Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the software specialist for banking and finance, today announces the successful go-live of EQ Bank, the new digital banking operation of Canada’s Equitable Bank. EQ Bank uses Temenos’ RetailSuite - covering areas such as core banking, analytics and channels - to power its highly differentiated customer proposition.
EQ Bank offers a completely digital way of banking, one that combines seamless customer experience with transparent and value-added services – what Temenos refers to “
Experience-Driven Banking.” Among the features of EQ’s first product, the Savings Plus Account, are:
- savings goals, helping customer to save faster for their purchases;
- a high everyday interest rate, which is higher than most market rates as the bank can pass on the benefits of branchless delivery and an integrated, scalable technology infrastructure;
- and, interest earned on every dollar, without the hassle of transferring money between a chequing and savings account since the bank and bank customer both have a single view of all accounts.
Delivering experience-driven banking requires cutting-edge technology, which is why Equitable Bank selected Temenos. The Temenos RetailSuite offers Equitable Bank real-time, complete customer information, rich predictive analytical capabilities for understanding customer behaviour as well as extremely high levels of openness and integration to deliver instant customer fulfilment at scale. In addition, Temenos channels software, underpinned by a User Experience Platform (UXP) and SmartHybrid™ technologies, allows the bank to deliver both rich experiences and to stay ahead of technology change since apps, user agents and user interfaces can be written once and deployed across multiple operating systems and devices.
Equitable Bank decided to launch a digital bank and offer Canadians a different option in the marketplace. Developing a digital-only bank within the parameters of many banks’ existing systems infrastructure is complicated and requires significant re-engineering. As such, Equitable, like many other banks, opted to start from scratch. Working together with Temenos and its partner Deloitte, Equitable was able to implement the technology platform, design the processes, hire the people and launch a new digital bank in 18 months.
Russell Taylor, Regional Director, Canada & Caribbean at Temenos, commented:
“The completion of this project is the culmination of an incredible journey between Equitable Bank and Temenos. Collaborating with the EQ Bank team and being part of their vision has stimulated our own efforts as we continue to invest in, and enhance our Canadian platform. We’re proud to take part in their strategy as they address a challenge that many financial institutions are facing today: how to bridge the divide between traditional banking and modern consumer expectations.”
Equitable Bank’s VP of Digital Banking, Dan Dickinson stated:
"This is an exciting new chapter for Equitable Bank as we launch EQ Bank and bring convenient online savings right to the fingertips of our customers. We are committed to outstanding customer service and effective risk management, which became the foundation for this branchless, experience-driven model. With Temenos’ RetailSuite, we have the ability to move quickly, adapt to our customers’ needs and refine the customer experience. I am proud with what we have achieved and in such a short amount of time.”
Dan Mayo, Chief Analyst, Financial Services Technology at Ovum added,
“With the majority of customer interactions now occurring through digital channels, the digital face of a bank increasingly underpins its effective presence and reputation in the market. New digital banks, if they can provide a strong and modern user experience that is simple, intuitive, and secure are well placed to gain traction in today’s market, particularly as if they use platforms agile to respond to faster pace of the digital economy.