EXCLUSIVE: Oracle wins deals with Mashreq Bank and Desjardins

Written by Alex Hamilton
15th September 2020

Oracle FS has won a pair of new deals with existing clients Mashreq Bank in the UAE and Desjardins in Canada, according to FinTech Futures sources.

Mashreq Bank already uses Flexcube for its retail banking core, but this is a separate deal, with its own tender, FinTech Futures understands.

Oracle announced the deals, but not the names, in its latest financial report

Oracle is deploying a suite of new systems to cover the lender’s global transaction banking. According to the latest financial results of Oracle FS, the vendor has signed an unnamed “UAE-based bank” – believed to be Mashreq Bank – for Oracle Banking Digital Experience, Oracle Banking APIs, Oracle Banking Payments, Oracle Banking Liquidity Management, Oracle Banking Trade Finance and Oracle Banking Virtual Accounts Management.

FinTech Futures understands it’s a significant deal, worth several million dollars in licensing and implementation.

Oracle competed “fiercely” with Finastra and incumbent provider Intellect Design Arena for this contract, according to sources close to the project.

Mashreq Bank opted for Oracle’s solutions, and is replacing several existing modules from the legacy Intellect software.

Founded as Bank of Oman in 1967, Mashreq Bank is the oldest privately-owned bank in the UAE.

The Desjardins deal

In its financial report Oracle does not name Desjardins but describes it as “an established bank in Canada” that has opted for an upgrade “across core banking, payments, trade finance, liquidity, corporate lending, limits and collateral management”.

FinTech Futures understands that Oracle competed against Temenos for the deal, also worth several million dollars in licences and implementation.

The bank decided to stick with Oracle, and expand its usage of the vendor’s technology to its corporate banking operations.

Desjardins comprises the largest federation of credit unions in North America. It consists of more than 290 credit unions and seven million members.

FinTech Futures reached out to Oracle for comment on both deals but had received no reply by time of publication.

A deal in Bangladesh

Elsewhere, Oracle implementation partner Brain Station 23 is deploying Flexcube for Islamic banking at United Commercial Bank (UCB) in Bangladesh.

UCB is one of the largest commercially-owned banks in Bangladesh. It already uses Flexcube for its conventional banking operations, having picked up the system in 2013.

The implementation involves the digitalisation of a series of UCB modules in its Islamic banking division.

“Oracle Flexcube has a certification in Islamic banking,” UCB’s deputy managing director, Nabil M Rahman, explains the bank’s choice of system. “A profit-sharing ratio (PSR) mechanism is also available on the system.”