Sudan’s Faisal Islamic Bank signs up for iMAL to replace legacy core banking system

Faisal Islamic Bank, Sudan has announced that it has signed up with Path Solutions to deploy iMAL Islamic core banking system to replace the bank’s decentralized legacy system Pentabank from Financial & Banking Systems, across its 100 branches. The bank will also deploy Mobile and Internet Banking solutions as well as BI and Risk Management. The strategic technology deal will support Faisal Islamic Bank’s business across multiple verticals. It will also support its channel strategy, enabling the bank to reach new customers and offer diversified Islamic banking products.

iMAL Islamic core banking system is the most widely used across Africa with an installed base of more than ten clients in Sudan, including many of the largest and most successful Islamic banks.

In his speech at the signing ceremony on 30 March 2017, El Bagir Ahmed Al Noury Adlan, General Manager of Faisal Islamic Bank said, “We are focusing on revamping our IT infrastructure by deploying the new generation iMAL Islamic core banking platform when many other core banking system providers failed to achieve the bank’s transformation objectives, thus we had to face significant overruns of cost and time estimates over the past few years. As we all know, core banking systems form the backbone of any financial institution, hence a replacement should be a very well-thought-out process. This time we believe that we have selected the right platform that meets the bank’s business requirements. We are confident that our customers will enjoy among other services efficient digital services and greater customer-focused products in line with the Sharia”.

According to Mohammed Kateeb, Path Solutions’ Group Chairman & CEO, this strategic win further reinforces iMAL’s position as the preferred choice for Islamic core banking system replacements in Africa. “We are excited about this opportunity to provide Faisal Islamic Bank, one of the largest banks in Sudan, the competitive edge of new generation technology. This initiative will empower their expansion plans and ensure full compliance with local laws and industry regulations”, he stated. “We are confident that iMAL’s unmatched comprehensiveness, flexibility, and scalability will enable the bank to launch new and differentiated Sharia-based products and services with significant time-to-market advantage”.

Faisal Islamic Bank ran a detailed selection process in which major IT vendors took part. Path Solutions was shortlisted along with ICS Financial Systems. Both companies were invited onsite for nine full days of workshop to demonstrate the systems’ capabilities and features. The broad functional reach of iMAL solution was the key reason for it being selected ahead of ICS BANKS ISLAMIC. It is worth mentioning that Faisal Islamic Bank proceeded with due diligence few years back which witnessed the toughest ups and downs ever faced in a sales cycle.