Finastra has announced that its technology is powering ORO Bank, a new cloud-first institution serving individuals and businesses in Bhutan and globally. ORO Bank is dedicated to providing safe, innovative, and sustainable banking solutions.
The bank is part of the Gelephu Mindfulness City Special Administrative Region (SAR), a visionary strategic initiative announced by His Majesty the King of Bhutan. This development aims to create a thriving economic center that integrates Bhutan’s philosophy of Gross National Happiness (GNH), emphasizing equitable economic growth, cultural preservation, environmental sustainability, and good governance.
Mike Kayamori, CEO of ORO Bank, stated, “We are Asia’s first full digital reserve bank, and we believe in safe and sustainable banking, providing peace of mind for our customers with our full reserve banking ethos, avoiding the pitfalls of the fractional reserve system. Aligned with the principles of the Gross National Happiness philosophy, we’re bringing financial infrastructure to enable personal, corporate, and financial growth in an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable manner. In addition to serving the Mindfulness City, we aspire to become the preferred bank for global startups and innovative emerging businesses.”
He continued, “Finastra’s expertise in cloud-first deployments and supporting new digital banks in this region is second to none. We knew working together would result in a wonderful partnership that has helped us bring our vision for a different kind of bank to life.”
Utilizing Finastra Essence in the cloud, ORO Bank has leveraged a SaaS core banking solution to launch to global markets within six months. Finastra’s rich, broad, and deep banking functionality, combined with advanced technology, provides ORO Bank with a competitive edge and supports its sustainability goals through cloud deployment.
Siobhan Byron, EVP of Universal Banking at Finastra, commented, “This is a bank that thrives on bringing innovators and entrepreneurs around the world together to collaborate – a reflection of the same open finance ideals we hold at Finastra. It is a pleasure to have helped kick-start ORO Bank’s journey. Our platform is ideally placed to enable the bank to focus on its inspiring vision and customer service, while we take care of the core banking operations.”
