Imagine a world where financial tools seamlessly empower institutions to address Africa’s deeply rooted banking challenges. This vision drives Oradian, a cloud-native core banking platform that has grown from a single customer in Bauchi, Northern Nigeria, to serving over 55 financial institutions across 13 countries.
During a media parley in Lagos on November 28, as part of the Oradian Core Banking Summit: The Future Is Now, CEO and co-founder Antonio Separovic outlined the company’s mission to transform financial inclusion across Africa and Southeast Asia.
For Oradian, financial inclusion is not just a buzzword—it is the key to economic transformation.
“We have a very strong technology and are servicing fantastic customers,” Separovic said during the media parley. However, the CEO emphasised that their work is more than delivering cutting-edge technology.
“If we give the right tools to the right financial institutions, they can achieve fantastic growth. And that growth fuels financial inclusion.”
Oradian’s story began in 2013, with its first customer in Bauchi, Nigeria, when microfinance institutions and banks were largely dependent on manual processes. The platform’s core banking solutions were designed to address inefficiencies, focusing on automation, scalability, and adaptability. Today, Oradian’s reach extends across Africa and Southeast Asia, supporting institutions like FairMoney in Nigeria and Development Exchange Centre (DEC) in Bauchi.
The company’s model is simple yet powerful: provide financial institutions with the software and infrastructure they need to operate efficiently. Its systems serve as the operating backbone for these institutions, enabling them deliver innovative banking solutions to underserved communities.
One of Oradian’s standout features is its commitment to innovation. The company operates on a single source code—a decision that Separovic says is critical to ensuring agility and continuous improvement.
“What makes Oradian fantastic is that we only have one source code. All our customers are using the same code, which is important for innovation. We can constantly innovate without managing multiple versions,” he explained.
This approach ensures that even as the company grows, its solutions remain scalable and adaptable, meeting the unique demands of institutions across different regions and sectors.
A focus on emerging markets
Oradian’s focus on emerging markets is both strategic and personal.
“There’s a big personal drive,” Separovic said, explaining the company’s commitment to regions like Africa and Southeast Asia. These markets present unique challenges, like limited infrastructure. But for Oradian, these challenges also represent opportunities.
“The product we offer is a 100% fit for these markets,” he stated. “We specialise in developing solutions tailored to the specific needs of emerging economies, even as we navigate their complexities.”
Challenges in the Nigerian financial landscape
In Nigeria, Oradian has not started working with commercial banks, citing differences in operational priorities.
“Banks like to own everything,” Separovic stated. Fintech entities, on the other hand, are more agile. They focus on growth by outsourcing processes, which allows them win clients without being bogged down by the need to control every aspect of operations.
This agility, Separovic suggests, makes fintech companies better suited to leverage Oradian’s solutions, which emphasise collaboration and innovation over rigidity.
However, Separovic acknowledged that outsourcing also comes with challenges, particularly around security.
“It’s about sticking to standards and ensuring security through collaborative efforts,” he said, adding that institutions must invest in hiring the right talent to secure their operations.
Interoperability is another significant challenge in the Nigerian context. While larger tier-1 banks have largely addressed this issue, smaller institutions often struggle due to the dynamic nature of their operations. Oradian’s single-source-code approach helps mitigate these challenges, offering a standardised yet flexible solution for clients at all levels.
Looking ahead, Oradian sees immense potential in its mission to drive financial inclusion through technology. Separovic believes that the company’s success lies not just in its ability to deliver results but in its commitment to building solutions that last.
From the insights shared by the panellists at the summit, several key perspectives emerged around redefining organisational value, technological strategy, and customer-centric approaches in the banking and financial services industry.
Pius Emeya, Head, IT, Access Bank, emphasised the evolving definition of “big” in the context of modern business dynamics. He argued that size is no longer solely determined by structural or physical metrics but by the value an organisation delivers, especially in terms of volume and impact.
This shift in perception is particularly relevant in the financial sector, where smaller organisations are increasingly competing with larger, traditional institutions.
In the realm of technology, Emeya highlighted the ongoing debate between cloud-based and on-premises infrastructures.
While cloud adoption offers advantages such as cost reduction, speed, and enhanced security, its appropriateness depends on the organisation’s stage and context.
Factors such as the company’s size, age, and existing technological investments play a pivotal role. For newer organisations, cloud systems provide immediate competitive advantages and scalability.
Conversely, older institutions with substantial legacy systems often find hybrid approaches more suitable, enabling them integrate cloud capabilities with their existing infrastructure. He concluded by emphasising the importance of aligning technological strategies with organisational goals and current capabilities.
Adéwálé Salami, Group CIO, First Bank, brought attention to the importance of aligning technological capabilities with customer journeys. He stressed that the effective utilisation of technology depends on understanding who your customers are and tailoring strategies to meet their needs.
It’s less about the technical intricacies and more about ensuring that the technology supports the overarching goal of enhancing the customer experience. This customer-centric approach underscores the need for financial institutions to innovate with purpose and clarity.
Kamal Boushi CEO, Renmoney, echoed similar sentiments about the alignment of capacity and capability with customer needs. For him, the focus should be on understanding customer journeys and ensuring that technological investments are directed toward meeting these specific needs.
It’s about leveraging resources to create meaningful value for customers rather than adopting technology for its own sake.
Key takeaways
1. Organisational “size” or success should now be evaluated based on value creation and competitive impact rather than traditional structural metrics.
2. Cloud and hybrid systems both have merits, but their adoption should be guided by the organisation’s age, investments, and goals. Cloud technology has notably lowered the barriers to entry in financial services, enabling faster scaling and greater collaboration across the industry.
3. Technological adoption and strategies must prioritise the customer journey, tailoring solutions to meet evolving expectations and preferences.
4. Older institutions may need hybrid systems to balance their legacy investments with the agility of modern cloud-based solutions.
5. Open banking fosters collaboration among financial institutions, fintech entities, and other stakeholders, enabling shared capabilities, reduced barriers to entry, and enhanced scalability. It introduces new revenue streams, including data income, alongside traditional interest and non-interest income.
6. Open banking frameworks are becoming integral to the financial landscape, with government support in regions like Nigeria helping to standardise and guide adoption.
7. The use of sandboxes and selective open-source models allows organisations foster innovation while safeguarding critical assets, encouraging startups and established players to co-create industry capacity and solutions.
8. Today’s customers demand instant services, and organisations must utilise collaborative frameworks and advanced technology to meet these expectations effectively.
The summit concluded with awards to some of Oradian’s customers including Development Exchange Centre (DEC), SEAP Microfinance, and FairMoney Microfinance Bank who were recognised for their commendable commitment to empowering their employees to maximise Oradian’s platform.
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