Success Stories

MMG Bank

Building a market-leading position in Panama’s private banking sector

Panama City, Panama

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At a Glance

● $4.5bn in client assets managed using the platform​

● 4000 High-net-worth clients acquired since 1996​

● Increases market share and build its position as a leading private bank in Panama

● Scaling seamlessly as its client base and transaction volumes grow with Temenos

Panama ranks alongside London, Hong Kong, Geneva, and Singapore as a global leader in wealth management and private banking. A stable economy, a business-friendly regulatory landscape, and a high concentration of expertise in asset management have made the Central American nation an attractive prospect for high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) and major corporations.

For banks too, Panama is a land of opportunity. Increasingly, clients come from far beyond the traditional heartlands of Europe and the Americas, with many Asian mass affluents and HNWIs now turning to Panamanian banks for investment and portfolio management services.

In this expanding market, competition can be fierce, and banks like MMG Bank face the challenge of capturing and defending their market share. Founded in 1996 by partners at one of Panama’s leading legal and financial service providers, the bank is always looking for innovative ways to grow its customer base and assets under management (AUM).

Providing market-leading services

To help win new clients, MMG Bank aimed to launch services that would empower HNWIs and businesses to protect their assets and reach their financial goals. To support a sophisticated portfolio of new private banking products, the bank looked for a flexible, scalable core banking platform that could manage high transaction volumes.

Maria Elena Hernán, Technology Vice President at MMG Bank, explains: “As a business, we want to build a reputation as a market leader for private and investment banking, with the largest portfolio of AUM among Panamanian banks. To grow our market share, we knew launching innovative products wasn’t enough—we also had to bring them to market before our competitors.”

Deploying best-in-class technology

MMG Bank chose Temenos core banking as the foundation for its new offering. Since the initial implementation, the bank has continued to add new modules to the Temenos platform, increasing the value it delivers for its clients.

Developing a rich product portfolio

With the Temenos solution, MMG Bank has continued to expand its product portfolio, helping it to deliver high-quality private banking and asset management services. In recent years, the bank has expanded its investment and wealth management division, launching new offerings such as discretionary portfolio management, fixed-income funds, and advisory services.

“The Temenos solution makes it very easy for us to innovate and bring next-generation services to market quickly,” adds Maria Elena Hernán. “Whenever we want to add new functionality or integrate a third-party product with the core platform, it is very simple to complete the process. In particular, the security, fund transfer, and accounting capabilities of Temenos core banking are very impressive, and ensure we provide an exceptional level of protection for our clients and can centralize many key business processes.”

Supporting a growing client base

Since the implementation, the Temenos platform has also helped MMG Bank scale its operations and manage the assets of an increasing number of HNWIs and businesses. Having started with just 20 business users, there are now 180 bank employees working with Temenos Solutions every day. MMG Bank has also grown its client base dramatically, from a handful of clients in 1996 to more than 4,000 today.

Managing multi-billion-dollar assets

Supported by Temenos, MMG Bank today enjoys status as one of the main players in the Panamanian private banking arena. In 2019, the bank managed $4.5 billion in assets, while in 2018 it achieved a net profit of $13.3 million. Working hand-in-hand with Temenos, MMG Bank is confident of further success in the future.