Finastra implementing Blockchain Corda with leading banks in MENA

In a recent interview with Mubasher Mr. Serge Tohme, Managing Director for MENA and Turkey at Finastra talked about their cloud solutions for the banking industry that includes Blockchain, AI, and other technologies in its offering in the MENA region.

Finastra which started in 2017 was a merger of two Fintech giant, D+H, and Misys. According to Serge Tohme, “40 of the top 50 ME banks use Finastra solutions while Finastra has over 8,500 customers globally with revenues of $1.9 billion.”

Finastra has offices in Dubai and Riyadh as well as Egypt, Morocco, and Bahrain in addition to offices in USA, EU and Singapore.

According to Tohme, “ We are changing the way financial services software is developed, deployed, and consumed, like no one else building the foundations of a completely new financial services ecosystem and marketplace. We are opening up our APIs application program interfaces] for core retail banking, payments, corporate banking, lending and treasury, and capital markets, and enabling the wider ecosystem to build on top of them to increase innovation and offer better services to a growing market. Building and strengthening this ecosystem is our key focus for 2020. We already have over 60 APIs available on the platform and we are hoping to more than double this by the end of the year.

Finstra has also recently signed a deal with the United Arab Bank, to incorporate its Fusion Corporate Channels and Fusion Cash Management. With Finastra’s Fusion Corporate Channels and Fusion Cash Management solutions, the bank will provide a much improved, functionality rich experience for corporate users and treasurers to effectively manage cash flows, unifying trade, supply chain finance, cash, lending, and treasury services for corporate clients. The solutions will be integrated with Fusion Equation under a single portal, providing better services and improving the entire customer experience.

Mr. Tohme adds, “ By adopting the latest technologies, from AI to blockchain, machine learning with Fusion LenderComm, our tool for the syndicated lending market, and gradually moving our software to the cloud. We have teams in our innovation labs developing 4-5 prototypes, working with data stream sets to see how the technology can recognize patterns and develop insights that could be used to create recommendation engines, for example.”

As for Blockchain he explains, “ Blockchain, or distributed ledger technology is another area that has been a buzzword for some time. We have partnered with R3 to build Fusion LenderComm on Corda, R3’s enterprise blockchain technology. We developed it in close collaboration with some of the world’s leading banks, to deliver efficiencies and improve customer experience in a market that hasn’t changed in the past 20 years. In light of its [Fusion LenderComm] success, we are investing heavily in enterprise blockchain and exploring other areas where we can see it add value to our customers.” In addition Finstra is also working with Ripple for cross border payments

Finastra has already implemented its blockchain solution in more than three banks globally.