Independent challenger bank, the Bank of Sydney (BoS), has made a key step forward in its digitalisation program, announcing it has gone live with a new digital lending platform built by finserv tech developer Nucleus Software.

The FinnOne NeoTM lending platform, developed by the India-headquartered Nucleus, is a cloud-ready, fully digitalised, end-to-end loan lifecycle management solution – “from initial contact with customers and helping make better credit decisions faster to comprehensive loan servicing and sophisticated delinquency management”, the company notes in its product brief.

Bank of Sydney chief executive Miltos Michaelas, in particular, praised the plug-and-play capability of the platform, noting that the bank can easily integrate new capabilities and third-party partner services – for instance, linking up directly with external credit risk assessors.

“There is a growing need for integration with various sources of data for swift and precise application onboarding and decision-making in the financial services industry,” Michaelas said.

“FinnOne Neo provides the capability to integrate with third-party systems to collect, combine, and use data for all of Bank of Sydney’s lending requirements.”

The BoS added that the platform will help the bank improve its customer experience, providing a faster approvals process and improved communications.

“By employing the platform’s real-time dashboard for tracking and reporting, the Bank aims to enhance both the internal and external transparency and accountability of its processes,” BoS said.

Since the “successful and smooth” launch of the platform, BoS said, the majority of loan applications through the bank are now processed through the FinnOne Neo platform.

According to the bank, adoption of the platform “establishes a strong foundation for further integration and growth for the Bank”, with the Nucleus solution forming a key part of BoS’s wider digitalisation program.

“Core strategic initiatives focused on driving efficiency and effectiveness, with an emphasis on automation, building workflows and digitising processes across the business have significantly enhanced the banking experience for both the Bank’s customers and people”.

Bank of Queensland and the Malaysia-based banking major CIMB Bank are also users of the FinnOne platform.