Shortly after its Saudi parent acquired a technology company to support its digital transformation, Al Rajhi Bank Malaysia (ARBM) has chosen a firm to aid it in launching an Islamic digital bank.
ARBM has engaged Thought Machine, a cloud native core banking technology firm, to deploy the latter’s core banking engine, Vault, to introduce a new digital bank this year. It is understood that the digital bank will offer retail and SME financial services including savings and financing products. The Islamic bank will also take advantage of Vault’s product-building capabilities in building and delivering customized Islamic financial products.
This is part of ARBM’s multi-year digital strategy launched last year.
“We are launching a state-of-the-art digital bank which will be differentiated by its high levels of innovation, customer convenience and reliability. We are tapping into the vast potential in technology offered by our key partners to help advance toward our vision of becoming the number 1 Islamic finance innovation bank in Malaysia,” Arsalaan Ahmed, CEO of ARBM, commented.
UK-based Thought Machine, whose Asia Pacific headquarters is in Singapore, boasts the likes of JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking, ING Bank and SEB. Back in 2019, it powered Standard Chartered Bank’s greenfield digital banking service, Mox.