Al Rayan Bank selects Finastra to upgrade core banking solution for enhanced Islamic finance services in Qatar

Finastra, a global provider of financial software applications and marketplaces, announced it has been selected by Al Rayan Bank to implement a new, fully-fledged Islamic core banking solution.By moving to Finastra’s next-generation solution, the bank will benefit from a holistic offering that will streamline its operations, lower total cost of ownership, and offer enhanced 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 solution that provides us with the necessary agility, rich functionality and advanced technology to keep pace with our customers’ needs.”Stuart Rennie, Group Operating Officer 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-generation 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 solution that combines deep functionality and advanced technology to increase enterprise agility, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency. Powered by an open, microservices architecture, the solution's rich, broad and deep banking functionality enables institutions to rapidly deploy market-leading products and services. It caters for both conventional banking and the specific needs that Islamic Financial Institutions (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-president, 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 solutions. This ensures banks like Al Rayan Bank can reimagine banking by delivering financial services that align with their customers’ expectations and values.”