SBI Holdings invests $20m in core banking API firm OpenLegacy
Japanese investment firm SBI Holdings has announced a $20 million investment in core banking integration firm OpenLegacy.
SBI wants to introduce OpenLegacy to Japanese regional banks
Founded in 2013, OpenLegacy offers an application programming interface (API) integration platform to enable banks to connect their core systems to digital services like online and mobile banking.
The firm claims that its unique proposition is that banks can bypass “complex middleware” and connect their services directly to the core. The firm offers both on-site and hosted versions of its software.
OpenLegacy has now raised $61 million from four funding rounds, including a Series B in November 2018 which netted it $30 million from participants including a VC spin-off of BNP Paribas.
As part of the investment, SBI Holdings will offer OpenLegacy software to regional banks as part of its “regional revitalisation” programme.
While not regional, there were two major core banking deals in Japan in 2019, both of the for the financial services wing of US technology company Oracle.
Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank selected Oracle’s Flexcube core banking system, with both deals involving multi-year systems transformation across multiple international locations.
