Sonali Bangladesh UK selects Finastra Essence for core banking tech overhaul
Sonali Bangladesh UK (SBUK), a UK-based bank providing trade finance services in Bangladesh, has signed for Finastra Essence, a core banking solution from banking tech heavyweight Finastra.
The system will support both conventional and Islamic banking at SBUK and will be deployed on the Microsoft Azure cloud.
SBUK taps Finastra for core banking tech overhaul
It is understood the bank is currently a user of the Intellect core banking system from India-based Intellect Design, which also underpins the operations at SBUK’s parent, Sonali Bank in Bangladesh.
SBUK selected Intellect back in the early 2010s to replace the legacy Bankmaster system from Finastra (known as Misys at the time).
“Running two separate core banking systems to support Islamic and conventional banking can bring many challenges, such as increased costs and risks as well as poorer customer experiences and agility,” comments Siobhan Byron, EVP universal banking at Finastra.
Bringing both on the Finastra Essence core will mitigate these risks and enable SBUK to scale and provide more personalised services to its clients, Byron adds.
“SBUK has been serving the Bangladeshi community for more than 50 years, and we have ambitious plans to grow and evolve our institution,” says Masum Billah, the bank’s CEO.
He highlights the new system’s “rich features and broad functionality” as well as Finastra’s “management and expertise”. With the new technology in place, “we are confident about what the future has in store for SBUK”, Billah adds.
SBUK was known as Sonali Bank UK until 2022. Its parent, state-owned Sonali Bank, is the largest bank in Bangladesh.
Finastra Essence has a handful of takers in the UK, predominantly among small financial institutions, including Loughborough Building Society, Melton Building Society, and Teachers Building Society.
