Barko Financial will deploy cloud-native and cloud-agnostic Temenos T24 Transact core banking product, as well as Temenos Infinity digital banking product.
Barko Financial is currently in the process of applying for a banking licence to launch a retail bank for offering financial products to lower-income consumers in South Africa.
With more than 170 branches, the microfinance institution serves government employees, mineworkers and civil servants in South Africans.
Temenos Middle East and Africa managing director Jean-Paul Mergeai said: “Technology is playing a pivotal role in making financial inclusion a viable option for everyone. We are delighted to partner with Barko Financial Services, which joins the Temenos family, and it can leverage our experience of serving over 220 microfinance institutions as well as our expertise in helping new banks to launch.”
Temenos’ packaged and integrated software will help reduce the time to originate loans. Barko aims to complete re-loan applications within two minutes, while new loans under seven minutes.
The microfinance institution is believed to benefit from accelerated project timelines and reduced cost of deployment with the support of Temenos’ end-to-end digital banking platform. Barko will make the new platform live in six months.
Cloud-hosted Temenos Infinity will enable Barko Financial to advance product agility and bring new products and services quickly to market.
According to the company, the Temenos T24 Transact will enable the business to benefit from operational efficiencies at a lower cost of ownership.
Barko Financial Services CEO Kobus de Wet said: “We selected Temenos’ packaged and open banking software to transform our customer experience, offer personalized products and services and drastically lower our total cost of ownership.
“With Temenos, we will be able to launch capabilities faster, if we get approval to establish a bank, and provide innovative products which are simple to use and tailored to add value to our target customers.”
