Video: 10 Minute IT Jams - Mambu GM on the benefits of cloud banking

Cloud banking is transforming the finance sector in Australia and New Zealand. Under the leadership of Chris Rogers, general manager for the ANZ region at Mambu, cloud-native core banking technology is helping traditional and emerging financial players alike to accelerate innovation while navigating unprecedented industry change.

Mambu, which describes itself as a global leader in cloud banking platforms, has significantly expanded its regional presence. "When you compare Mambu in the region to two years ago to today, we've achieved much and that had to happen," said Rogers. Over the past several years, the company has grown its team across Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. "We've been doubling down on our presence here in market and in country, both in terms of our team and support," he added.

This expansion has not been without challenges, as the finance sector has weathered seismic shocks triggered by the pandemic and ongoing regulatory scrutiny. The Royal Commission into banking, as well as changes in the New Zealand market championed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, have led to heightened introspection across the industry. "How we as a sector responded to [the Royal Banking Commission] has created a seismic shift in how we think about tech, but also how we think about everything," Rogers explained.

Meanwhile, Mambu's technology has been built to weather such unpredictable conditions. As a cloud-native platform, it enabled clients to adapt rapidly through the pandemic, serving their customers at pace. "Being a cloud-based product, we were able to adapt and pivot quickly, and that ultimately helped our customers and our clients and their customers," he said.

One of the concepts that sets Mambu apart is 'composable banking' – a term which underpins the fintech's approach. "The idea is... it really speaks to an ecosystem approach to technology," Rogers said. Rather than offering an all-in-one solution, Mambu positions itself as the flexible 'core' ledger or product factory, around which banks can orchestrate a tailored system using APIs to connect a mix of best-in-breed partners. "Because we allow you to compose what happens around that core, it gives banks a lot of freedom," he said, noting that this delivers a superior customer experience – an increasing imperative for banks in the digital age.

The Australian and New Zealand banking landscape has been particularly dynamic over the last twelve months. Neo-banks have faced both growth and closures, and a wave of consolidation saw NAB's acquisition of 8,6400 and other major banks taking an active interest in digital newcomers. "All of this has thrown a real lens on the technology that's part of the reason the big banks are acquiring, part of the reason there's smaller banks consolidating," Rogers said. He observed that digital transformation is no longer a buzzword, but "has certainly come of age".

As big banks plot their futures, Mambu has adopted a two-speed strategy to help both established players and smaller challengers. For large incumbents, the company often helps them launch what are referred to as "digital speed boats". Rogers explained: "Let's not look at the core and reimagine it because it's such a critical piece of infrastructure, but let's help banks validate new ways of approaching technology and delivery by spinning off these other products that use Mambu at the core to be in market quickly, validate that there is customer and validity in those products before we look at the bigger piece." At the same time, Mambu is now involved in deeper "serious pieces of migration" with leading institutions, helping to modernise wider core banking infrastructure.

The promise of cloud banking platforms lies in both their agility and their robustness. This is not just about scalability, said Rogers, but about speed and resilience. "Cloud is coming of age in the financial vertical and sector, and so the timing couldn't be better for us," he argued.

He pointed out that cloud technology underpins many of the world's most disruptive digital businesses, from entertainment to transport. "These are easy to comprehend how they've disrupted sectors. But they couldn't have been successful were it not for cloud, because it's the only way in which something can be scalable, global... If Uber tried to stand up a data centre based on their peak traffic they'd have had to invest billions," he said. "But Mambu delivers core infrastructure via cloud and SaaS, so that that is radically different, and I think refreshing and just as robust and secure."

For financial services, this means banks can respond to customer needs in real time. He cited an example from 2020, when a local bank using Mambu's out-the-box audit trail product needed enhancements to meet its regulatory requirements. "Because of the DevOps structure of Mambu and because of our agility, and having a direct line of sight with customers, we were able to improve and enhance audit trail within a month for that specific Australian ADI. A month later we introduced it globally for the benefit of our entire client base," Rogers said.

This one-code-base, cloud-first method is fundamentally changing how banking software is delivered, keeping pace with customer expectation and regulatory standards alike. "It's always with the customer expectations and demand in mind," Rogers stressed. He added that banks, too, are experiencing a shift in mindset, increasingly supporting this customer-centric, adaptable approach.

Looking to the future, Mambu is positioning itself to capitalise on its "unicorn" status with targeted investment in local talent and expanded partnerships across Australia and New Zealand. "We're now at unicorn status, we've got a significant capital under our belt," Rogers said. "We are using that to find the best talent in market here, and create support across the full gamut of what a bank might expect – solutions engineers, customer onboarding, customer success, leadership, partner networks." He is confident the coming year will see the announcement of "a lot of exciting partnerships and work with banks and non-banks, and hopefully being more vocal about this change and this innovation".

With banks of all stripes doubling down on digitalisation, Rogers is clear about Mambu's ambitions: "We want to commit to this market – or these markets – and really excel and dominate," he said. "We're very bullish about helping people on this journey."