The Banking Executive Magazine - February 2025 Issue

Qatar: Al Rayan Bank Qatar: Al Rayan Bank SELECTS FINASTRA TO UPGRADE CORE BANKING SOLUTIONS By moving to Finastra’s next-genera- tion solution, Al Rayan Bank will benefit from a holistic offering that will streamline its operations, lower total cost of ownership, and offer en- hanced functionality to its customers in Qatar. Finastra, a global provider of finan- cial software applications and mar- ketplaces, announced it has been selected by Al Rayan Bank to imple- ment a new, fully-fledged Islamic core banking solution. By moving to Finastra’s next-genera- tion solution, the bank will benefit from a holistic offering that will streamline its operations, lower total cost of ownership, and offer en- hanced functionality to its customers in Qatar. “We are undergoing a technology transformation journey to ensure that we continue to offer robust, digital Shariah-compliant services that meet our customers’ needs when and where required,” said Hamad al- Kubaisi, Group Chief HR Officer at Al Rayan Bank. “The next step in this journey is to upgrade our banking core with a so- lution that provides us with the nec- essary agility, rich functionality and advanced technology to keep pace with our customers’ needs.” Stuart Rennie, Group Operating Of- ficer at Al Rayan Bank added: “After an extensive selection process, we decided to extend our longstanding partnership with Finastra due to its robust and future-proof solution, and the trust we have in their team. By migrating to Finastra’s next-genera- tion core banking solution, we look forward to providing our customers with a streamlined, fully integrated offering and seamless user journeys.” Finastra Essence is a core banking so- lution that combines deep function- ality and advanced technology to increase enterprise agility, reduce costs and improve operational effi- ciency. Powered by an open, mi- croservices architecture, the solu- tion's rich, broad and deep banking functionality enables institutions to rapidly deploy market-leading prod- ucts and services. It caters for both conventional banking and the spe- cific needs that Islamic Financial In- stitutions (IFIs) have when offering Shariah-compliant products and services. “Finastra has been a close strategic partner with Al Rayan Bank for more than 16 years, which demonstrates our commitment to the bank’s growth and success,” said Siobhan Byron, executive vice-pres- ident, Universal Banking at Finastra. “A key part of our customer-centric offering is being agile when it comes to how we work and deliver our so- lutions. This ensures banks like Al Rayan Bank can reimagine banking by delivering financial services that align with their customers’ expecta- tions and values.” the BANKING EXECUTIVE 38 ISSUE 194 FEBRUARY 2025