Latest news with #ebanking
Zawya
5 days ago
- Business
- Zawya
Tuum selected by Uptex Bank to power e-banking expansion in Middle East and Africa
Dubai, UAE – Tuum, the leading next-generation core banking provider, has been selected by Oliver Business Development (OBD) Holding to power its newly licensed e-banking services in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) called Uptex Bank. The partnership marks Tuum's first customer in the Middle East and reinforces its strategy to support innovation-led financial institutions in fast-growing, regulated markets. Following the recent acquisition of its e-banking license, OBD is launching Uptex Bank, a suite of digital wallet and payment services designed to unify its growing financial ecosystem. This includes Uptex Broker, a forex and CFD broker in MEA, and Rizzbees, its EU-licensed Crypto Exchange Platform. The new proposition will run on Tuum's modular, cloud-native core, deployed via AWS in Europe and purpose-built for scalability, compliance, and rapid go-to-market. Uptex Bank was looking for a partner who could help them deliver a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) in a very short timeframe without compromising on scale or regulatory readiness. Tuum's approach as a true partner, rather than a vendor, was key to making this possible. 'We're building a unique e-money proposition that brings together traditional and next-gen financial services into one seamless ecosystem,' said Archie Sol, Chief Marketing Officer. ' Tuum stood out as the platform to help us achieve this vision. From their sleek technology to the responsiveness of their team, it was clear that they're not just a vendor—they're a partner. With Tuum, we're not only launching fast, we're building for scale. Uptex Bank is built for people tired of the old way banks treat them. From Gen Z and digital-first users to everyday customers seeking something faster, fairer, and more intuitive. With Tuum's flexible, API-first platform, we're creating a banking experience that's modern, human, and built for how people live now, not how banks used to operate.' Crucially, Tuum's API-first infrastructure allows Uptex Bank to seamlessly integrate its new e-banking services with its existing brokerage and crypto exchange, enabling a unified, interoperable financial environment across its brands. The solution is fully aligned with Oman's regulatory framework, including requirements from the Central Bank of Oman and the Capital Market Authority. Tuum's technology will also enable OBD to support digital wallets and multi-currency payments (USD, EUR, GBP, AED, OMR, SAR) from day one. The group expects to onboard more than 50,000 users in its first year, with millions of transactions anticipated across its fintech portfolio. Uptex Bank selected Tuum through a competitive process, with speed, scalability, and regulatory readiness emerging as key differentiators. With an MVP launch planned within months, Tuum's ability to move fast while delivering enterprise-grade control gave Uptex Bank the confidence to move forward. Beyond the core platform, Tuum also worked closely with Uptex Bank to bring together the right ecosystem partners for the initiative ensuring each aligned with Uptex Bank's specific use cases and business model. 'This is a landmark win for Tuum,' said Miljan Stamenkovic, Chief Revenue Officer at Tuum. ' It shows the rising demand for modern, modular core banking platforms in the Middle East. OBD is building an ambitious and truly differentiated proposition in Oman and we're proud to provide the infrastructure behind it.' About Uptex Bank Uptex Bank is a next-generation e-banking platform transforming how people access and manage their finances across the Middle East and Africa. Built for speed, simplicity and trust, it serves a wide range of users including Gen Z, digital-first individuals, entrepreneurs and customers seeking an alternative to traditional banking. Developed by Oliver Business Development (OBD), Uptex Bank is part of a broader financial ecosystem that includes Uptex Broker, a licensed forex and CFD trading platform, and Rizzbees, an EU-licensed crypto exchange. Together, these services offer a seamless and interoperable experience across banking, trading and digital assets. Uptex Bank empowers users to move beyond outdated systems and take control of their financial future with a modern, intuitive and fully compliant platform. About Tuum Tuum is the core banking platform for a world of banking without limits. Built for institutions ready to modernize, scale, and lead, Tuum helps banks, lenders and fintechs escape the constraints of legacy technology and accelerate into a new era of agility, innovation, and growth. Cloud-native and modular by design, Tuum supports all key financial business models, from lending and payments to BaaS and Islamic banking, on a single, extensible platform. Clients can modernize progressively, launch products in weeks, and expand into new markets without sacrificing control, compliance, or performance. With enterprise-grade scalability, real-time processing, and an open API architecture, Tuum delivers the flexibility to adapt fast, while significantly lowering total cost of ownership and shifting budgets toward innovation. Tuum is trusted by leading financial institutions across the globe to build the future of banking—one without limits. Tuum. Banking without limits. Media Contact: Amanda Steward Tuum Marketing
Finextra
09-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
The huge-savings curse. Part II (e-invoicing): By Bo Harald
Like in e- and mobile banking the e-invoicing as an interconnecting-customers service was not started off as a good-for-society at large program – but for customer convenience. I still remember how customers complained that we had outsourced the keying in on ever-growing lengths of reference numbers and other payment data from branch and back-office staff to them. And then we charged a monthly fee for e-banking from the outset in the 80s (lifesaver for e-banking upgrade investments). The cost savings from not having to use time on travels to branches or mail invoices was not in the calculations. Direct debit never became – despite much pushing – a popular alternative. So – after some pondering in the mid-90s (sorry about the bragging) – we introduced e-invoicing where the payment proposal could be approved with one click in home- and SME-banking. It was also possible to make a standing order – that routine invoices where paid automatically – and also set €-limits for automated bill payments. Fine – but a huge eye-opener arrived when the State Treasury presented a calculation that cost savings for incoming invoices. Paper or PDF was estimated to cost 30€ (costs much higher in eg Electrolux and Nokia) and eInvoice 11€ giving a saving potential of150m€/year. The Municipal Association arrived at the same 150m€/year. On European level 21,6 bn€ tax payer's money could be saved. And this was only for purchase invoices -and in the pre-automation stage. The next target was to get down to an estimated 1€/invoice with full automation. Then the Finnish Federation of Industries came up with their own estimate for purchase invoices – 2,8 bn€/year… So a total 3bn equalling 220 EU-billions… Add to that time saved at home, CO2 effects, lower fraud rates, less grey economy effects and so many opportunities to automate all sorts of processes with rich structured data. Made us feel really important and the EU commission invited me to become chairman for the EU Expert Group and eInvoicing. The first reactions here as well – it cannot be true! As if the savings would not be big enough… Slowish uptake during the first 5 years - even if banks had ready simple e-banking-integrated solutions for sending and receiving e-invoices (also as files). How could this be? Of course, a saving near 1% of turnover is small in a small enterprise. And accounting firms did not – oddly enough – start to promote e-invoicing properly. And the cost of old manual paper and PDF-practises was not shown – while e-invoicing operators naturally had to charge for their services. Invoice receivers should have used their rights and upfront have set deadlines for or at least charge for incoming papers and pictures. What did we learn? That these kinds of productivity leaps cannot wait for slowly fading change resistance. If enterprise organisations cannot drive the change with information about the big picture and demanding more and better digital – then it is up to the politicians. Even if some loud voters will not like it.
