Renaissance Credit launches lending in the cloud in West Africa
Renaissance Credit, a new microfinance institution in Lagos, Nigeria, has launched on the Temenos T24 platform for Microfinance and Community Banking (MCB), hosted in the cloud on Windows Azure.
Renaissance Credit, a new microfinance institution in Lagos, Nigeria, has launched on the Temenos T24 platform for Microfinance and Community Banking (MCB), hosted in the cloud on Windows Azure.
RenCredit – a subsidiary of Renaissance Group – is the first financial institution in West Africa to launch with a cloud-hosted core banking system. The move demonstrates the firm’s support of the aspirations of the growing middle class in Nigeria.
The aim is to provide broader access to consumer credit in Nigeria, which will support the country’s move from a cash to a transaction-based society.
Opting for a cloud-based core banking system enables RenCredit to operate a pay-per-use model. This allows the bank to scale its IT infrastructure when expanding into other African regions at low risks to the business.
By using the software provided by Temenos, RenCredit can access a pre-built infrastructure directly from the Internet. It will provide personal loans, street-level microfinancing, retail deposits and point of sale agreements.
George Taylor, chairman of Renaissance Credit Nigeria, said: “Microfinance is serving a huge market need in Africa, bringing credit lines to the ‘unbanked’. Renaissance Credit offers a compelling proposition to Nigeria, coupling microfinance loans with point of sale lending.”
David Arnott, CEO of Temenos, commented: “The cloud is rapidly knocking down the barriers to entry within retail banking, and African institutions are capitalising on this. RenCredit has entered the market with minimal IT outlay and has set its sights on continental expansion.
Relieving the bank of IT maintenance allows RenCredit to focus on capturing market share in Nigeria. Temenos enjoys working with disruptive market entrants, and recognises that speed to market and low total cost of ownership are essential when launching a financial institution.”
The Tenemos group is the market leading provider of banking software systems to retail, corporate, universal, private, Islamic, microfinance and community banks, wealth managers, and financial institutions. It is headquartered in Geneva with more than 55 offices worldwide.
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