No-code, white-label digital lending solutions, Fares Kobeissi, Chairman, CEO, Bluering

By Robin Amlot

Bluering’s project with Housing Bank took home the award ‘Most Innovative Use of Process Automation: Best Project Implementation’ at the latest Global FinTech Innovation Awards.

Bluering completed its project with Jordan’s Housing Bank in record time. IBS Intelligence asked Fares Kobeissi, Chairman and CEO of Bluering what he feels made the project stand out.

“We are honoured to receive this award, which recognises the dedication and expertise of both the Housing Bank and Bluering teams. Housing Bank is one of the biggest and most sophisticated banks in Jordan and in the Middle East and we were able to deploy, in record time, our Corporate Lending platform, automating the full credit process for corporates and SMEs. Within approximately 9 months, Bluering Commercial went live at Housing Bank including customisation, integration with different internal and external systems, data migration and full training of all users.

“The speed of implementation was a major achievement and the second issue that made our project stand out is the comprehensiveness of our solution, in that all aspects of the credit process were covered, from origination to credit administration and disbursement.”

What makes a digital lending platform the ‘right’ solution for financial institutions?

“Digital lending is one of the most complex processes to automate in banking, involving multiple departments with unique workflows and system needs. A successful implementation requires a comprehensive, flexible, and intuitive platform.

“Primarily, the right digital lending platform should be comprehensive, in that it covers all the departments and its diverse processes, but it should additionally be multifaceted to cover the needs of the different players. It should also be very flexible and parameterizable since every bank has a unique workflow, credit reporting structure, and integration requirements. It should seamlessly integrate with core banking systems and internal/external platforms to ensure interoperability. And finally, it should be designed and developed based on AI and on the latest technology, both on the front end and on the back end.

“Let me add also that the team implementing the solution is vital to the success of the project. They should have advanced knowledge in banking and credit, on top of their technical capabilities.”

What’s the benefit of a no-code solution and are there any limitations?

“All our products, be it our digital retail platform, our corporate workflow or our risk rating and IFRS9 solution, are designed and developed to offer no-code capabilities.

“In modern business software applications, the no-code feature is essential, whether the system is deployed on premise or as SaaS. No-code technology enables easy customisation for banks worldwide, adapting to diverse structures, credit policies, and workflows. It reduces substantially the customisation of the products and thus optimises the cost of ownership and speeds up the deployment.

“It also offers to banks an easy and quick way to modify and update how the system behaves, especially as markets are continuously evolving and being disrupted. Customers’ expectations are changing and so is the technology. No-code platforms help banks to become much more agile and permit them to respond efficiently and timely to all internal and external changes and developments.”

How does your digital lending platform ensure security and data privacy in the lending process?

“Credit related data is considered globally as one of the most sensitive types of data. All GDPR laws across the globe treat credit data as
such, and rightfully so. Our credit solutions are typically deployed on premise or on the private cloud of the banks. We follow all the security policies and standards installed by our customers, making sure we are compliant with international and local central bank regulations.”

Ensuring data quality means lenders can offer personalised solutions to their customers – how do your systems do this?

“Data is the most important component of credit decisioning. Our systems seamlessly gather data of obligors, both structured and unstructured, across all possible channels within a country or a geography. That makes the processing of credit files reliable and quick, reduces any errors and discrepancies, and facilitates credit analysis and risk identification. Bluering systems use AI extensively to maximise accuracy, increase transparency and visibility and substantial decrease credit risk and non-performing loans.

“Our Risk Rating platform is the engine for S&P Global rating models and methodologies thus combining the knowledge and expertise of S&P with a state-of-the-art credit automation software.”

Microfinance and microlending companies play a vital role in access to capital – how do digital lending solutions help?

“The project with Housing Bank for which we won the IBSi award covered the bank’s corporate and SME portfolio. Additionally, Bluering has a complete solution for other asset classes such as FI, NBFI, Retail and Microfinance. Our microfinance product can be deployed at any microlending institution, a sector that has been booming for the last decade, especially in emerging markets.

“The system is designed to fit the needs of such institutions, be it related to the data structure or to the functionality required.

“Most importantly, we are offering a different pricing scheme than the one we typically use for banks in order to make it more affordable  microfinance companies and their clients.”

How are you working to develop your offerings further – can you tell us what’s in the pipeline?

“Innovation is one of our core values at Bluering. From our inception, we chose to focus solely on digital lending and credit risk solutions so that we can offer the best systems possible. Our products are always updated using the latest technologies and trends. Our solutions, now in version 7, are continuously upgraded every two years to integrate the latest innovations, ensuring we stay ahead in digital lending technology.

“Our latest versions under development include a lot of new AI functionality at multiple layers, a brand-new design and user experience, a mobile app for banks’ users and a database independency, among others.”

What are going to be the main technology drivers for you over the next couple of years?

“We have already introduced many AI features and functionalities, yet that will remain the top priority in terms of near future development. The adoption of open banking in several countries in the Middle East will also create new opportunities and allows us to present new ideas to the banking sector. We also look forward to launching our SaaS offering.”

Where do you see the biggest opportunities and the biggest challenges going forward?
“Credit is and will still be the highest revenue driver for banks and financial institutions. Market changes, customer expectations and disruptive technologies will keep on transforming the banking sector and primarily the lending offerings and processes. Legacy credit systems can no longer support the evolving needs of modern banks. Institutions must adopt AI-driven, end-to-end digital lending solutions to remain competitive and future-ready.”