Bank Muamalat Malaysia Berhad (Bank Muamalat) partners with Backbase, and Mambu to lead its digital Islamic banking transformation.
Driven by a mission to create an “unmatched customer-centric experience”, Bank Muamalat CEO Khairul Kamarudin says the company will leverage platform technology to innovate towards a unified Islamic digital banking experience, bridging silos, and traditional banking practices.
With the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform serving as the anchor platform, facilitating end-to-end processes including onboarding, transactions, financing, as well as backend consumer servicing and engagement, Kamarudin says that Bank Muamalat is equipped to create customized and unique customer journeys with security, consistency, acceleration, and scalability.
Central to the bank’s digital transformation is a modern digital Islamic banking super app aimed at enhancing its Retail Banking solutions.
“This shift enables the bank to offer personalized banking journeys, tailored to unique preferences of its customers, while empowering the bank with freedom and control in putting their long-term vision into action. The goal is to cater to the needs of diverse consumers in Malaysia beyond traditional banking services, including holistic life empowerment features, from financial, faith and the added assurance of security and peace of mind in every transaction,” says Kamarudin.
In addition, Bank Muamalat claims that these offerings will expand to its commercial and SME banking segments in the near future.
“We are attentive to the needs of our diverse consumer base and are dedicated to advancing financial inclusion and Islamic banking practices to be more modern, customer-centric, and digitally progressive. The strategic advantage of the Backbase Engagement Banking Platform lies in its ability to ‘adopt and build’, which aligns with our goal to launch the digital Islamic banking platform by the end of the year,” says Kamarudin.
Backbase claims it serves over 120 financial institutions worldwide, including an increasing number of Islamic banks such as Libyan Islamic Bank, ila Bank, Bank Al Bilad, and Saudi National Bank.
Backbase VP of Asia Riddhi Dutta says that their global reach also extends to banks in the APAC region, including ABBANK, BDO Unibank, Bank of the Philippine Islands, China Bank, EastWest Bank, HDFC Bank, JudoBank, OCB, Techcombank, and TPBank. According to Dutta, Islamic banks in Asia are keen to enhance their digital banking solutions to stay competitive.
“We’ve had the privilege of collaborating with Islamic banks across the globe, gaining invaluable insights into their unique needs and challenges. Our Engagement Banking Platform is designed with flexibility at its core, offering pre-built journeys and microservices that can be customized to meet the unique requirements of Islamic banking. Our partnership with Bank Muamalat exemplifies our commitment to support Islamic banks in their digital transformation endeavors. Additionally, we hold a deep appreciation for Malaysia’s vibrant Islamic banking culture and dynamics, which stand as a beacon of innovation and growth in the global Islamic finance sector,” says Dutta.
Bank Muamalat’s holistic cloud-based transformation encompasses Backbase for modernization and customer-centric Engagement Banking, and Mambu for digital core capabilities.
Kamarudin says that transitioning to a cloud-based model not only enhances its banking services and product offerings but also yields significant cost savings and operational efficiency gains. In addition, it empowers Bank Muamalat’s developers to accelerate software development cycles by leveraging Mambu’s digital core to meet regulatory requirements and fortify its security controls, essential for a financial institution.
Commenting on the partnership, Mambu Director of Solutions Engineering Perminder Grewal Dallow says that Bank Muamalat is one of the first traditional banks in Southeast Asia to embrace its cloud banking platform.
“We look forward to enabling Bank Muamalat to build innovative products and services, streamline IT processes, and craft exceptional customer journeys. The endorsement from Bank Negara Malaysia, the regulatory body for Malaysia’s financial sector, to advance this project underscores the trust and assurance in both Mambu and Backbase. We look forward to a strong partnership with Bank Muamalat as it modernizes its technology foundation,” says Dallow.
