Issue 12 2020

Acquisition International - Issue 12 2020 33 Building a Better Bank The financial world is changing. As the old order falls away, new systems must be put in place to support the banking and financial services industries. The team at Aion Digital do precisely this, placing the consumer at the heart of everything they do. We look a little more closely at the company following its recognition as 2020’s Leading Digital Banking Solutions Provider - Middle East in Acquisition International’s Global Excellence Awards. Company: Aion Digital Contact: Amelda Patili Web Address: www.aiondigital.com ion has always been an innovator in the industry. At a time when banking is undergoing a significant change, this team has led the most substantial of these universal trends – digitalization – and found new ways to develop and deploy digital banking with speed and low capex ensuring digital leadership across the Middle East. When Aion started operations, it had 7 employees. In the last 3 years, it has grown exponentially into one of the leading businesses in the region with a strong team that is 90 strong. It has expanded into three markets in the GCC and procured five different high-profile clients in less than three years. Under the capable guidance of Founder and CEO Ashar Nazim, Aion reflects his visionary and entrepreneurial attitude, managing not only to break even ahead of schedule, but to be one of the few profitable fintech companies globally. Aion offers a range of different products that make the adaptation of any business model, seamless and effortless. This is done through Aion’s platform, known as “Aion Rubix”. This uses a ‘plug and play’ omni-channel approach to ensure the newest products are integrated and clients can go-to market with speed and certainty. The platform is intended to help end users manage their money better with budgeting tools and smart advice enabled by an AI recommendation engine. In a world that is moving ever more quickly, the team ensure that their technological developments embrace and implement the latest products available on the market. This includes Digital Onboarding through Aion’s state-of the art E-KYC and onboarding solution. This means customers can open an account in less than 5 minutes using only a few clicks without ever having to visit a branch. For banks, the team’s Retail Banking Suite allows organizations to capture customer journey insights and create digital hooks that help them understand, measure, and further generate emotional customer impacts converting satisfied customers into emotionally active ones. Similarly, Aions’ corporate banking suite is omnichannel enabled and customizable based on the banks requirements. The suite is an end to end solution, from payments, to account opening to cash and liquidity management, trade finance, salaries posting, and various other account services. Artificial intelligence is the next big technological step, so the team have ensured that their platform is enhanced by its capacities. The data metrics used are known as ‘Aion Hikmah’. The company recently completed its first successful trial of predicting customer churn with over 80% accuracy, in collaboration with Central Bank of Bahrain and one of its banking clients. As the solution is built into the firm’s systems architecture, it’s easy to track unique customer journeys, catering to specific individuals. The next 12 months will be an exciting period in the evolution of Aion Digital. The company will continue its successful platformdeployments A Sep20059 both in new markets and new products. In Q1 2021, Aion will see the go-live of the first truly digital only bank in the GCC which will be a groundbreaking achievement. Innovation is at the heart of Aions’ strategy, that’s why Marketplace Banking is crucial to its approach. It allows Aion to remain innovative as it intelligently integrates services from partners like TransferWise and Qarar. With telecoms and other businesses entering the banking space, Aion is in process of introducing Banking as a Service (BaaS) in collaboration with its existing banking customers and some household brand names to launch a new financial services player in the market. The company will also accelerate its journey to offer AI first digital banking capabilities while bringing Open Banking platform to the region to further enhance consumer experience, reduce friction, increase market competition and to foster innovation at scale. This positive approach is how the team intend to achieve success in the months and years. Under the capable guidance of Founder and CEO Ashar Nazim, Aion reflects his visionary and entrepreneurial attitude, managing not only to break even ahead of schedule, but to be one of the few profitable fintech companies globally.