In May, banking software giant Temenos released impressive performance results for its Temenos Banking Cloud platform that were achieved using Microsoft Azure and MongoDB Atlas infrastructure.

Founded in 1993, Geneva-based Temenos has become a global leader in the fintech industry, offering a wide range of software products and services tailored to the needs of financial institutions. 

The Temenos Banking Cloud demonstrated remarkable scalability, managing 200 million embedded finance loans and 100 million retail accounts, achieving 150,000 transactions per second. It supports banks’ growth via BaaS or independent product distribution, excelling in core transactions, payments, security, data, and digital channels. Collaborating with Microsoft and MongoDB, the test highlighted Temenos’ adaptable platform for high BaaS transaction volumes across multiple brands. 

AIM caught up with Wei You Pan, Principal, Financial Industry Solutions, MongoDB and Ganesan Sriraman, EVP, Product Engineering, Temenos to understand the importance of the results. 

“MongoDB’s architecture was used to boost the flexibility, scalability, and security of the Temenos banking platform in several ways,” said Pan.  The schema flexibility of MongoDB’s document model allows for easy adaptation of business requirements across different customers, countries, and regions. This is crucial for the dynamic needs of the banking industry. 

Soaring Global Payments

Temenos’ single platform caters to different banks, particularly those with larger and more diverse businesses dealing with extensive and complex data processing demands in today’s hyper-digitalised banking landscape. This solution aligns with the industry-wide challenges faced by financial institutions, addressing operational data capture and processing needs. 

Similarly, MongoDB, like Temenos, caters to global financial institutions and banks, supporting on-premise, cloud-based self-managed, and SaaS application deployments. 

“Through MongoDB, Temenos facilitates its customers in deploying applications across these deployment modes, including AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud through MongoDB Atlas,” said  Sriraman of Temenos. 

This multi-cloud approach is essential for accommodating customer preferences. Notably, MongoDB Atlas allows for the creation of multi-cloud clusters, even distributing nodes across different cloud service providers within a single cluster to enhance reliability and regulatory compliance. 

For example, Temenos’ real-world impact involves a global payment provider launching an “Buy Now Pay Later” embedded lending product on the Temenos Banking Cloud, achieving exceptional scalability and serving 200 million loans across numerous countries in just over three years in line with the demands of the constantly available “moment economy” and the robustness required in the realm of embedded finance.

Keeping Sustainability at Core

“We reinforce our commitment towards sustainability through our products, like the carbon emissions calculator on Temenos Banking Cloud for banks’ net zero goals,” added Sriraman. 

This independently verified solution is embedded into the Temenos Banking Cloud and offered at no cost to customers, who can benefit from over 90% in carbon emissions savings compared to on premise IT infrastructures and applications. It gives clients deeper insight into their carbon emissions data, allowing them to track progress toward their sustainability targets.

Furthermore, Temenos core banking product has become over 30% more carbon efficient in the last 12 months with more year-on-year improvements underway.

Tech Stack

“We have embraced innovative technologies, particularly Explainable AI, over the past two years,having a significant impact on businesses and clients in the banking sector,” said Sriraman.

 With their Explainable AI capabilities, the company aims to offer transparent AI decision-making that can be easily understood by customers and regulators. These capabilities are integrated into various aspects of their solutions, including wealth management, anti money laundering, credit scoring, customer management, and more. According to him, the incorporation of AI and machine learning has led to the creation of explainable models that enhance customer experiences and automate processes.

Temenos’ open platform enables clients to design and deliver digital experiences using low code or no code methods. By decoupling new banking functionalities from the underlying technology, Temenos ensures a rich feature set while employing modern and open technology. They offer a unified code base, ensuring that every technological investment benefits all clients. Through the adoption of open APIs and event-driven microservices, Temenos allows banks to integrate the latest technology while leveraging established functionality from over 150 countries. The platform provides flexibility in deployment, accommodating on-premise, private or public cloud, and SaaS solutions through the Temenos Banking Cloud.

MongoDB’s Role in the Growth of BaaS 

“The surge in Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) adoption can be attributed to the adoption of Open Banking principles by global regulators, fostering growth driven by regulations and market forces, allowing financial institutions to expand their services through Third-Party Providers (TPP), overcoming challenges related to data privacy and compliance,” said  Pan.

BaaS offers banks the opportunity to reach a wider customer base through TPP channels at a reduced cost. Regulatory support and the acceleration prompted by the pandemic have been key drivers of BaaS, while technology, particularly API-focused collaborations and advanced data management, has facilitated its adoption.

He further added regulatory backing has not only enabled BaaS but also provided financial institutions with avenues for growth via TPPs. This has been crucial in surmounting data privacy and compliance obstacles, which could have hindered BaaS adoption. For banks, BaaS offers a chance to access a broader customer base through TPPs at a lower cost compared to traditional methods.

The Covid-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst, accelerating the adoption of digital banking and further fueling the rise of BaaS. According to Pan, technology has played a vital role, with API-based collaborations and data management supporting BaaS interactions. The prevalence of APIs in BaaS requires banks to be highly scalable, a challenge addressed by advancements in public cloud technology. This technology offers on-demand resource scaling and cost optimisation, enhancing banks’ ability to handle increased TPP activity effectively.

“The partnership between MongoDB and Temenos ensures that such advancements are effectively integrated and leveraged,” concluded Pan. On the horizon, MongoDB’s developments include an innovative vector search feature for AI integration, a collaborative AI initiative with Google Cloud using Vertex AI, and the introduction of MongoDB Atlas tailored for the financial services sector.

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