WHY THIS MATTERS: The successful completion of Phase 1 of Akbank AG’s core banking transformation in Germany is not just a technology upgrade; it serves as a crucial validation point for the entire European banking sector. This move signals a decisive shift in how established, regulated financial institutions are tackling their monolithic legacy systems. Akbank AG, under the supervision of BaFin, has demonstrated that a phased, lift-and-shift migration to a cloud-native platform like Mambu is not only achievable for core functions like Retail and Private Banking, but that it immediately translates into tangible business agility. This directly addresses the industry-wide trend of composable banking. By adopting an API-first architecture, the bank has unlocked the ability to rapidly configure new products and integrate specialized services (like the Core+ layer developed by Innovance) far faster than possible with proprietary code. For peers still debating the cloud transition, this case study from the DACH region provides a clear, value-first mandate: modernisation is no longer optional for competitive survival.
Akbank AG, the German subsidiary of Turkey’s leading bank Akbank TAS, has successfully completed Phase 1 of its core banking transformation, to the leading SaaS cloud banking platform Mambu. The transformation was delivered in close partnership with Innovance, Mambu’s strategic technology partner.
The milestone marks a full transition away from Akbank AG’s legacy core system for its Retail and Private segments, with all customers and accounts in these business lines now operating on Mambu’s composable, API-first cloud-native core banking platform. Operating under the supervision of Germany’s financial regulatory authority, BaFin, Akbank AG’s transformation represents a significant example of a regulated European bank modernising its core banking infrastructure through a structured, phased migration strategy.
The new architecture, hosted on Microsoft Azure, combines:
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Mambu as the core banking foundation. Its API-first architecture enabled the bank to integrate easily with partners and reduce operational complexity, lowering maintenance effort and improving resilience.
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Core+ layer: This custom implementation layer communicates with Mambu and other integration services, acting as the central orchestration and business logic layer.
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Implementation partner: Innovance playing a key role in integrating the Core+ architecture with Mambu to enable scalable product modelling, transaction validation and limit management and standardised integration patterns aligned with Akbank AG’s target architecture.
A standout milestone was the delivery of the Limit Proposal Application in 2022, which enabled Akbank AG to launch a digital corporate credit approval process in just four months. The fully integrated ecosystem now includes core banking, accounting, payments, digital channels (web and mobile), wealth management back office, document management, and enterprise financial crime detection components. The composable approach allowed Akbank AG to adjust parameters—such as pricing, fees, and interest settings—directly through configuration rather than code, significantly reducing implementation time.
With Retail and Private Banking now live, the next phase of the transformation covering Corporate Banking and Lending is underway. This next stage will focus on complex lending requirements and the integration of several new systems using Mambu’s composable service structure.
“The industry is undergoing rapid transformation, and customers increasingly expect agility and seamless digital experiences,” said Osman Kara, Core Banking Technologies Vice President at Akbank AG. “With the successful completion of Phase 1 on Mambu, and in close collaboration with Innovance, we have modernised our core banking foundation and established a scalable architecture to support our next phase of growth.”
“Mambu is proud to have powered the transformation of Akbank AG. A show of our strength in the region, as well as our continued partnership with Innovance, this project will transform the banking capabilities of the region, as well as the offerings from Akbank AG. We look forward to the next phase of transformation.” says Mark Geneste, Chief Revenue Officer at Mambu
Yusuf Ürey, Innovance Founder & CEO: “At Innovance, we approach core banking transformation as a long-term capability shift rather than a system replacement. Together with Mambu, we have established a modern technology backbone for Akbank AG that enables continuous evolution, allowing the bank to respond faster to changing customer expectations and market dynamics.”
Mehmet Ali Özcan, Innovance Germany, Managing Director: “In this transformation, we developed the Core+ layer end-to-end to manage business logic, integrations and validations independently, while ensuring seamless interaction with Mambu’s platform. This approach allowed us to simplify system interactions and create a more adaptable and scalable foundation for future banking services.”
The successful migration strengthens Mambu’s footprint in the DACH region and, together with Innovance’s engineering and delivery capabilities, demonstrates the viability of replacing legacy core systems within regulated European banking environments.
FF NEWS TAKE: This achievement undeniably moves the needle by proving that deep, structural core banking transformation is possible within highly regulated European environments. The key takeaway is the architectural split: keeping core logic in the custom Core+ layer while leveraging Mambu’s SaaS backbone for the ledger. The real test now lies in Phase 2, which targets complex corporate lending. The industry must watch how this modular approach handles intricate, high-value lending requirements, which will truly determine the composable model’s total enterprise viability.
