Mambu to power DigiBankASIA’s new digital bank UNO in the Philippines

By Edil Corneille

Cloud banking platform Mambu has been selected by Singapore-based DigiBankASIA as the technology foundation of the bank’s new Southeast Asia focused full service digital bank UNO. DigiBankASIA has selected the Philippines for its initial rollout and is currently working with regulators to obtain the necessary license.

Manish Bhai, CEO and Co-Founder of UNO said, “There are a number of unmet needs in the Philippines that we plan to address with UNO, particularly the low levels of financial inclusion and consumer credit. The Philippines has very high mobile penetration, with 60% owning a smartphone, and 67% of the population using the internet – the market is ripe for innovation and disruption. Filipino customers are absolutely ready for a full service digital bank like UNO, which will allow customers to save, borrow, transact, protect and invest, all in one innovative, highly personalised app. There is currently no challenger digital bank in South East Asia offering the full spectrum of financial services that a customer needs in a single app, and we’re excited to make banking more accessible to the Filipino population.”

DigiBankASIA selected Mambu’s cloud banking platform for its technology platform as the two organisations are closely aligned, sharing a focus on AI, composability, and cloud-native services.

According to The Future of Digital Banking Report 2020 by IBS Intelligence, consumer migration away from branches to digital channels drives the need for a seamless banking experience. The report apprises that a recent personal finance survey reveals a 27 per cent decline in phone and branch use in Asia with a 37 per cent increase in internet and mobile use.

Myles Bertrand, Managing Director APAC, at Mambu said, “What DigiBankASIA is bringing to the Philippines with UNO is a totally unique experience – for the first time ever in this region people will have access to an AI-first, fully composable, all cloud, full stack digital bank, opening up the world of financial services to the millions of Filipinos who are currently excluded. The UNO app utilises the absolute best technologies on the market and offers extraordinary micro-personalisation that simply hasn’t been seen before in Asia. But it’s not just about numbers for UNO; they are highly committed to increasing financial inclusion in the region, which is an integral part of Mambu’s mission as well.”

Puneet Gupta, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of UNO said, “UNO’s AI-first capabilities mean that it is highly adaptable and completely customer-centric, and the micro-personalisation capabilities of UNO mean that each customer will have a completely individual experience – there is no cookie-cutter approach where ‘one size fits most’; instead, UNO will specifically cater for each individual user’s needs. And UNO will have all of the financial services that an individual needs available through the one app, made possible because Mambu’s platform allows the seamless integration of third party APIs. This method of looking at customers holistically is a whole new approach for financial services, and one we believe will change peoples’ lives for the better.”

Manish adds, “We selected Mambu’s SaaS banking platform because composability and being cloud-native were top of our list of requirements – we knew that’s what was needed to be able to build the bank we envisaged. Our partnership with Mambu has helped us to bring UNO to life and we look forward to continued collaboration.”

Bertrand concludes, “While DigiBankASIA was inspired by the unique needs of consumers in South East Asia, and particularly the Philippines, the technology behind UNO is absolutely cutting edge, and could arguably be considered best-in-class anywhere in the world. We are incredibly proud of the work we’ve done with DigiBankASIA to create UNO, and we look forward to seeing the impact that this remarkable bank will have.”