Has supported rapid deployment of digital banking while revealing a need for more innovation features
What is our primary use case?
I have used Mambu for the Greenfield implementation of a digital bank called Uno Bank, where I am working as a system integrator for that program. Mambu is one of the core banking systems that we are using. We have implemented the cloud-native core banking Mambu shared services, which was integrated with the front end, Backbase, and other integrations with the payments and card systems.
We have launched in a sequential manner, initially configuring it for the deposit module where CASA and fixed deposit products as well as group savings have been involved. Lately, we have also used Mambu for mortgages, and I found that Mambu is a very quick configurable product which helps us to perform quick configuration and achieve rapid time to market for new products.
What is most valuable?
Mambu offers very valid configurable features where we can configure different kinds of products that we can launch to market, including current accounts, savings accounts, family banking products, as well as split and pay features, which are very useful and easily available.
The split and pay feature is very unique, especially in the Philippines market where multiple people can go to a café or restaurant, order different things, and need their payments divided among individuals. This was very easy to configure in Mambu, where you can give them the option to select and split the bills as well as the option to pay the bills directly, which integrates with the core banking Mambu.
Regarding features, Mambu is easy to use and quickly adaptable by the team, so you do not spend too much time progressing through implementation the way you would with Thought Machine or others where you have to do programming. Mambu is a very configurable core banking product where you have to do the configuration and some out-of-the-box products are easily available which can be used to quickly make the go-to-market features available for the bank.
As a system integrator, Mambu has impacted our business significantly and generated substantial revenue because we were able to make it a core banking solution which is the heart of any bank. We were able to launch the digital bank within the span of nine months, which was a great achievement, and now that bank is catering to the entire APAC market. It has also provided a referral point for us where we can take it forward for US banks and other banking scenarios.
What needs improvement?
Mambu can be improved if it can keep up with current market trends and introduce innovative products, such as Buy Now, Pay Later features, which are not available out of the box at this moment.
Mambu has a good API available that can easily connect to third-party integrations. However, if they can integrate themselves and come up with front-end solutions, such as Backbase or i-exceed, along with AWS, Azure, and other cloud partners, it will help us to be more adaptive and scalable, covering a broader market.
Mambu needs to focus more on customer orientation. If they can provide self-guided learning materials for people to learn how to configure and use Mambu, it will be a great help.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used Mambu for almost three years.
How are customer service and support?
I have interacted with Mambu's support team and have a good relationship with their customer success managers who are really helpful.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Earlier, we were using traditional core banking systems such as Oracle Financials, Temenos T24, and Finacle in TCS banks. These legacy core banking systems required a lot of time for small changes and tweaking, involving lengthy change request cycles, which were time-consuming and costly. This is why we switched to Mambu.
What was our ROI?
Mambu enables faster time to market for new products. We were able to launch the new CASA product within nine months, and we were able to acquire more than thirty percent of the customer acquisition through Mambu. This new feature has given an adoption rate of almost thirty-five percent. In terms of maintenance and costs, since it is a cloud-native solution on shared cloud services, it has reduced our operational costs by approximately fifty to sixty percent.
The return on investment is quite high because, with Mambu's help, we were able to launch the cloud-native core banking digital bank very quickly in the Philippines market. The entire digital bank setup, along with integrations with the payment gateways and front-end core banking, took only nine months to launch our CASA product. This definitely provides a good return on investment, allowing us to save a lot of money compared to other market competitors, such as Thought Machine or Temenos.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Mambu is good for startups and neobanks. The pricing, setup costs, and licensing are reasonable. It is neither too high nor too low, so it is sustainable, and I believe they can continue with this model.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We evaluated Thought Machine, 10x, and Mambu. Among the three, we found that Mambu is cost-effective, easy to configure, and offered a very good time to market, which is why we chose Mambu over the others.
If you are looking to quickly launch a new core banking solution or replace existing core banking systems without focusing much on innovation, you should definitely consider using Mambu, as it is often the cheaper option with a quicker time to market and less operational cost.
What other advice do I have?
If you want a quick and easy solution, Mambu is one of the best options. After working with traditional core banking and alternatives, such as Thought Machine and 10x, I find that Mambu is a safe bet.
If they can provide training material and user guides that help me create a center of excellence inside my organization, it would be helpful. Having support for hands-on sessions or videos explaining how to configure and use different kinds of products will be really valuable for me and my organization. I would rate this review a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Has many APIs that calculate complex functionalities in loan repayment, like the amount of each EMI
What is our primary use case?
We build software for banks, and we integrate with Mambu. Mambu has APIs that provide information to help us with our own performance.
Based on our client's requirements, we needed to integrate with Mambu. It's a mounting engine, so it's an existing feature, and we can use those APIs, add access to them, or use them directly. We then return the output to the client based on their requirements.
How has it helped my organization?
We explore what a client wants. Our product has all the software we built for banks. The complex calculations would have been much more difficult to do ourselves using a database. It probably would have taken double the time.
So, we used to return complex calculations for loans and repayments. If a client came with a unique requirement that Mambu could fulfill, we could put up a request for that feature, and they would take it up, though not immediately.
What is most valuable?
Mambu has many APIs that calculate complex functionalities in loan repayment, like the amount of each EMI. You specify the number of payments, and they calculate it on review.
This is difficult to build yourself, but getting it from Mambu and working with it is much easier. Calculations with Mambu are far better than creating something yourself.
For how long have I used the solution?
I used it for about three years, from 2018 to 2021.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We did not have any issues in the three years. There were no glitches or downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable product. We used it for very small and very large clients. So, the performance was okay.
How are customer service and support?
The customer service and support are good. They were readily available, and we could schedule calls when needed. They also have a support page to raise concerns.
However, there is a bit of room for improvement.
How would you rate customer service and support?
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup wasn't anything out of the ordinary. So, it wasn't difficult.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Based on the number of clients we used to have, including new clients without a digital footprint, the pricing must be average pricing.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend it to other people. If someone wants to build something related to banking, I would recommend Mambu.
I would advise them that they can go for it because it's easy to maintain and easy for the development team. They have more people, and I'm sure they are introducing even more features. I would definitely recommend it.
I would give it an eight out of ten simply because I haven't used anything else like it other than Mambu for loan repayment calculations.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
