Orange Bank Africa launched by Orange, NSIA with Temenos Transact

By Robin Amlot

Orange, a leading telecoms provider in Africa and the Middle East, and bancassurance provider NSIA have launched Orange Bank Africa in Abidjan and Côte d’Ivoire with cloud-native Temenos Transact delivered as SaaS. Orange Bank Africa also plans to expand into Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso.

The bank, headed by Jean-Louis Menann-Kouamé, will offer clients a range of simple savings and credit services available at all times via mobile phone. The new bank aims to address the needs of a large part of the population, often excluded from the world of conventional banking, allowing them to borrow and save small amounts. Via its Orange Money service, Orange Bank Africa will offer a range of savings and micro credit services allowing customers to borrow as little as 5,000 CFA francs instantly using their mobile phone.

Orange Chairman and CEO, Stéphane Richard, said: “New technology is needed to strengthen financial inclusion and support economic development, as proven by mobile money over the past few years. Banking is a new area of business for Orange in Africa. It falls squarely in line with our strategy as a multi-service operator and our desire to drive the digital transformation forward in Africa. Based on our association with NSIA, also a leader on the market in Africa, we provide easy access to bank services for as many people as possible, with simple and essential services that benefit all our clients.”

Temenos and its partner, MCB Consulting, worked closely with Orange Bank Africa to implement its Temenos Transact solution remotely after the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Temenos’ core banking technology is hosted on Microsoft Azure. A Model Bank approach provided localised, pre-configured banking functionality so the software could be deployed quickly, without the need for customisation.

Jean-Michel Hilsenkopf, Chief Operating Officer, Temenos, said: “Across the globe, banks are moving to the cloud and achieving operational excellence that drives a higher banking performance. For Orange Bank Africa, the cloud is key for rapid market expansion and sustainable business growth. There is a growing need to provide people in West Africa with access to banking services and Orange Bank Africa will play a vital role in addressing this. Telcos like Orange are particularly well placed to offer differentiated banking services and enhanced customer experiences because of their established client base and mobile-centric capabilities.”