said that the final quarter of 2011, plus the first quarter of 2012, had been busier. The supplier had signed two deals of late, comprising Bank Nizwa in Oman, the first standalone Islamic bank in the country, and Bank Asya, a Turkish Islamic bank, for a new operation in Iraq. Kateeb was most optimistic about North Africa, specifically Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, where authorities were now more amenable to Shari’ah-compliant finance. ‘From past experience, a change in regulation presents an opportunity,’ Kateeb felt. A further tangible sign of the activity were two additional signings for Path Solutions in Q1 2012. First, Bank Dhofar became the third iMAL taker in Oman, following on from Bank Nizwa and Ahli Bank. Oman-based banks had been decreed by the country’s authorities to fully separate their conventional and Shari’ah-compliant activities, so there were a number of tenders for dedicated Islamic core solutions circulating at this time and a number of implementations were already under way.
Bank Dhofar’s new subsidiary was set up to provide universal banking services in accordance with the Shari’ah principles, so it signed for a complete, front-to-back office solution from Path Solutions, including internet and mobile banking modules, said Kateeb. Cedar Consulting helped the bank with the selection, and Path Solutions’ main contender for the contract was Infosys, which was Bank Dhofar’s incumbent supplier. Infosys’ Finacle was selected there in 2008, to replace Misys’ Bankmaster legacy solution. Other vendors, including Temenos and ITS, were evaluated at earlier stages. The bank had an aggressive timescale to launch, said Kateeb: ‘Banks in Oman were rushing to capitalise on the Islamic banking opportunities so time was of the essence’, he said. The other deal at this time came in Pakistan, with Burj Bank opting to replace Sungard’s Ambit core system with iMAL. The bank went through rebranding in 2011, changing from First Dawood Islamic Bank (where, as mentioned, iMAL had come second in the original selection). It was also the first fully-fledged Islamic client in Pakistan for Ambit Core Banking (Symbols at the time) and only the second globally. The deal was signed in 2006, when the bank was formed. ‘Ambit, like many other conventional banking systems, is struggling to meet the Islamic finance requirements,’ claimed Kateeb. ‘Changing some screens or reports’ is not sufficient to make a system Shari’ah-compliant', he said. Burj Bank sent out RFP documents to international suppliers, and evaluated the offerings with the help of a local consultant. Sungard also featured on the candidates list.
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Like Bank Dhofar, Burj Bank had an aggressive project schedule, said Kateeb. iMAL was set to go live in a big bang cut-over, fully replacing Sungard’s software and covering all operations at the bank, from channels at the front-end to operations in the middle and back office. Kateeb felt that the Islamic banking industry was on the rise again, after a couple of years in a lull. ‘The market is turning around beautifully for us. We believe 2012 will be a very fruitful year,’ he said. Late in the year, Path Solutions added two Islamic start-ups in Mauritania, Banque Populaire de Mauritanie (BPM) and Bank Al Muamelat Assahiha (SAB won a third start-up at around this time). BPM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of one of the country’s largest financial services groups, Groupe Mauritanie Leasing. SAB was among those considered, alongside Temenos, Oracle FSS and Delta Informatique. Banque Islamique de Mauritanie was Path Solutions’ initial client in the country, part of the aforementioned 2011 multisite Islamic deal from Tamweel Africa Holding, which is itself owned by the Islamic Development Bank. The third taker of iMAL, Banque Al Muamelat Assahiha, was another recent arrival on the market and has an initial four branches. It took the system for Shari’ah-compliant retail and corporate banking.
Islamic Report
www.ibsintelligence.com
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