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Author: Min Thu Ye

Harmonising Progress: How audax’s Tech Bridges the Future with Legacy Banking Infrastructure

Posted on by Min Thu Ye
Blog

Harmonising Progress: How audax’s Tech Bridges the Future with Legacy Banking Infrastructure

audax

23 May, 2024

In the fast-evolving landscape of banking technology, the pressure on banks and financial institutions to modernise without disrupting their core operations has never been more intense. The challenge of digital transformation is not just about adopting new technologies but doing so in a way that complements and enhances existing systems.
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The Complexity of Change

According to McKinsey[1], over half of digital banking transformations surpass their planned timelines and budgets, or even fail. This shortfall is largely due to underestimating the complexities involved, such as intricate interfaces, data management, and the need for coordination across different initiatives. Leadership might not fully engage all stakeholders or accurately assess the necessary changes to business processes and the depth of integration required with existing IT architectures, making the role of complementary technologies even more vital.

 

This is where audax comes into play, offering a solution that marries innovation with tradition, ensuring that banks can step into the future with minimal headaches.

 

The Approach: Dual-mode Evolution

Our tech stack at audax allows banks to adopt a dual-mode evolution, where we progressively construct a new digital core with novel products and channels while optimising the legacy core’s value.

 

For example, this can enable the bank’s legacy core to continue handling deposits efficiently while introducing a new product engine for loan processing. The result is a harmonious blend of old and new, ensuring that banks can offer enhanced services without the risk of data duplication or system incompatibility.

 

This also ensures that client details are aligned and consolidated within the core banking system, preventing any duplication of client information by the product engine. Moreover, all relevant reports are designed to integrate seamlessly with the core banking system and other financial and regulatory reporting platforms.

 

Advantages of our dual-mode evolution include rapid time to market (i.e. 6 – 9 months), reduced complexity and risks, and the ability to reuse proven components, ensuring a seamless transformation to a digital powerhouse.

 

While the transition can present challenges, such as the potential knowledge gap within legacy teams concerning new technologies, we advocate for comprehensive training programs and phased integration plans that will ease the adoption process.

 

Our Success Story: Standard Chartered Bank

Standard Chartered Indonesia’s collaboration with Bukalapak to implement Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is a testament to the success of dual-mode evolution. This approach enabled the audax’s plug-and-play tech stack to sit next to Standard Chartered’s existing banking infrastructure, facilitating the launch of digital banking service BukaTabungan. It boasts rapid, paperless onboarding, achievable in as quick as 2 minutes, and was able to (i) 3X Standard Chartered’s customer base in Indonesia within 6 months (ii) attract 98 percent new to bank customers (expanding into new customer segments) (iii) attain 85 percent application approval rate; of which (iv) 97 percent of account openings are done in real time; (v) implement fast onboarding processes, thus reducing onboarding costs.

 

audax facilitates this via:

– Seamless Integration with Existing Banking Core: audax’s technology is designed to work alongside Standard Chartered’s existing core banking systems, ensuring that both the new and traditional banking operations are unified under the same reporting structure, party master, general ledger (GL) and more. This integration means that all customer and transaction data is consistently and accurately reported, providing a comprehensive view of the bank’s operations.

– Unified Data Management: By integrating with the existing banking core, audax enables a seamless deduplication process for existing-to-bank (ETB) customers. This means that customer data from both the new BaaS platform and the existing core banking system is consolidated and managed under a single system of record. This reduces the risk of duplicate records, ensuring that customer information is accurate and up-to-date.

– Enhanced Customer Experience: The integration of audax’s tech stack with Standard Chartered’s infrastructure allows for a smoother, more efficient customer onboarding experience. The paperless, rapid onboarding process is fully digital and takes as fast as 2 minutes, reducing the time and effort required for new customers to start using the bank’s services, enhancing customer satisfaction and engagement.

– Operational Efficiency: The dual-mode approach helps Standard Chartered maintain high operational efficiency by leveraging the strengths of both traditional and modern banking systems. audax’s technology supports real-time processing and high approval rates, which contribute to lower operational costs and higher approval rates.

– Scalability and Flexibility: The plug-and-play nature of audax’s cloud-native tech stack provides Standard Chartered with the flexibility to scale their BaaS offerings quickly and efficiently, with the ability to support millions of customers. As the market evolves, the bank can adapt and expand its services without overhauling its existing infrastructure.

 

This seamless fusion of innovation and tradition underscores the potential for banks to expand and modernise their services in today’s digital age.

 

The urgency for banks to transform their legacy systems cannot be overstated. As detailed in the collaborative whitepaper between Deloitte and nCino, “To Buy or To Build”[2], the banking industry is at a pivotal moment. Banks face a critical decision: to build their digital transformation solutions in-house or to buy and implement existing technologies. It continues to highlight the importance of leveraging digital technology for competitive advantage, emphasising the need for financial institutions to embrace change to improve customer experience and operational effectiveness.

 

At audax, we are a comprehensive digital banking solutions provider empowering banks and financial institutions to scale and modernise at speed. We stand out from other technology providers due to our roots in Standard Chartered nexus, as the underlying full tech stack that enabled Standard Chartered to become the first global bank to provide Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) in Asia. With a promise of rapid deployment, audax distinguishes itself by offering a speed-to-market advantage, launching within 6-9 months.

 

As the banking industry continues to navigate the complexities of digital transformation, audax stands ready to bridge the gap between legacy systems and the future of banking. By embracing a dual-mode evolution that integrates rather than replaces, banks can achieve a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving digital world.

 

[1] Why most digital banking transformations fail – and how to flip the odds (McKinsey, 2023)

[2] To Buy or To Build (Deloitte & nCino, 2022)

audax Financial Technology and Paymentology forge Strategic Partnership to provide an end to end Cards-as-a-Service solution

Posted on by Min Thu Ye
Press Release

audax Financial Technology and Paymentology forge Strategic Partnership to provide an end to end Cards-as-a-Service solution

audax

15 May, 2024

  • Faster Time to Market: The partnership between audax and Paymentology allows financial institutions (FIs) to launch card programs quickly and efficiently, eliminating the need for complex infrastructure development.
  • Cost Savings: By leveraging the Cards-as-a-Service (CaaS) proposition, banks can significantly reduce costs associated with traditional methods, enhancing their bottom line while offering innovative payment solutions that improve the overall customer experience within own channels and in collaboration with co-brands.
  • Increase Customer Engagement and Brand Loyalty: Banks and aspiring FIs can now introduce customised card programs swiftly to enhance customer engagement and deepen brand loyalty through real time data insights.
audax-paymentology-banner

SINGAPORE, 14 May 2024 – Paymentology, the leading next-gen global issuer-processor, today announced a strategic partnership with audax Financial Technology, (“audax”), a comprehensive digital banking technology solutions provider backed by Standard Chartered Ventures. This collaboration transforms the payments landscape in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and allows financial institutions (FIs) to seamlessly launch and manage their own branded card program in a matter of months.

 

With CaaS, banks and FIs can deliver frictionless payment experiences without the complexities associated with traditional methods, including time-consuming technical integrations into incumbent systems such as core banking, and dramatically reduce the total cost of ownership. By leveraging audax’s all-encompassing digital banking and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions alongside Paymentology’s advanced card processing capabilities, this partnership addresses a market gap and niche for CaaS in these regions, presenting a scalable and quick-to-market model that simplifies the initiation and management of the card-issuing process.

 

Paymentology leads the payments industry with its superior multi-cloud platform that supports shared and dedicated processing instances for all card types. Paired with audax’s digital banking technology solutions, the combined offering empowers banks and FIs to swiftly scale and modernise their existing infrastructure. This enables them to efficiently manage large volumes of customer data concurrently, deploy innovative card programs, streamline operations, reduce time-to-market, and ultimately enhance the customer experience.

 

The news comes as banks across the board face significant challenges amid economic uncertainty, with earnings reports highlighting the developing trend of slowing revenue growth and decelerating margin expansion. Despite similar regulatory and tax structures to larger banks, many institutions, including community and regional banks, often operate with lower reserves and less stable funding bases, rendering them more susceptible to financial volatility.

 

To fortify their revenue stream, banks and FIs must explore innovative ways to serve their existing customer base and attract new clients. audax and Paymentology’s joint solution aims to help banks and FIs streamline and scale the operations of card programs without the challenges associated with navigating complicated regulatory frameworks.

 

Merusha Naidu, Global Head of Partnerships at Paymentology commented on the partnership: “We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with audax. Through this collaboration, we will empower banks to thrive in the digital age by utilising audax’s digital banking platform in combination with our cloud-native next-generation platform. We aim to modernise the infrastructure of financial services institutions by accelerating the deployment of card programmes for issuers and co-brands, empowering them to run programmes based on customer and market needs efficiently.”

 

Michael Breen, Head of Commercial at audax added: “Our partnership announcement is timely as we continue to grow our presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Together, we enable banks to increase their customer base, balance sheet and launch compelling, relevant products at speed, meeting customer needs. By leveraging audax and Paymentology’s combined expertise, banks can navigate economic uncertainty and bolster their bottom lines by offering innovative payment solutions.”

 

About Paymentology

Paymentology is the leading next-gen global issuer-processor. It gives banks, fintechs and telcos the technology, team, and experience to easily issue and process any type of physical or virtual card; debit, prepaid, credit, BNPL, revolving and more. Anywhere in the world, rapidly and at scale.

Paymentology’s superior multi-cloud Platform offering both shared and dedicated processing instances, vast global presence and richer real-time data, set it apart as the leader in payments. Their payments experts bring deep, local market knowledge on the ground in 60 countries, across 14 time zones, guaranteeing 24/7 support. Paymentology is deeply committed to increasing financial inclusion worldwide, and to making a positive impact in the communities in which it operates.

For more information, visit https://www.Paymentology.com/.

 

About audax Financial Technology

audax Financial Technology is a comprehensive digital banking solutions provider empowering banks and financial institutions to scale and modernise at speed. audax Financial Technology has enabled new business models and revenue streams for Standard Chartered under the SC nexus proposition, becoming the first global bank to provide Banking-as-a-Service in Asia.

For more information, please visit www.audax.io and follow audax on LinkedIn.

 

Bridging Horizons

Posted on by Min Thu Ye

Whitepaper

Bridging Horizons

Navigating BaaS adoption, risks and governance for banks and financial institutions

The Strategic Imperative of BaaS

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is poised to revolutionise the financial sector, projected to grow from $11 billion in 2022 to over $38 billion by 2027. This whitepaper explores how BaaS enables banks and financial institutions (FIs) to expand their customer base and introduce innovative financial products at lower costs, improving returns on equity and opening new revenue streams.

Despite its promising future, BaaS adoption faces significant challenges, including regulatory compliance and operational readiness. Strategic partnerships with fintech companies are crucial for banks and FIs looking to overcome these obstacles and accelerate their market entry. From this whitepaper, you will gain actionable insights into navigating the complexities of BaaS, benefiting from proven strategies and case studies to successfully implement and leverage BaaS in your own organisation.

Unpacking the whitepaper

  • BaaS adoption: What BaaS means for financial institutions?
  • Risk and governance considerations for financial institutions
  • Unlocking the potential of BaaS

Download our whitepaper

Unsure what is required to navigate the internal and external risks of BaaS? Fill out the form below to download your copy of the whitepaper. Discover comprehensive insights, detailed case studies, and actionable strategies to position your financial institution at the forefront of the BaaS revolution.

Access your essential guide to mastering BaaS now!
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audax Financial Technology and Thought Machine announce strategic partnership to create customised end-to-end digital banking solutions, at faster speeds and lower costs

Posted on by Min Thu Ye
Press Release

audax Financial Technology and Thought Machine announce strategic partnership to create customised end-to-end digital banking solutions, at faster speeds and lower costs

audax

28 February, 2024

  • Holistic integration for modern customer needs: Delivering pre-integrated digital banking technology and Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions.
  • Flexibility and scalability: Integrating audax’s scalable digital banking technology platform with Thought Machine’s highly configurable core banking technology, enabling institutions to swiftly modernise infrastructure and develop fully customisable financial products for end customers.
  • Seamless coexistence with legacy systems: Facilitating the swift establishment of digital banking or BaaS within months.
audax logo and Thought Machine logo

SINGAPORE, 28 February 2024 – audax Financial Technology (“audax”), a comprehensive digital banking technology solutions provider backed by Standard Chartered, and Thought Machine, a global leader in next-generation core banking technology, have announced a strategic partnership to transform and modernise the banking technology landscape.

 

Digital banking is projected to reach a USD13 trillion opportunity for banks by 2032[1]. With the launch of this partnership, audax and Thought Machine are positioned as key players in this expanding market. The partnership is centred on delivering innovative digital banking and BaaS solutions that meet consumers’ needs, at scale with faster speeds and lower costs.

 

The collaboration between audax and Thought Machine combines audax’s scalable digital banking platform that enables seamless API-based integration with partners and banks, with Thought Machine’s highly configurable cloud-native core banking platform, Vault Core, which enables financial institutions to offer fully customisable financial products for their end customers. This integrated solution significantly reduces the need for multiple vendors, streamlining the entire process.

 

The flexibility and scalability of the combined technologies allows incumbent banks and financial institutions to swiftly modernise their infrastructure and create new revenue streams by opening new business models that offer various financial products at scale.

 

audax and Thought Machine’s joint solution can also seamlessly integrate with a bank’s current infrastructure, enabling financial institutions to rapidly establish a new digital bank or offer BaaS at speed. The partnership, combined with ready components and extensive customer journeys, facilitates seamless plug-and-play experiences and eliminates the complexities of development and legacy system integration for swift market entry.

 

“audax understands that the future of financial services hinges on the strategic collaboration between technology solution providers to empower incumbent banks and financial institutions as they begin their journey to adapt to a rapidly evolving financial services landscape,” said Kelvin Tan, CEO of audax. “This joint solution provides customers with the ability to obtain hyper-customised offerings, and we look forward to delivering these robust end-to-end digital banking solutions that address the diverse needs and use cases and needs of various financial institutions.”

 

Randy McFarlane, global head of partnerships, Thought Machine, added, “Our collaboration with audax reduces the challenges of building a modern technology stack, providing a seamless, efficient, and scalable digital banking experience. By integrating both innovative technologies we are empowering banks and financial institutions to navigate the complexities of modern banking with confidence.”

 

audax Financial Technology

audax Financial Technology is a comprehensive digital banking technology solutions provider empowering banks and financial institutions to scale and modernise at speed. audax Financial Technology has enabled new business models and revenue streams for Standard Chartered under the SC nexus proposition, becoming the first global bank to provide Banking-as-a-Service in Asia.

For more information, please visit www.audax.io and follow audax on LinkedIn.

 

Thought Machine

Thought Machine has developed the foundations of modern banking with its cloud-native core banking and payments technology. Its cloud-native core banking platform, Vault Core, is trusted by leading banks and financial institutions worldwide, including Intesa Sanpaolo, ING Bank Slaski, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, SEB, Lunar, Atom bank, Curve, and more.

Vault Core and Vault Payments have been written from scratch as entirely cloud-native technologies, giving banks full control to run any bank, product, and payment set to flourish in a rapidly changing world.

Thought Machine is a global team spread across offices in London, New York, Singapore, and Sydney and has raised more than $500m in funding.

For more information, visit thoughtmachine.net.

 

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[1] Digital Banking Market Size by Service (Global Market Insights, 2022)

Obsolete to Absolute, with Banking-as-a-Service

Posted on by Min Thu Ye

Whitepaper

Obsolete to Absolute

Discover Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS): From obsolete practices to absolute potential in tomorrow’s financial landscape

A $25 billion opportunity!

Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) is revolutionising the financial services sector, reshaping how banks deliver financial products and services to consumers and businesses.

This whitepaper is specifically designed for incumbent banks considering BaaS. With BaaS as a business model, banks can partner non-bank entities and integrate banking capabilities, enabling these non-bank entities to offer financial services to their customers without the need to obtain a banking license or build their own banking infrastructure. This presents significant market opportunities to the entire ecosystem.

By 2026, Forbes reports that Embedded Finance is projected to reach USD7 trillion in transaction value and BaaS could evolve into a USD$25 billion opportunity for banks, underscoring its pivotal role in the ever-evolving financial landscape. This paper examines the key drivers fuelling the growth of BaaS, its impact and transformative potential on banks and non-bank entities, and its profound implications for consumers. Case studies will also illustrate the various BaaS implementations and offer valuable insights for banks interested in pursuing a BaaS strategy.

Banks looking to provide BaaS as a value proposition will find audax’s and Thought Machine’s solutions well-positioned to seize this unique opportunity and succeed in the new era of financial services.

Unpacking the whitepaper

  • What are the various digital banking models?
  • What is BaaS, Open Banking and Embedded Finance?
  • What do financial institutions stand to gain with BaaS?
  • What should you consider when selecting a BaaS provider?
  • How can you harness the benefits of BaaS with Thought Machine and audax?

Download our whitepaper

Ready to dive deep into the transformative world of BaaS?

Complete the form below to download the full whitepaper. Gain unparalleled insights, case studies, and strategies that will empower your bank to lead in the evolving financial landscape. Don’t miss out on harnessing the potential of BaaS for your institution. Get your exclusive whitepaper today.
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Embedded Finance: The Reality Check for Banks

Posted on by Min Thu Ye
Blog

Embedded Finance: The Reality Check for Banks

audax

26 October, 2023

Change. Every sector faces it, but in the financial world, the ace is relentless. As if staying ahead wasn’t challenging enough, the era of digital banking transformation for traditional banks is dawning, and it heralds the age of Embedded Finance. For Chief Technological Officers (CTOs) & Chief Investment Officers (CIOs), this isn’t just another buzzword – it’s a seismic shift with its own set of headaches.
Quote by Kelvin Tan

Kelvin Tan, CEO & Chief Dreamer of audax Financial Technology (previously Managing Director & Global Head of Standard Chartered nexus), hits the nail on the head: “Embedded finance is already giving the more forward-looking banks access to new revenue streams and to previously unbanked customers. People need to understand exactly how big an opportunity it is and get a move on. The first five to scale in this will corner the market.”

 

But we get it; transitioning isn’t easy. So, let’s break it down.

 

The Evolution of the Embedded Finance Proposition: Embedded finance was initially about straightforward, transaction-based services. But now? It’s evolved into an opportunity for digital banking transformation for traditional banks. We’re talking about DeFi, Web 3.0, and the benefits of partnering with fintech companies for comprehensive banking solutions. It can be daunting, but the upside is a redefined relationship banking and a closing of historical service gaps.

 

Embedded Finance Distribution is Verticalising: As the world of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) undergoes change, so must embedded finance. With specialised platforms becoming data goldmines, this could be where a cloud-native banking platform for fintechs and banks shines. Platforms are already predicting lending trends. For traditional banks wondering, “How can Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) help traditional banks offer more innovative financial products?” – the answer lies in embracing this shift or risk obsolescence.

 

Banks are Getting More Active: Higher interest rates might seem like a good thing, but they’re a double-edged sword. While boosting margins for some, they’re giving fintechs a competitive edge. By being able to have all your digital banking capabilities in a single platform, Kelvin suggests that this is a “land-grab moment.” Fortune is on the side of the bold, no matter the size of the institution. So for banks feeling overwhelmed, we’re here, equipped with white-label digital banking solutions & next-gen tech tools for you.

 

The Importance of Regulation Cannot be Overlooked: Let’s face it, regulations can be a migraine in the making. From keeping pace with open banking changes to the growing pressure on embedded finance platforms to streamline consumer interactions, it’s a tightrope walk. And with the marriage of technology and regulation (hello, cybersecurity!), the challenges amplify. Here’s a thought: What if regulations were machine-readable? It’s not a distant dream but a necessary evolution.

 

Embedded finance isn’t the future – it’s the here and now. And while it’s filled with its share of hurdles, it’s also ripe with opportunity. At audax, we’re not just bystanders; we’re in the trenches with you. Let’s navigate this evolving landscape together, empowering you to scale and modernise at speed with our digital banking capabilities, so that you can focus on your business.

 

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If you’re navigating the tumultuous waters of embedded finance now, we’ve got your back. Curious about what audax the only live full stack digital banking platform that has delivered BaaS in Asia, brings to the table? Take a tour here.

 

Or prefer a genuine chat about the challenges? We’re always up for a conversation, especially if it means helping you out. You can connect with us by filling up the “Get in touch” form & a member of our team will be in touch with you soon.

 

Before we conclude, a big shout-out to the team at aperture. They’ve done some fantastic legwork in chatting with the brightest minds in the finance world, distilling their wisdom into the indispensable report that we have taken reference from, “Embedded Finance Predictions: insights into a fast-evolving market.” Keen on diving deeper? Download the full report here.