Members News

The First Neo Financial Institution in KSA; Loan Financing Company (LFC), a newly-established microfinance company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has selected ICS BANKS Digital Platform, a worldwide digital Shari’a compliant software solution, from ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS), the global software and services provider for banks and financial institutions.

The LFC has received a no-objection letter from the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), which regulates and oversees the operations of banks and financial institutions across the country.

The LFC also received preliminary approval from SAMA to incorporate a consumer microfinance company, delivering financing solutions compliant with the Islamic Shari’a. The company will provide innovatively, end-to-end Shari’a-compliant lending products and services catering to customer need through a mobile application hosted in the cloud and available exclusively online.

The signing ceremony took place end of May of this year at the ICSFS Center of Excellence in Jordan and was headed by LFC’s Board Members and ICSFS’ Managing Directors.

ICSFS invests in its software suites by utilizing modern technology in launching new products, constructing a secured and agile integration, and keeping pace with new standards and regulations worldwide. ICS BANK’s software suite future-proof banking and financing activities by providing a broad range of features and capabilities with more agility and flexibility, to enrich customers’ journey experience, hence improving the trust and confidentiality with the customer. ICS BANKS has always been a pioneer in utilising the latest technology to serve financial institutions. In addition to its embedded Service-Oriented-Architecture (SOA), Digital Platform.

From mid-2020 until today, CliQ– JoPACC’s instant payment system – has made a significant impact on its users’ lives, allowing instant transfers between bank accounts in Jordan, both individual and legal accounts, and between bank accounts and mobile wallets simultaneously. With more than (300,000) users, JoPACC celebrates the 2nd anniversary of launching CliQ.

JoPACC is constantly developing CliQ by adopting the latest developments in the FinTech industry, driven by the needs of financial users. CliQ has introduced advanced features during the past two years, besides enabling instant digital transfers between financial accounts. These features include “Request-to-Pay”, which allows CliQ users to send a payment request of a specific amount directly to the receiver and gives them the option to accept the request and make the transfer accordingly or reject it. They further include the “Return Payment” feature, which enables recipients to return transfers fully or partially. Moreover, CliQ recently facilitated “QR Code Payments on POS Devices,” allowing CliQ users to pay merchants instantly by scanning a QR code that is generated on the merchant’s point of sale (POS) device from their mobile bank application. Many merchants in the Kingdom have started offering this payment service to their customers in shops, cafes, and other places. Through CliQ, the process of sending and receiving money instantly, anywhere, and anytime through mobile devices has become possible. This has contributed to expanding the uptake of digital payment services, which in turn led to an increase in digital liquidity in the Kingdom.

Since its launch, and in addition to the aforementioned features, CliQ has introduced the use of an alias instead of a bank account number or IBAN for making transfers, thereby accelerating the transfer process. Aliases are unique nicknames linked to their owner’s national number, making it impossible for another user to register the same alias. Users can register more than one alias for the same bank account and use the same alias for several financial accounts, whether bank accounts or mobile wallets. Other competitive features include the payee confirmation, where the recipient’s name is presented to the sender before making transfers, thus reducing the possibility of sending wrong transfers. Credit confirmation is another feature, which entails sending a notification to the sender once the payment is deposited into the recipient’s account. CliQ services are also available around the clock.

CliQ is owned and operated by JoPACC. Currently, 19 banks in the Kingdom have connected to CliQ, and all offer the service free of charge to their clients and provide support to ensure the seamless use of the service. JoPACC has recently upgraded JoMoPay, the Mobile Payment Switch in Jordan, to operate according to the same ISO standard that is adopted by the CliQ system (ISO 20022), which enabled instant money transfers between the two systems. This step has contributed to achieving more interoperability between financial institutions in the Kingdom and is well aligned with the Central Bank’s and JoPACC’s vision to achieve digital financial inclusion in Jordan.

We are thrilled and excited to share the news that IRIS Technology was awarded a Veeam Levant Emerging Partner of the Year 2022.
We are proud of this achievement and all this great success is a result of the joint wonderful efforts and work, from the IRIS Technology team, our valued customers, and the wonderful support from the #Veeam team.

Thanks a lot, Veeam Software team for this award.

IRIS Technology is happy to announce that was a part of the Job Fairs that were held at Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Al Hussein Technical University, and Middle East University.

IRIS Technology team had a wonderful time, enjoyed talking about our jobs and Apprentices Opportunities, and had the pleasure of meeting a group of students who are looking to pursue their career paths in our company.

Cairo Amman Bank (CAB) recently signed an Exclusive Cooperation Agreement with Network International Jordan, the local arm of the leading enabler of digital commerce in the Middle East and Africa, to enable the bank to offer a variety of cards and digital payment products. The move aims to enhance the Jordanian and regional banking market while better serving the needs of CAB’s broad customer base.

The agreement was signed by the CEO of Cairo Amman Bank, Kamal Al-Bakri, and Amjad Al Sadeq, CEO of Network International Jordan, in the presence of key representatives from both sides.

Under the agreement, CAB and Network will collaborate to provide various card issuance-related electronic services to fulfill the needs of the bank’s customers, boost CAB’s competitive advantage, and provide enhanced banking experiences for card holders.

Commenting on the agreement, Al-Bakri said: “We look forward to working with Network Jordan which has extensive experience in electronic payments. This partnership enables us to provide innovative payment products and solutions to our credit card holders as part of the bank’s vision to expand its customer base and credit card portfolio, which in turn enhances our position in the local and regional markets.”

For his part, Al Sadeq expressed his organization’s eagerness to support Cairo Amman Bank with highly secure and reliable electronic payment solutions and products powered by the latest technological developments. He explained that Network will manage the bank’s cards, process payments, and provide the necessary technical support to ensure the smooth operation of the bank’s credit card portfolio to enable it to focus on its core banking functions.

This development is in line with the accelerating shift away from cash and Network International’s commitment to the advancement of payment systems and cashless societies.

As part of its continuous contributions towards the entrepreneurship sector in the kingdom, along with its role in linking the start-up founders and entrepreneurs across Jordan to well-known & regional accelerators and incubators, to provide them with opportunities to grow and develop, Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) held a discussion session with Techstars Accelerator. The session was moderated by the Entrepreneurial Advisor, Nidal Qanadilo, at ZINC main branch located at KHBP, with the participation of Vijay Tirathrai Techstars managing director, and numerous successful Jordanian start-ups founders, who accomplished remarkable achievements on local, regional and global scales: Yousef Wadi CEO & Co-founder of NESTROM, Mohammad Issa, Co-founder of Medical ONEX, & Yahya Aqel CEO & founder of Aumet, the session also was attended by representatives of startups, entrepreneurs, youth, in addition to a group of representatives of Jordanian incubators and accelerators who are interested in the field.

Zain Innovation Campus organized this session with the aim of searching for distinguished Jordanian start-ups to support them in unlocking markets access, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), the session also focused on sharing the experience of conducting & ensuring new partnerships & raising capital to help these start-up founders develop their ideas into viable businesses.

The company shaping the Islamic bank of the future

ICS Financial Systems is recognized worldwide for its digital innovation and its Shariah-compliant software is extending both its customer and client base

The modern Islamic finance industry is young but evolving rapidly, serving a growing population of Muslims as well as non-Muslims. According to the Global Islamic Finance Markets Report 2019, the industry’s total worth, in conjunction with key industry stakeholder organizations across its three main sectors (banking, capital markets and takaful), was estimated to be $2.05trn in 2017, marking an 8.3 percent growth in assets in USD terms.

Shariah stipulation is a prime driver of digitalisation and ICS Financial Systems (ICSFS) is one of the first providers of Islamic banking software applications in the industry, with a customer-first approach and streamlined services of its epic best-of-breed technologies. World Finance spoke with the company’s managing director Robert Hazboun to learn about the challenges of digitalising Islamic banks.

How has the pandemic hastened digital changes for the bank?
The pandemic has forced the Islamic banking industry to quickly grow its market ecosystem by embracing new digital trends. We saw Islamic banks taking the lead in adopting digital transformation, and I believe we will see a significant increase in the adoption of Islamic Shariah-compliant products by many conventional banks, and even countries. The pandemic has also accelerated the creation of Islamic fintechs, which are embracing digital tools in every step of the customer journey, from onboarding to digital lending and automatic payments.

What do you consider the key essentials for the Islamic bank of the future?
It must create innovative product strategies to meet customer expectations and trends, by studying and analysing behaviour. Consumer behaviour is constantly changing – millennials are referred to as tech-savvy and now Generation Z is the tech-native generation.

The Islamic bank of the future must embrace dynamic product building with business intelligence (BI), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and vast touchpoints coverage with omnichannel experience. It is also essential to embrace fintech’s agility to take advantage of the opportunities that its innovations are bringing to the market. Islamic banks need business technology partners that provide financial inclusion, full coverage of Islamic finance, open banking, cloud availability and, most importantly, RegTech solutions.

What are the biggest challenges you and your customers face in becoming an effective digital presence?
Islamic banking is an interest-free investment house rather than the interest-based money lending institute model of conventional banking, which would lead to sharing profit and risk. This can cause a number of challenges.
There are major Islamic finance Shariah standards such as AAOIFI and IFSB.

Also, various intellectuals look at Islamic financing differently, with each country, region and even bank having its own Shariah board to set rules and regulations. Having an interconnected Islamic finance ecosystem that covers all lines of business is therefore essential. Islamic finance is based on a trade contract, and contract control is a major undertaking. Precise paperwork is a must for contracts and handling them is a difficult issue.

The pandemic has forced the Islamic banking industry to quickly grow its market ecosystem by embracing new digital trends

Another challenge is that there is no single methodology used for product development. Additionally, Shariah regulations obligate the bank to have constant interactions with the customer, so maintaining focus on the customer is difficult.

One of the major challenges that ICSFS has seen as an Islamic banking software provider is that many Islamic banks have embarked on product-led digital solutions rather than taking a holistic approach. Another is that since Islamic banking products must be Shariah-compliant, the processing cycle takes a long time because more manual processes are needed.

Also, there is no standardisation or harmonisation of documentation, which increases the cost of transactions compared to conventional peers. All banks face challenges. We must all apply operational risk management, and have solid cyber security and business continuity strategies to be able to expand our digital offerings.

How does your ICS BANKS Islamic banking software suite provide the key essentials for a true Islamic bank and what benefits does it bring to clients?
ICSFS is one of the first providers of Islamic banking software applications in the industry, with a customer-first approach and streamlined services for its best-of-breed technologies. ICSFS launched its ICS BANKS Islamic banking software almost 20 years ago, based on Shariah law and with the aim of covering the full Islamic finance ecosystem cycle.

The suite is designed to cover all Islamic banking requirements and cater to each bank’s Shariah regulations, with agility one of its core virtues. It provides Islamic banking essentials such as a strong, flexible, fast and reliable industry-approved profit distribution engine.

It also provides full Shariah-compliance, covering the various intellectual Islamic views in different regions. It utilises business process management (BPM) and a document management system (DMS) to help automate processes and save time. Additionally, it offers extensive customer engagement through omnichannel touchpoints and open APIs to connect to the outside world and support fintech activities.

Explain how your software works with cloud banking and what are the benefits.
The software’s unique features allow any bank to compete in the market, and can be deployed either in a fully-fledged Islamic bank, or as an Islamic window for a conventional bank.

A DMS enables a fast-accurate flow of documents. The software is built based on AAOIFI and IFSB standards, with the capability of accommodating various intellectual standards and local Shariah regulations. Constant interaction with the customer is made during processes via various omnichannel touchpoints.

Geographical and transaction limits are fading away because of robotics, AI and digital coverage, while the online reporting and inquiries tools such as business intelligence (BI) and management information system (MIS) and cloud reduce infrastructure costs.

Digital touchpoints include open banking, open API architecture and a holistic cloud platform for real financial inclusion. It profiles customer engagement offering unified solutions with smooth processes across business lines for increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.

We offer high security and scalability. Our dynamic product building offers RegTech solutions and adopts an agile approach to drive productivity and efficiency, stop revenue leakage and increase profitability. Combined, this offers a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and time to market. Our Islamic banking software is fully integrated and provides open products with international standards, real-time business processing and the value-added capabilities of tailoring products, on-premises or on the cloud. It future-proofs banking activities by providing a broad range of seamless and flexible features.

Are there advantages to being more digital in this time of myriad regulations?
The regulation is a critical challenge in having a digital presence. Shariah-compliant products have a long processing cycle. An automated process tightens the cycle while keeping operational costs at a minimum and maximising revenue and growth. Our software adds a competitive edge. Banks can rely on banking and financial technology providers to refine their Islamic products to suit their clients’ needs while addressing regulations and remain Shariah-compliant.

Looking into the future, innovation of processes and modernisation of the delivery of products that are Shariah-compliant are key.

ICSFS has always been one of the leading companies in providing award-winning banking and financial services and best-of-breed products. It is recognised on a global level for its devotion to excellence and customer satisfaction. ICS BANKS Islamic is no exception to this rule. The software was built brick-by-brick on delivering real value to customers and is designed to be hassle-free with customer satisfaction at the top of the agenda. From trouble-free implementation, through support for its wide range of functionalities and features, to peace of mind on free upgrades, it keeps customers’ operational costs at a minimum, while maximising revenue and growth.