- Magyar Bankholding has created a new division, Foundation, which will be responsible for bringing this new digital bank to the market
- Thought Machine’s core banking platform Vault will power this new digital bank
LONDON and BUDAPEST, February 21, 2022 – Magyar Bankholding, Hungary’s leading banking group established following the three-way merger of state-owned Budapest Bank, MKB Bank and savings group Takarekbank (MTB), today announces it has selected Thought Machine, the UK-headquartered core banking technology company, to launch a next-generation digital bank.
As part of Magyar Bankholding’s strategy to become the most forward-looking financial services provider in Hungary, the banking group has formed Foundation, a new division dedicated to building a state-of-the-art digital bank for Hungarians. Foundation will use Thought Machine’s core banking platform, Vault, to power the new digital bank and launch a full range of new digital-first retail products.
With Thought Machine at the core, the bank plans to launch products and services enabling customers to conveniently save, pay and borrow –– all in one place. The new banking service will be available to existing customers of Magyar Bankholding, in addition to new customers seeking highly-automated, always-on and digital-first banking services.
Foundation will take full advantage of the configurability and flexibility built into Vault, which is designed to allow banks to create any type of product, personalise them to the customer’s individual needs and launch them at a breathtaking speed. Unlike other core banking providers, Thought Machine is proven to have supported world-class Tier 1 banks as they launch exceptional greenfield propositions to the market.
Thought Machine’s clients include JPMorgan Chase, Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, ING Bank, among others around the world. The company has raised more than $340m in funding, at a billion dollar plus valuation, and has headquarters in London, with regional offices in New York, Singapore, and Sydney.
Balázs Vinnai, Chief Advisor to the Chairman responsible for the technology transformation of Magyar Bankholding: “We are very proud to work with the Thought Machine team to provide a completely new kind of banking experience for our clients. The Thought Machine combines in-depth market knowledge with award-winning engineering expertise to create a product that is truly unique. We are confident that together we can build a new and exciting digital bank from Hungary’s second largest banking group, which will provide high-quality products and a world-class user experience for our clients.”
Paul Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of Thought Machine, said: “We believe that the most successful banks will deploy modern technology to unlock innovation and ultimately benefit competition–and thus, customers. Our partnership with the Magyar Bankholding team is a further demonstration of how established banks are taking technologies of tomorrow to create systemic change in banking. This is a huge milestone for the bank which will undoubtedly have a great and long-term impact on financial services in Hungary.”
About Thought Machine
Thought Machine has developed the foundational layer of modern banking. Our cloud native core banking engine Vault, is trusted and used by leading banks and financial institutions around the world – including JPMorgan Chase, Lloyds Banking Group, Standard Chartered, ING, SEB, Atom bank, Curve and more.
The Vault platform has been built from scratch as a cloud native technology and is completely cloud agnostic. This gives banks full control to build any product required to flourish in a rapidly changing world.
We are currently a team of more than 500 people spread across offices in London, New York, Singapore, Sydney, and Melbourne, and have raised more than $340m in funding at a $1bn+ valuation.
About Foundation
Foundation is reshaping the industry by bringing together the best from the banking and technology sector. We are powered by Hungarian Bankholding Ltd. As the leading financial institution in Hungary with a rapidly growing customer base, we’re building a new, fully digital organisation from scratch with no dependency. The organization brings together Hungarian and international technology specialists, fintech experts, designers and product development managers who want to take part in building the most modern digital bank in Central Europe.
About Magyar Bankholding
Magyar Bankholding Zrt. is a domestically owned financial holding company, which aims to implement the merger of Budapest Bank Ltd., MKB Bank Plc. and Takarék Group. The new banking group, which commenced its effective operation on 15 December 2020 is the second-largest in the Hungarian market: it serves 2.2 million customers and operates the largest domestic branch network of 920 branches nationwide. Based on the business strategy of Magyar Bankholding, Hungary’s most modern large bank will be established in 2023, which plans to transform the traditional image of banks: with its flexible, internationally leading digital solutions and new, modern range of products and services, the bank will serve the full market spectrum and all customer segments in the future.
