Egypt’s Suez Canal Bank fast-tracks digital banking strategy

Cairo-based Suez Canal Bank has selected banking software company Temenos’ core package Infinity to help transform its digital customer experience for its retail, corporate and Islamic banking customers. 

The bank, which is undergoing an ambitious digital transformation following the impact of COVID-19 which has accelerated the need and opportunity for digital banking, joins a growing list of leading banks in Egypt to also digitally transform. 

Digital banking to drive financial inclusion

Digital banking is a top priority for the Cairo-based bank, which, as one of the top 10 banks in Egypt with over EGP50 billion in assets and a network of 48 domestic branches, is committed to increasing financial inclusion within Egypt. 

Currently, 40 million people are unbanked with just 32.8% of the population holding bank accounts, according to the World Bank. 

How Temenos will help bank achieve goals

Temenos Infinity, which covers the entire customer lifecycle from customer onboarding and account opening to digital servicing, will enable the bank to bring new products to market faster, accelerate digital customer onboarding and increase front office efficiency. This will allow the bank to drive innovation and to ensure sustainable growth. 

And by making more banking products and services accessible and optimised for mobile devices, as well as leveraging advanced tech like AI, for a new Chabot service let’s say, the bank hopes to fast-track its shift from serving customers in branches to its digital channels. 

Temenos Infinity also enables the bank to empower the decision making of its customers with smart banking solutions such as relevant insights and suggestions using personalised data and AI capabilities. This in turn removes the complexity of business banking allowing SME owners to focus on their business.

According to Hussein Refaie, MD of Suez Canal Bank, “Enabling and building engagement with our customers via digital channels is a key growth driver that will help Suez Canal Bank to attract a new generation of customers.”

Temenos Infinity is a popular software product for banks in the Middle East region, with Egyptian banks Arab Investment Bank, Egyptian National Post Organisation and Banque du Caire already using Temenos to help them digitally transform.