as Livret A, LDDS, life insurance, etc. BforBank also offers consumer loans.

The bank continues to expand its product portfolio as part of its long-term growth plans. BforBank is labeled Digital Responsible Level 2.

Driving Transformation Through Cloud-Native Banking and Scalable Innovation

At the heart of BforBank’s operations is Temenos core banking software, which has supported the bank’s back-office functions since the very beginning. As the banking industry evolved toward greater collaboration and digital agility, BforBank recognized the need to challenge its initial technology choices. BforBank undertook an extensive assessment, exploring multiple software providers using proof of concept trials on Google Cloud. After thorough evaluation, Temenos was chosen for its ongoing commitment to building an open and secure cloud banking platform that enables banks to efficiently assemble and deliver services at scale.

Moving to Temenos on Google Cloud will empower BforBank with hyperscale agility, flexibility, and scalability, enabling it to accelerate the launch of innovative services, while significantly reducing operational costs. Transitioning from an on-premise implementation to a fully cloud-native, API-first architecture positions the bank to seize new growth opportunities and achieve greater efficiency at scale.

BforBank’s vision is ambitious: it aims to reach three million customers by 2030 and expand its footprint beyond France into multiple international markets.  By harnessing its digital-first strategy and advanced technology stack, the bank is poised to transform its business model and deliver exceptional customer experiences across borders.

Recently, BforBank extended its partnership with Temenos by adopting the Temenos Payments Hub. This decision was driven by the desire to eliminate manual processes and accelerate straight-through processing (STP) across various asset classes. BforBank sought to leverage native automation capabilities within Temenos, rather than develop workflows internally – a strategy designed to protect the long-term viability and upgradability of its systems.

By relying on proven, upgradable technology, the bank aimed to maximize the benefits of its existing Temenos core banking solution, improve return on investment, and reduce manual intervention in payments management and SEPA direct debit processing.

BforBank’s journey with Temenos Core on Google Cloud and Temenos Payments Hub showcases how a forward-thinking digital bank can harness composable banking and cloud innovation to drive operational excellence, accelerate growth, and redefine customer empowerment in the financial sector. These strategic technology choices highlight BforBank’s unwavering commitment to leveraging leading-edge technology to deliver superior banking experiences and sustain long-term growth.

Bank of Beirut UK is a specialist trade finance bank with a unique footprint. Based in London and regulated by the Bank of England, it plays a key role in connecting banking corridors between Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

“Our core business is correspondent banking and trade finance,” said Sophoklis Argyrou, CEO of Bank of Beirut UK. “We act as a gateway for regional banks wanting to finance exports into Africa and the Middle East. Today, we work with over 300 banks across these corridors.”

While this wholesale network remains central, the bank also serves a specific and growing segment: the Lebanese diaspora – typically high-net-worth individuals in West Africa, MENA, and Lebanon. Sophoklis sees this group as a cornerstone of future growth.

While the bank’s previous systems were functional, they lacked the capabilities to enable modernization at scale. Enhancements were costly, operational visibility was limited, and compliance demands were growing.

“We felt the systems no longer gave us what we needed – from performance to security to reporting,” Sophoklis explained. “And as we looked to expand, we needed a platform that could support that ambition.”

The bank launched a full replacement of its core and payments infrastructure, with four main strategic goals:

• Scale their trade finance business to strengthen their corporate banking proposition
• Enable growth in retail and private banking
• Improve operational efficiency and regulatory readiness
• Ensure long-term stability and control

Although the Temenos platform was already being evaluated by the parent group, the UK entity conducted its own due diligence.

The bank was particularly drawn to Temenos’ focus on banking.

“They are a specialist financial services core provider,” he noted. “Unlike other tech firms covering multiple sectors, Temenos is purely focused on banking. And their client base matched our profile; institutions facing similar regulatory and operational complexity.”

The solution includes Temenos Core, Temenos Trade Finance, and Temenos Payments to meet UK regulatory and data residency requirements.

This was not a standard plug-and-play implementation. As a correspondent bank, Bank of Beirut UK handles complex payment flows using SWIFT MT100, MT200, and MT700 series messages – capabilities that require robust configuration.

The bank worked closely with LTIMindtree, Temenos’ preferred partner in the region.

“LTIMindtree delivered the project with professionalism and care. We had confidence in them from the start, and they validated that confidence throughout,” Sophoklis said.

“For this transformation, tight collaboration was essential,” said Hemal Jayasinghe, Chief Business Officer, at LTIMindtree. “Bank of Beirut UK, Temenos, and our delivery team worked as one from day one – aligning on priorities, managing the regulatory environment, and solving challenges together.”

The project went live in just over 12 months. And while formal ROI assessments are scheduled for the next phase, the immediate feedback has been clear – especially from frontline teams.

“The trade finance team told us straight away – it’s more capable, more efficient,” Sophoklis shared. “They can process faster and with more confidence.”

Operationally, the system has already unlocked key improvements:

• Dramatically expanded management information (MI) and reporting capabilities
• Significantly improved data visibility across operations

“The data visibility is miles ahead of what we had before,” Sophoklis said. “The MI potential is limitless.

Control and security have also improved, giving senior leadership greater confidence. “We feel more secure, knowing we’re operating on an up-to-date platform with proper controls,” added Sophoklis.

The transformation is about more than modernization – it’s about enabling a different kind of bank. While 80–85% of the business today remains wholesale-focused, the target is to reach a 60/40 split between wholesale and retail/private banking.

“We’re expanding our offering to the Lebanese diaspora – high-net-worth clients who want a secure, personalized service,” Sophoklis explained. “The new platform gives us the agility to grow without compromising our core.”

The goal is clear: grow the customer base threefold within three to five years, starting from mid-2026.

At a Glance

• First bank in Egypt to go live with native ISO 20022 MX messaging

• Enabled fully native SWIFT payments

• Significant STP gains and automation by replacing previous Funds Transfer module

• Fully integrated with Temenos Core

Established in 2020, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Egypt (ADCB Egypt) is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Group, one of the leading banking institutions in the UAE. The bank offers retail, corporate, SME, and digital banking services through a nationwide network and advanced digital platforms and has achieved strong financial growth while earning industry recognition for digital innovation, customer service, and financial inclusion.

Today, the bank uses Temenos Core across its Retail, Corporate, SME, and institutional client segments. That foundation is now being strengthened with payments innovation.

In 2025, ADCB Egypt became the first bank in Egypt to go live with Temenos Payments for SWIFT payments, and fully compliant with ISO 20022 / SWIFT MX messaging standards.

What makes this deployment stand out is its native integration. ADCB implemented the new messaging standard directly within its system. By removing middleware and workarounds, the bank can now work directly with structured, source-level data.

“This approach gives us full data integrity and no limitations,” Ihab Elswerkey CEO & Managing Director at ADCB Egypt explained. “It’s more than compliance; it’s the smart way to scale, in line with our 5-year growth strategy.

By going native from day one, the bank avoids inefficiencies and translation risks, gaining agility as regulations evolve. It’s a bold move that sets the bank apart from competitors still working through interim solutions.

The implementation, led by ITSS with support from Temenos and ADCB’s internal PMO, followed a structured rollout. ADCB Egypt prioritized cross-border payments. The setup included five full environments spanning development, UAT, pre-production (x2), and production.

“ITSS played a critical role,” Ihab said. “They brought deep product knowledge and helped us set up a robust environment across dev, UAT, and production. Their collaboration with our team was excellent.”

ITSS also reflected on the strength of the partnership. “ADCB Egypt had a clear vision for compliance and scalability,” said Patrick Jaccoud, CEO, ITSS. “Our role was to bring deep expertise in Temenos Payments and ensure that the implementation was seamless, modular, and future proof. This project proves what’s possible when the client, partner, and vendor work as one team.”

The shift from Temenos’ previous module to Temenos Payments Hub delivered immediate benefits. ADCB Egypt achieved stronger straight-through processing, significantly reduced manual intervention, and now responds to regulatory changes faster and more cleanly. Payment flows are now centrally orchestrated, improving both visibility and control.

ADCB Egypt ran a formal evaluation process, comparing Temenos Payments with other global vendors. TPH stood out for its native ISO 20022 support, seamless compatibility with the bank’s existing Temenos Core platform, and a scalable architecture that required minimal customization. ADCB also took the opportunity to deploy Temenos Treasury Front Office (TFO), which it completed in June 2024.

ADCB Egypt required a platform that didn’t need heavy customization. Temenos Payments absorbed the business needs with minimal rework, presenting a major advantage.

With Phase 1 now live, ADCB Egypt is planning its next move: extending Temenos Payments to handle other payment schemes (ACH, RTGS, and instant payments), all under a single orchestration layer. The bank is also expanding its use of analytics, AI, and real-time insights – critical tools in its strategy to attract a new generation of digital-first customers with faster, smarter, and more responsive banking experiences.

For ADCB Egypt, this is about building a platform that grows with the bank, a strategic move to continuously modernize its infrastructure and ensure its readiness for the future.

Vietnam Prosperity Joint Stock Commercial Bank (VPBank) is one of Vietnam’s largest private banks, serving over 30 million customers across retail and corporate banking. The bank is a leader in digital innovation, having launched multiple digital brands including NEO, NEOBiz, UBank, Cake. To serve millions more customers with speed and reliability, VPBank recognized that its core banking platform had to evolve – to be faster, smarter, and more scalable.

VPBank had been using Temenos Core Banking since 2006. As it has grown, it has retained this core, while upgrading to new releases.

“We always need to improve our speed to market and agility,” said Augustine Wong Kok Seng, former CIO at VPBank. “Digital banks move fast, and if we want to stay competitive, we need to keep our core platform at the cutting edge.”

More importantly, many of the alternative platforms required specialized business analyst skills that were hard to source in emerging markets like Vietnam.

VPBank committed to upgrading its Temenos core banking, while shifting to a hybrid architecture using Red Hat OpenShift. The bank partnered with Systems Limited, with proven expertise in deploying Red Hat OpenShift for core banking on-premise. Red Hat was instrumental in helping containerise VPBank’s core banking system. While the core continues to run on-premise in a private cloud, AWS supported the broader hybrid architecture and testing environments, providing flexibility as the bank plans for future innovations.

This wasn’t a routine upgrade. It was one of the largest and most complex core banking transformations in the country. It involved migrating more than 18 million accounts and 77 terabytes of data, all within a 24-hour go-live window.

Key to success was VPBank’s decision to run the upgrade using disaster recovery (DR) mode to avoid impacting customer service. For most of the weekend, customers continued transacting as usual, with only a brief three-hour switchover window when systems were unavailable.

“With this modernisation, VPBank gains the ability to orchestrate workloads at scale, streamline deployments, and maintain high availability. These are critical capabilities for supporting millions of customers while driving continuous innovation,” said Dao Hoang Giang (Jane), Country Manager, Red Hat Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos & Myanmar.

The technology upgrade is about more than just scale. It’s also enabling inclusion.

Vietnam has a population of over 100 million, but only around 30 million are currently banked. VPBank is on a mission to change that. “Our full name – Vietnam Prosperity Bank – says it all,” Augustine said. “We’re here to build an inclusive financial society. That requires trust, and trust is built on stable, scalable systems.”

When FundBank continued its recent global expansion into the US and Luxembourg, to further serve the asset management industry, it had a rare advantage: no legacy systems and no outdated technology. The goal was simple but powerful: create a fully digital, cross-border bank that could serve clients with speed, security, and simplicity. With the full Temenos SaaS offering FundBank turned that vision into reality driving its expansion in the United States. This foundation positions the bank to serve significantly more clients without increasing operational complexity.

FundBank isn’t a traditional bank. It is a global bank focused on serving the asset management sector, including fund managers, administrators, brokers, and family offices who need seamless service across jurisdictions. These clients value efficiency and expect their banking to move as fast as their investments. Using Temenos, FundBank is expected to serve significantly more customers per employee as automation and straight-through processing increase across operations.

“FundBank was built for a niche market that demands more than just banking,” said Diarmuid O’Donovan, Global Chief Information Officer. “They want a digital experience that feels effortless, wherever they do business.”

Having operated in the Cayman Islands for many years, FundBank launched operations in the U.S in 2024 and began with a clean slate. There were no legacy systems to migrate or old data to reconcile, just the opportunity to design a modern, cloud-native bank from the ground up. The first major milestone came when the bank secured its U.S. banking license from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). With regulatory approval in place, FundBank expanded to Luxembourg.

This scalability is expected to support rising transaction volumes and cross-sell activity as the bank expands into new markets.

To power its growth, FundBank adopted end-to-end banking on Temenos SaaS, deployed on Microsoft Azure. Temenos Core Banking is the foundation of the platform while Temenos Digital delivers an intuitive, frictionless online experience for corporate clients. Temenos Payments enables full centralization and real-time control over the processing of any type of payment from any channel or source, with cross-border and multi-currency payments flowing smoothly across multiple clearing systems, including ISO 20022. Financial Crime Mitigation ensures robust compliance, while Temenos Data Hub provides the insights and real-time analytics needed to drive smarter decisions. As adoption increases, FundBank expects cross-sell performance to rise exponentially, supported by deeper insights and more personalized client engagement.

From day one, FundBank set out to be fully digital. Every process, from onboarding to account management, happens online. Clients can open and manage accounts quickly and securely. While the U.S. and Luxembourg operations are entirely digital, the third phase in Cayman Islands will integrate shortly. Behind the scenes, Temenos’ open integration framework connects FundBank to critical third-party systems like Bloomberg and HID, giving the bank the flexibility to customize and extend services without building them from scratch. This digital-first approach is expected to revolutionize onboarding while improving overall customer satisfaction significantly.

FundBank worked closely with Temenos, leveraging their architecture alignment, support, and strategic guidance to ensure every component of the deployment worked seamlessly together. With proven success in countries like Luxembourg, Temenos offered both the technology and the track record FundBank needed, giving the bank confidence as it expanded its global footprint.

Founded in the 1970s as the Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), the Arab Energy Fund is a specialist financial institution focused on midstream and downstream energy investments. Its business activities span direct equity investments, trade finance, and structured loans, including syndicated and bilateral arrangements where it often acts as facility or syndication agent. It supports over 130 active facilities with a combined balance sheet exceeding USD 5.88 billion.

In 2024 it marked its 50th anniversary with an expanded mandate that includes sustainability and ESG-driven financing. That vision came with complexity, and need for further enhancements of the system with new and more innovative modules.

With greater operational efficiency, the Fund has increased its capacity to serve as agent on more complex deals. And because each facility can be configured individually, the platform supports the Fund’s ambitions to lead higher-value, structured transactions in the region.

Additionally, the AA architecture has enabled product-level configuration and categorization, streamlining how data is captured and improving what’s possible in reporting and analysis

“When your products are designed the way your business operates, reporting becomes a by-product,” Mohammad said. “Now we get the data we need, in the format we need it. And we feed these back into the business, so we have a continually loop of insights and improvements.”

Going greener

Technology is also helping the Fund deliver on its ESG commitments. Since 2020, it has launched green bonds and invested in sustainable energy projects. Its new Temenos modules allow for these ESG-linked products to be structured with the specific parameters needed for compliance and performance tracking.

● 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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

• 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.