Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

28 January 2026

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Partnership enables financial institutions to expand faster into new markets with automated, consistent and compliant localisation workflows

Plumery, the digital banking development platform, and Lokalise, a leading platform for continuous localisation have joined forces to embed enterprise-grade localisation functionality, including translation and market adaptation, directly into digital banking experiences. This will enable financial institutions to deliver hyper-localised experiences at scale. Improving accessibility, engagement, compliance and customer satisfaction.

Today, financial institutions increasingly compete on experience, speed, and accessibility. Global banking customers now consider native language support a baseline expectation. This makes it essential for institutions to adopt a multilingual-by-design approach.

Plumery combines developer-friendly, customer-centric digital banking platform with Lokalise’s best-in-class localisation infrastructure. Together, their AI orchestration will help financial institutions expand their customer base. This can be done in a scalable way by launching and updating multilingual journeys faster, with full control and compliance.

Modern Digital Banking

The partnership also removes one of the biggest blockers to delivering modern digital banking. Financial institutions can now deliver high-quality localised digital banking experiences. Moreover, at a fraction of the cost and time, across all channels, without engineering bottlenecks. This reduces operational overhead, speeds up market entry, improves compliance with language- and accessibility-related regulations. All of which delivers a better, more inclusive customer experience. Financial institutions can move faster without increasing operational risk.

“Localisation is no longer a nice-to-have, it’s essential for delivering truly inclusive and personalised banking experiences. Partnering with Lokalise allows us to bring world-class localisation into every digital journey our clients build on Plumery. Together, we’re helping financial institutions launch faster, scale globally, and meet the expectations of modern customers who want banking in their own language, context and culture.”

Danielle Cohen, Head of Product at Plumery

“This partnership is a game-changer for financial institutions looking to scale globally with confidence. By embedding AI orchestration and continuous localisation directly into the Plumery platform, we are empowering customers to easily launch and update multilingual services at a fraction of the cost, ensuring consistent, compliant, and local experiences that accelerate market expansion and drive rapid customer growth.”

Etgar Bonar, CMO at Lokalise

The partnership is live across all markets Plumery and Lokalise serve, with the first mutual deployments already underway. 

About Lokalise

Lokalise is the most intuitive and powerful AI localisation platform, trusted and loved by 3,000+ global companies to deliver high-quality human-level translations at a fraction of the cost. Furthermore, with advanced AI orchestration, 60+ deep integrations and world-class support, it is built to automate, collaborate, and scale growth while maintaining full brand and regulatory control.

About Plumery

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery’s mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide, regardless of size, to craft distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences. 

Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. This blend has been cultivated through years of experience at start-ups, scale-ups, and established financial institutions, and most notably at globally leading financial technology companies, where they were instrumental in creating disruptive digital banking solutions and platforms that now serve 300+ banks globally.  

Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric platform provides banks with the foundation for success beyond fast-time-to-market by expediting the development of their digital front ends while significantly cutting costs compared to in-house initiatives or solutions with high total cost of ownership (TCO).

  • Digital Payments
  • Embedded Finance
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

16 January 2026

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Ben Goldin, Founder and CEO of Plumery, explores the key banking trends for 2026 – from fraud and digital assets to stablecoins and AI applications

As we head into the second half of the decade, several emerging trends will come to the fore in 2026. The interconnectedness among these trends is also noteworthy. Artificial intelligence (AI) and progressive modernisation act as common threads.

A strong current throughout 2026 is the shift from customer-first banking to human-first banking. This relates to the concept of ethical banking. It focuses on creating financial services that have a positive social and environmental impact. 

Human-first banking aims to get even closer to the customer by understanding their actual human needs, rather than just consumer needs. For example, a bank should be acting as a coach to improve a customer’s financial health, not solely as an advisor on which products they should buy. Banks can build trust in a digital world through tailored and empathetic interactions, effectively simulating the experience customers formerly had with their personal banker.

To attain that level of hyper-personalisation, banks will need to be capable of processing vast amounts of transactional data, which can only be accomplished by deploying AI and big data tools. This requirement, in turn, will turbocharge progressive modernisation, another trend that has been bubbling under the surface for the past few years.

Traditional banks are using progressive modernisation to deal with legacy infrastructure that is not fit for purpose in a digital-first, AI-driven world. Instead of a big bang replacement of core banking systems, which is risky and can take years, banks are creating change from within existing architecture. Banking is leveraging technologies that support a multi-core strategy. With this approach, banks can add new cores for specific products that require greater agility and innovation. Modern cores are necessary for deploying the latest AI and big data tools because they provide a unified, real-time data foundation to deliver hyper-personalisation.

Fraud Threats

Fraud will remain a top concern throughout 2026. Adversaries use AI to expand the range of techniques, such as impersonation scams and identity theft, as well as accelerate and scale fraudulent activity.

According to the UK Finance Half Year Fraud Report 2025, £629.3 million was stolen by criminals in the first six months of this year, and there were 2.09 million confirmed cases across both authorised and unauthorised fraud. Card not present cases rose 22% to 1.65 million and accounted for 58% of all unauthorised fraud losses.

However, the good news is that there was a 21% increase in prevented card fraud in the first half of 2025. The £682 million which was stopped from being stolen is the highest-ever figure reported.

To combat fraud, new and improved tools to help banks identify, verify and onboard customers will come to market in 2026. The move away from paper-based identity (ID) and widespread adoption of digital ID will play a key role in the fight against fraud. Hence the UK government’s recently announced plans to roll out a new digital ID scheme.

In addition, I expect to see a fundamental shift in fraud detection using real-time behavioural analytics, data analytics for proactive risk identification, and other applications of AI and machine learning in this space.

Digital Assets and Stablecoins

Digital ID verification is also essential for fighting fraud in the digital assets and stablecoins space. Another hot topic at several banking and payments industry conferences last year.   

In 2026, digital assets and stablecoins will become much more mainstream. Banks have left the sidelines and are now actively engaged with running pilots. For example, in September a consortium of nine European banks, including CaixaBank, ING and UniCredit, announced an initiative to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin.

Central banks and regulators are developing a comprehensive agenda for digital assets. Banks will need to blend traditional fiat currencies and assets with their digital counterparts. This trend is also driving a progressive modernisation approach, as legacy core banking systems weren’t designed to manage digital assets, nor do they support moving money via blockchain-based rails. I expect to see more banks looking to deploy a multi-core strategy where digital assets are managed and stored elsewhere, but they can still provide a seamless and unified experience to customers.

AI

Last year, I predicted that the industry would adopt a ‘meet-in-the-middle’ approach to AI, with banks beginning to uncover the real value that the technology can deliver. I also predicted consolidation, recalibration and stabilisation in the market.

GenAI Banking Applications

My predictions held true, by and large. In 2025, institutions explored what is possible, relevant and achievable within the banking context, then specifically for each individual institution within its legacy architectures and technological environments.

This trend will evolve into more practical actions and initiatives over the next 12 months to provide greater clarity around where GenAI shines versus where it’s not applicable.

To gain clarity, it’s important to understand the difference between AI and GenAI. The latter is built on stochastic principles, which uses probability to model systems that appear to vary in a random manner. This means that the same input could potentially generate different outputs – this isn’t acceptable for automated financial operations, which requires much more determinism. Hence, I believe that GenAI will be used chiefly in scenarios where there’s human intervention.

One area where GenAI is applicable is in conversational applications. For example, banks will begin launching more interactive user interfaces. Customers will be able to interact with the bank as they would a human. Moving beyond simple, frequently asked questions to actual actions.

GenAI in the Back Office

Similarly in the back office, banks can leverage GenAI to provide guidance to their employees and accelerate certain tasks. Using the technology to improve efficiency and help staff do more will have a positive impact on customer experience. Processes will take much less time.

It will also help to bring unbanked segments or non-standard customers, which are difficult and costly to onboard because they require a bespoke assessment, into regulated financial services. Applying GenAI can make the bespoke process much more efficient by providing data-driven insights to support faster and smarter decision-making. This will make it much cheaper to serve these segments. Including smaller and medium-sized enterprises, which will drive financial inclusion and improve customers’ financial health.

Learn more at plumery.com

  • Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
  • Blockchain & Crypto
  • Cybersecurity in FinTech
  • Digital Strategy
  • Fintech & Insurtech
  • InsurTech

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

15 January 2026

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Plumery’s AI fabric is future-proofed and designed for use cases beyond today’s horizon

Plumery, a digital banking development platform for customer-centric banking, has released AI Fabric. It creates an artificial intelligence (AI)-ready foundation for AI-assisted digital banking.

AI-Ready Digital Banking

Based on an event-driven data mesh, the new solution gives financial institutions a standardised way to connect AI and generative AI (GenAI) models/agents to banking data. Eliminating the need for bespoke system integrations. AI Fabric moves institutions away from brittle point-to-point architectures towards an event-driven, API-first architecture that scales with innovation.

Most financial institutions struggle to operationalise AI because their data is fragmented across legacy cores, channels, and point-to-point integrations. Each new AI pilot can require fresh plumbing, security reviews, and governance work, which delays time-to-value and increases risk. In addition, under increasing regulatory pressure, institutions are required to explain, audit, and govern AI decisions. Together, these factors make ad-hoc approaches to AI difficult to scale.

AI Fabric

Plumery’s AI Fabric enables institutions to plug in and swap AI capabilities as the ecosystem evolves. It exposes high-quality, domain-oriented banking events and data streams in a consistent, governed, and reusable way. This works across products, channels, and customer journeys. Importantly, the platform separates systems of record from systems of engagement and intelligence. Offering financial institution long-term agility instead of short-lived AI experiments.

By reducing point-to-point integrations and one-off data pipelines, an institution can lessen operational complexity and technical debt. This makes change cheaper, safer, and more predictable. Additionally, having clear data lineage, ownership, and control makes it easier to explain decisions, manage model risk, and satisfy regulators – reducing compliance friction as AI adoption grows.

“Financial institutions are clear about what they need from AI. They want real production use cases that improve customer experience and operations, but they will not compromise on governance, security, or control. Our AI Fabric gives them a standard, bank-grade way to allow AI use within their tools and data without rebuilding integrations for every model. The event-driven data mesh architecture improves the process by changing how banking data is produced, shared, and consumed, rather than adding another AI layer on top of fragmented systems.”

Ben Goldin, Founder and CEO of Plumery

Why Financial Institutions need an AI Foundation

In today’s fast-changing world, financial institutions need an AI foundation that absorbs change instead of amplifying it. With AI Fabric, institutions can experiment, deploy, and evolve AI-assisted use cases incrementally without re-architecting every time a model, vendor, or requirement changes.

Additionally, operational, customer, and risk decisions can be powered by live banking events rather than delayed, batch-based snapshots. This enables AI to assist where it matters most: in-journey, in-context, and in-the-moment.

Even financial institutions not yet ready to operationalise AI can lay the groundwork today with AI Fabric, ensuring they can move quickly and safely when priorities, budgets, or markets shift.

About Plumery

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery’s mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide, regardless of size, to craft distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences.

Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. This blend has been cultivated through years of experience at start-ups, scale-ups, and established financial institutions, and most notably at globally leading financial technology companies, where they were instrumental in creating disruptive digital banking solutions and platforms that now serve more than 300 banks globally.

Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric platform provides banks with the foundation for success beyond fast time to market by expediting the development of their digital front ends while significantly cutting costs compared to in-house initiatives or solutions with high total cost of ownership.

Learn more at plumery.com

  • Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
  • Digital Payments
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

2 October 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Plumery’s expansion, collaborating with Vancouver-based Aequilibrium, brings specific Canadian market capabilities to support credit unions delivery of personalised, compliant, and elevated member experiences

Plumery, the digital banking experience platform, today unveiled Canada-specific features and integrations giving Canadian credit unions a clear path to deliver personalized, compliant, and modern digital banking experiences.

Canadian financial institutions are facing heightened customer expectations, stiff competition from FinTechs, and growing pressure to modernise legacy systems. These pressures have been amplified by Central 1 Credit Union’s announcement that it will wind down its Forge (formerly MemberDirect) digital banking platform. The system, until recently, served over 170 credit unions across Canada.

This represents both a risk and an opportunity for credit unions. They must now plan for a replacement quickly, and also have the chance to adopt a platform that gives them greater control and the ability to compete on user experience.

The collaboration with Aequilibrium, with their deep knowledge of the Canadian regulatory landscape and user experience design ensures Plumery’s Canadian-ready platform is built around how Canadians, especially credit union members, expect to bank.

Though Canada’s banking sector is among the most advanced globally, many credit unions are held back by outdated infrastructure.

Plumery Tailored for Canadians

Meanwhile, members are demanding hyper-personalised, mobile-first and intuitive digital journeys. To meet these needs, Plumery has localised its platform with out-of-the-box features tailored for how Canadians bank. These include:

  • Everyday payments and transfers such as bill payments, cheque deposits, and Interac e-Transfers.
  • Support for Canadian savings and lending products including GICs, mortgages, and student loans.
  • Business banking capabilities like bulk payments and payroll management.
  • Compliance and user experience features including bilingual English/French support, privacy and data residency adherence, and accessibility standards.

Ben Goldin, CEO & Founder of Plumery, said: “With Forge winding down, Canadian institutions have a rare opportunity to modernise on their own terms, rather than being tied to outdated systems. Our platform provides an immediate, future-ready option that puts control back in the hands of credit unions. By working with Aequilibrium, we are combining global banking innovation with local expertise to deliver experiences that meet the unique needs of Canadian credit unions’ members.”

Plumery’s Canadian-ready platform is available now, and the company is already in discussions with multiple credit unions evaluating their digital futures beyond Forge.

About Plumery

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery has a mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide, regardless of size, to craft distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences.

Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. This blend has been cultivated through years of experience at start-ups, scale-ups, and established financial institutions, and most notably at globally leading financial technology companies, where they were instrumental in creating disruptive digital banking solutions and platforms that now serve 300+ banks globally. 

Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric platform provides banks with the foundation for success beyond fast-time-to-market by expediting the development of their digital front ends while significantly cutting costs compared to in-house initiatives or solutions with high total cost of ownership (TCO).  

About Aequilibrium

For over 13 years, Aequilibrium has supported small to large-sized credit unions globally, helping them modernize their digital banking, elevate their training practices through VR + AI, and create member-first experiences that leave a lasting impression. They simplify technology, co-create strategies, and deliver personalised experiences that enrich people’s lives.

  • Digital Payments
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

15 September 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Integration of open banking technology and digital banking experience platform delivers seamless, standards-compliant customer experiences

Ozone API, the global leader in open banking and open finance technology, and Plumery, a digital banking experience platform, today announced a strategic partnership for true customer-centric banking. The collaboration combines Ozone API’s specialist open banking platform with Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric, to empower financial institutions to deliver seamless, compliant, and innovative digital banking experiences.

The partnership combines Ozone API’s standards-based open API technology, built to support all global open banking standards and regulations, with Plumery’s modern, cloud-native digital banking experience platform. This integration empowers banks and financial institutions to rapidly deploy customer-centric mobile and web applications. These can seamlessly incorporate open banking capabilities without compromising on compliance or security.

Ozone API & Plumery – A Digital Partnership

“At Ozone API, we do one thing better than anyone else – provide standards-based open API technology to banks and financial institutions. Our partnership with Plumery represents the perfect orchestration of market-leading technologies. By combining our specialist open banking technology with Plumery’s innovative digital banking platform, we’re enabling financial institutions to deliver truly differentiated customer experiences with an accelerated time to market.”

Huw Davies, Co-founder and CEO of Ozone API

“Our partnership with Ozone API represents a significant milestone in our mission to empower financial institutions with truly customer-centric digital banking experiences. The integration enables banks to not just meet regulatory requirements, but to transform open banking from a compliance necessity into a competitive advantage. Through future-proof architecture our clients can now deliver innovative, personalised services that leverage open banking data while maintaining the flexibility and speed-to-market that our platform is known for.”

Ben Goldin, CEO, Plumery

The joint solution addresses the growing demand from financial institutions for integrated digital banking platforms that can harness open banking capabilities. These can enhance customer engagement and create new revenue streams. Banks can now utilise Plumery’s flexible, developer-friendly platform to craft tailored digital experiences. Meanwhile, seamlessly integrating Ozone API’s robust open banking functionality.

About Ozone API

Ozone API empowers banks, fintechs, and financial institutions worldwide to thrive in the world of open banking. Founded by the team behind the UK’s open banking standards, our platform delivers secure, compliant, and high-performance APIs that unlock the potential of open finance. We help clients across multiple continents comply with evolving standards, create commercial value from their data, and deliver innovation at speed. Learn more: https://ozoneapi.com

About Plumery

Founded in 2016 as a private consultancy collaborating with leading global banking companies, Plumery became a registered brand in 2017 and evolved into an independent product company in 2022. Backed by renowned venture capital firms, Plumery now offers a modern, cloud-native digital banking experience platform. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. Operating across Amsterdam, Lisbon, and Vilnius, Plumery’s mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide, regardless of size, to craft distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences. Learn more: https://plumery.com/

  • Digital Payments
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

21 April 2025

Estimated Read time

4Mins

Collaboration combines Plumery’s API-first digital platform with Darien Technology’s regional expertise to modernise customer experiences in South America and Spain

Plumery, a customer-centric digital banking experience platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Darien Technology. The consulting and technology firm specialises in financial services across South America and Spain.

Digital Banking Transformation

The partnership is focused on empowering banks and other financial institutions to modernise their digital channels. This is done without the complexity or cost of full-scale core replacements. Plumery’s developer-friendly, API-driven architecture is being combined with Darien Technology’s on-the-ground expertise in technology consulting, software development and UX/UI design. Moreover, the two companies are offering a fast, flexible path to digital transformation tailored to the needs of regional financial institutions.

Ben Goldin, Founder and CEO of Plumery, said: “This partnership allows us to extend Plumery’s reach into markets that are undergoing rapid digital change but are often held back by rigid legacy systems. Our platform provides the foundation for financial institutions to deliver seamless digital banking journeys that are easy to launch, fully customisable, and designed to scale. Through a focus on speed, cost-efficiency, and customer experience, we’re giving institutions the autonomy to evolve continuously. Without being tied to expensive vendor lock-ins or slow, professional service-heavy delivery models.”

A collaboration driving modern banking

The collaboration introduces a modern digital banking stack that integrates seamlessly with existing core systems and FinTech ecosystems. It offers financial institutions the ability to deliver omnichannel digital experiences across web and mobile. From frictionless onboarding, KYC compliance to personalised engagement and full loan origination journeys. Furthermore, the combined proposition allows financial institutions to respond immediately to changing customer expectations.

Plumery’s event-driven platform architecture and cloud-native infrastructure allow for real-time responsiveness, while its open design ensures banks and other financial institutions maintain full control over the user experience. Darien Technology complements this functionality with regional delivery capabilities and deep expertise in guiding financial institutions through complex innovation journeys.

Luis Salazar, Digital Transformation Director & CDO, EMEA at Darien Technology, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Plumery. Their flexible, cloud-native, event-driven architecture and developer-friendly approach to digital banking, coupled with their ability to support progressive modernisation without the need for large-scale core transformations aligns perfectly with our mission to help financial institutions innovate with speed and confidence. Together, we bring not only best-in-class technology, but also deep implementation experience and local market insight that ensures banks can turn strategy into reality with reduced risk and faster time to value.”

About Plumery

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery’s mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide. Regardless of size, it crafts distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences. 

Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. This blend has been cultivated through years of experience at start-ups, scale-ups, and established financial institutions. Most notably at globally leading financial technology companies, where they were instrumental in creating disruptive digital banking solutions and platforms that now serve 300+ banks globally.  

Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric platform provides banks with the foundation for success beyond fast-time-to-market. It helps expedite the development of their digital front ends. Moreover, significantly cutting costs compared to in-house initiatives or solutions with high total cost of ownership (TCO).  

About Darien Technology

Darien Technology is a digital transformation and technology consulting firm. It empowers organisations across South America and Europe to accelerate innovation, modernise legacy systems, and deliver best-in-class digital experiences.

The company has nearly a decade of experience delivering complex projects in financial services, government, and education. Darien is trusted by some of the region’s most forward-thinking institutions. Its capabilities span across end-to-end software development, systems integration, UX/UI design, cloud infrastructure, digital onboarding, document management, identity verification, and AI-driven data insights.

From modernising banking platforms and CRM systems to launching digital onboarding solutions and mobile banking apps, Darien Technology brings the right mix of strategic guidance and hands-on technical delivery. Specialised teams – covering digital consulting, software factories, and marketing automation – allow it to deliver scalable, customer-centric platforms. Furthermore, these improve operational efficiency and user engagement.

Headquartered in Panama with a growing presence in Spain, DarienT’s team of consultants, engineers, and designers understand the unique challenges of regional markets. They are committed to delivering solutions that are agile, secure, and future-ready.

  • Digital Payments

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

21 January 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Plumery, a digital banking experience platform for customer-centric banking, today announced it has launched Digital Lending. The fully end-to-end digital…

Plumery, a digital banking experience platform for customer-centric banking, today announced it has launched Digital Lending. The fully end-to-end digital loan origination journey allows bank customers to go from application to disbursement in 180 seconds.

Digital Lending

Plumery Digital Lending offers market-leading speed with banks, digital lenders and other financial institutions who are able to launch their new lending products in as little as 18 weeks. Moreover, allowing firms to triple their loan portfolio and capacity while maintaining the same staffing levels.

Many financial institutions are still unable to offer a fully digital loan origination process to customers. This forces them to partially complete a process online before finalising with human intervention. Yet, firms need to move quickly to stay competitive in today’s fast-paced world and benefit from the highest interest rates in a decade. 

Transforming the loan process

“By transforming the loan origination process into a fully digital experience, banks and other financial institutions can meet the demand for seamless and efficient customer journeys. Firms can configure every aspect of the process, safe in the knowledge they are on top of bank-grade security and infrastructure.”

Ben Goldin, Founder and CEO of Plumery

Digital Lending includes:

  • Digital application through web and mobile interfaces
  • Secure capture and storage of customer information
  • Streamlined, compliant onboarding experience
  • Automated application processing and data collection
  • Integration with external data sources for accurate scoring and vindication
  • AI/machine learning driven credit decisioning with customisable rules
  • Digital document generation and e-signatures
  • Loan disbursement and integration with core banking or loan management systems

With customer journeys built on the Plumery platform, firms can align with their unique workflows or adapt to changing regulatory requirements – and continue making rapid improvements from there. Plumery offers tools which both developers and business users can employ to make final adjustments, ensuring fast and affordable automation.

About Plumery

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Plumery’s mission is to empower financial institutions worldwide, regardless of size, to craft distinctive, contemporary, and customer-centric mobile and web experiences.

Plumery operates with a diverse team that embodies a unique combination of seasoned expertise and vibrant innovation. This blend has been cultivated through years of experience at start-ups, scale-ups, and established financial institutions, and most notably at globally leading financial technology companies, where they were instrumental in creating disruptive digital banking solutions and platforms that now serve 300+ banks globally. 

Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric platform provides banks with the foundation for success beyond fast-time-to-market by expediting the development of their digital front ends while significantly cutting costs compared to in-house initiatives or solutions with high total cost of ownership (TCO).  

  • Neobanking

Author

Ben Goldin

Published

15 January 2025

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Ben Goldin, Founder & CEO of Plumery, on how Digital Banking innovations are reshaping the financial landscape, creating a greener future and new opportunities for millions

Digital banking is making waves in emerging markets, evolving beyond simple transactions to deliver rapid access to credit, broaden economic inclusion, and support sustainable solutions. As smartphone adoption rises and AI reshapes lending processes, digital banking is significantly expanding in underbanked regions, enhancing financial inclusion for people and businesses while minimising environmental impact.

According to McKinsey, several trends have accelerated this Neobanking evolution in emerging markets. The pandemic drove a shift from cash to contactless and digital payments. E-commerce grew significantly – global transaction volumes increased by 25% from 2019 to 2020 and are expected to continue growing at 12-15% annually. Governments introduced cashless payment systems like Wave in Côte d’Ivoire, UPI in India, and Pix in Brazil to enhance interoperability and improve aid distribution. Furthermore, investor interest surged, with payments-focused fintechs receiving nearly 40% of the $5.2 billion in tech startup capital in Africa in 2021.

Together, these factors have fuelled innovation in digital finance. This has helped meet rising demand and enabled AI-driven, mobile-first platforms to deliver fast access to capital, fostering financial empowerment in underserved communities.

Additionally, smartphone penetration is set to reach 88% in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030. Setting the stage for even greater financial inclusion. Combined with a growing focus on sustainability, digital banking in these regions is positioned to offer services that are both inclusive and environmentally conscious. Here’s a look at how digital banking is breaking down barriers, expanding financial empowerment, and building a greener future across emerging markets.

The evolution from basic transactions to fully-fledged Digital Banking

Digital banking initially gained traction by providing essential services like balance checks, peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers, and bill payments. This bridged gaps left by limited banking infrastructure. However, with evolving needs, digital banks and fintech companies now offer advanced products such as digital lending. This is among the most transformative aspects of digital banking in emerging markets.

Traditional access to credit was often challenging due to strict requirements, physical infrastructure, and extensive documentation. Digital lending platforms eliminate these barriers, enabling users to apply for loans directly through mobile devices, often receiving decisions within minutes.

AI-driven credit assessment models leverage alternative data points like mobile usage, purchase history, and digital wallet activity. This allows customers to secure funds without a formal credit record. Quick access to capital can be a lifeline for small business owners. Allowing them to act on opportunities as they arise. Digital lending thus meets immediate financial needs and supports broader economic growth by empowering local businesses.

Banking on a sustainable tomorrow

As digital banking expands, the need for environmentally sustainable operations becomes critical. The infrastructure supporting digital banking requires significant energy, especially as usage grows. To address this, financial institutions in emerging markets are adopting cloud-based platforms and energy-efficient data centres, reducing resource consumption while scaling services.

Cloud-based solutions are not only more scalable but also more energy-efficient, enabling banks to expand their reach responsibly. Automated processes further enhance energy efficiency, allowing Neobanking providers to serve more customers while minimising their environmental impact. This focus on sustainability aligns with broader goals of economic development and environmental stewardship, especially in regions vulnerable to climate change. For instance, Nubank in Brazil has achieved significant milestones by focusing on digital-only services, reducing the need for physical branches and their associated environmental impact.

Bridging gaps and expanding reach

Financial inclusion remains at the heart of digital banking’s impact in emerging markets. Digital platforms provide an entry into the formal financial system for millions. This allows them to save, invest, and plan for their futures. For small businesses, mobile applications and digital wallets offer essential tools for growth, empowering them to compete and contribute to local economies.

Digital platforms are also helping bridge the documentation gap by offering digital identity verification. This allows individuals without formal identification to open accounts and access financial services. Moreover, this approach is critical in regions where many people lack traditional IDs, which has historically excluded them from banking. By incorporating digital identification and security measures, financial institutions extend their reach, supporting resilience and inclusion.

Pioneering financial access through Digital Banking innovation

Emerging technologies like Blockchain, AI, and Biometrics are another factor in redefining digital banking in emerging markets. Blockchain provides a secure and transparent transaction method, which is particularly valuable in regions with less stable financial systems. AI enables credit assessment using alternative data, while biometrics and electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) simplify account creation. This makes it easier for individuals in remote areas to access financial services without physical documentation.

These technologies not only broaden financial access but also ensure that digital banking systems are efficient, secure, and scalable. By integrating these advanced tools, banks and fintech companies can provide reliable services to underserved populations, raising the standard for accessibility and security. An example of this in action is Moniepoint, a Nigeria-based FinTech. It has secured significant funding to enhance digital payments and banking solutions across Africa. By applying advanced technologies it reaches many who still lack access to banking services.

The future: Empowerment, Inclusion, and Sustainability

The future of digital banking in emerging markets holds great potential. With rising smartphone and internet connectivity, even remote areas gain access to financial services, breaking down traditional barriers to inclusion. This evolution goes beyond technology, creating pathways for financial empowerment and economic resilience.

A new generation of digital banking solutions is enabling financial institutions to extend their reach into emerging markets with a comprehensive range of services. From account management to lending. Designed with flexibility in mind, these platforms support customisation, allowing banks to tailor services to local needs through open APIs and modular infrastructure. By embracing sustainable practices and sustainable technology, these solutions not only broaden financial access but also foster growth in underserved regions in an environmentally responsible manner.

  • Neobanking