Temenos boosts US reputation via Kony acquisition

Banking software firm Temenos has announced it has secured an agreement to acquire digital banking SaaS company Kony Inc for a value of $559m and an earn-out of $21m.

Temenos expect the deal, due to be completed by early Q4 2019 and is subject to customary regulatory approvals, to “significantly enhance” the companies scale and capabilities in the US.

The Geneva-based firm also expect overall improvements in its digital expertise and further acceleration to its front office product, Temenos Infinity.

Max Chuard, CEO, Temenos, commented: “The acquisition of Kony, the US #1 digital banking SaaS company is highly strategic and will allow us to grow both our US and our digital front office business faster, while being highly accretive and synergistic to the rest of our business. 

“We are acquiring a digital front office product that has already been successful in the US market and is connected to most third party cores.

“We are also adding a significant amount of exciting functionality and ease of generating customer journeys and experiences that will accelerate Temenos Infinity, providing banks in both North America and internationally with an unrivalled customer experience and omnichannel banking product.”

Chairman and CEO of Kony, Thomas E. Hogan,  will assume the role of President of Temenos North America and join Temenos’ Executive Committee, effective on the acquisition closing date.

Chuard continued: “I am also extremely excited to welcome Tom Hogan to join our Executive Committee as the President of Temenos North America. Tom is an inspirational and seasoned leader with a rich experience in executive positions in the technology sector and will be instrumental in driving our success in North America. 

“I am also delighted to welcome to Temenos an impressive team of over 1500 people from Kony with immense digital and cloud expertise. 

“These are truly exciting times as we continue to offer banks the most technologically advanced digital banking platform giving them the freedom to innovate and the speed to deliver superior digital customer experiences.”

Kony’s lead solution is its ‘Kony Digital Banking Experience product’ (Kony DBX) which is recognised as a leader by analyst firms such as Gartner, Forrester and IDC. 

The Kony DBX product includes a suite of mobile banking apps delivering omnichannel experiences including support for conversational interfaces, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and wearable technologies. 

Combination of the two, along with the recently acquired Avoka, enables its Infinity product to cover all banking verticals – customer acquisition and onboarding, omnichannel banking, customer retention and marketing, and modules supporting payments, wealth advisor, financial crime, risk and compliance and analytics.

Thomas E. Hogan, Chairman and CEO, Kony, Inc., stated: “I could not be more excited about joining Temenos and the combined value we will bring to financial institutions around the world.

“The power of the Temenos portfolio, combined with Kony’s digital banking applications and multi-experience development platform, will bring the industry’s most robust suite of applications for delivering service, value, and efficiencies from the digital edge to the modern core. The strength, scale, and commitment of Temenos will also help protect and extend our market-leading innovation. 

“On behalf of the 1,500 talented Kony employees, we are proud and excited to join forces with Max Chuard and the equally talented men and women at Temenos and I am personally very proud to become the President of Temenos North America.”