Libyan lender Wahda Bank has contracted software firm Backbase to develop a digital banking platform covering both commercial and retail operations.
The deployment is scheduled to commence in 2027, with business banking services being prioritised during the initial roll-out.
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Corporate clients will receive digital onboarding supported by electronic identity verification, alongside standard operational banking, payroll processing, bill settlement, and invoice management within a single application.
A subsequent phase will extend the platform to more than 500,000 retail clients, introducing payment card integration and personal money management capabilities.
Wahda Bank CEO Rami Benissa said: “Wahda Bank has been a major contributor to Libya’s economic growth and has consistently been at the forefront of digital transformation in the country.
“Our partnership with Backbase is the next step on that path. Together, we will give our business and retail customers Arabic-first digital banking on a platform our own engineers will keep extending.”
Future development phases will incorporate corporate banking functionality and conversational banking.
Architecturally, the platform’s Banking OS will interface directly with Wahda Bank’s existing core banking engine, Oracle FLEXCUBE.
It will link into Libya’s domestic instant-payment infrastructure, comprising LYPay and OnePay.
User interfaces are being created primarily in Arabic, accompanied by complete English language support.
In addition, branch and contact centre personnel will transition to the unified Banking OS servicing workspace, giving staff full visibility of individual customer histories and profiles.
Wahda Bank structured the agreement with Backbase as a long-term strategic engagement designed to keep pace with changing market conditions whilst retaining internal autonomy over its technology roadmap.
From the start of the project, internal engineering personnel will be embedded in joint squads with Backbase staff.
The bank’s teams will undergo training through Backbase Academy to build the in-house technical skills required to maintain and expand the software independently.
Backbase founder and CEO Jouk Pleiter said: “Wahda Bank is bringing business and retail banking together on one AI-native platform from the start. Every service that follows, from corporate banking to conversational AI, will land on that same base, which puts Wahda in a position to set the pace for the whole market.”
