Insights

The award recognises the company’s work with Wing Bank (Cambodia) Plc and Mastercard to launch the Wing Bank Mastercard One Card - Cambodia’s first two-in-one debit and credit card.

For many FIs, entering the BNPL space can feel like a huge and expensive undertaking, involving a new proposition, a new customer journey, new merchant relationships, additional risk considerations and new operational processes. But BNPL does not always have to begin with a completely new product.

The decision builds on a successful partnership established in 2008 and supports the bank’s ambitions to expand its offering and make everyday payments faster, easier and more convenient.

The project helped the bank reduce reliance on counter-based issuance, ease pressure on branch operations and improve the overall customer experience. It also complemented ABA Bank’s existing card delivery options, giving customers greater flexibility in how they receive their cards.

BNPL has redefined customer expectations, with more consumers expecting the flexibility to split purchases into instalments. By offering BNPL through their own products and channels, banks can meet this demand, strengthen customer relationships, and prevent engagement from shifting to third-party providers.

The award recognises the company’s Islamic banking solution, which enables Islamic banks, conventional banks, Fintechs and processors to create and launch modern, fully Shari’ah-compliant products and services.

At one end, FIs can outsource most of their payments environment, reducing their operational responsibility but potentially limiting their flexibility. At the other, they can retain greater control and freedom while taking on more of the complexity of operating the platform. Between these two ends sit different combinations of control, choice, changeability and responsibility.

Entering the Islamic Banking market does not require launching a dedicated Islamic bank, creating a full product portfolio or investing in major technology transformation. Sometimes, one product is all it takes.