ieDigital, Connect FSS and ABAKA are integrating within a single identity, a move designed to offer clients a sophisticated and enhanced suite of digital customer-service channels.
Cassis, who has been an active investor with ieDigital since 2012, and with both Connect FSS and ABAKA since their acquisitions, will become the CEO of the three firms.
Existing CEO, Jerry Young, will take retirement and will continue to support the business throughout the transition.
The financial technology sector continues to experience ongoing demand as consumers become increasingly digital-savvy and demand increased levels of online functionality from their banks, building societies and credit unions.
London: March 26th, 2024: ieDigital, Connect FSS and ABAKA, which together form one of the leading digital banking and financial services specialists, have today announced the appointment of Rami Cassis as CEO.
Cassis’ appointment comes at a time when all three companies are integrating under a single identity, a move which will offer clients, including the largest banks, building societies and credit unions in the UK and US, a sophisticated, comprehensive, and enhanced suite of digital channels. The integration comes as the financial technology sector continues to experience intense demand for the latest innovations to satisfy increasingly digital-savvy consumers.
Cassis is currently the Executive Chairman of ieDigital, Connect FSS and ABAKA. He has been part of the senior leadership team and an active investor in ieDigital since 2012, when his family office, Parabellum Investments, acquired the firm. Cassis has similarly been an active investor in both Connect FSS and ABAKA since both were also acquired by Parabellum Investments.
Existing CEO of the three companies, Jerry Young, will take retirement after leading ieDigital for over six years, a period that saw significant growth including its appointment by many of the UK’s leading financial services providers. He was also instrumental in the acquisition of Connect FSS and ABAKA and has also been the CEO of both businesses since their acquisition. Young will continue to support the three businesses during the transition. Grant Parry will remain as Executive Vice President of Strategy.
ieDigital, based in the UK, acquired Connect FSS, the US-based digital banking Software as a Service (SaaS) technology provider for credit unions, in September 2023. This was followed by the acquisition of ABAKA, the Artificial Intelligence recommendation engine platform, in January 2024. ABAKA uses machine learning and behavioural segmentation to predict which products, such as banking products, savings accounts, or retirement solutions, are the most likely to be of interest to financial services consumers.
Rami Cassis, CEO, ieDigital, Connect FSS and ABAKA, said: “Our immediate focus is simple; concentrate on our clients and deliver exceptional software. We have highly talented teams whose capabilities need to be further harnessed. Swift integration of the companies is an essential component of this and will provide numerous benefits to our clients, including added product functionality and greater scale of both development and implementation resources.
“I want to thank Jerry for his hard work over the last few years and wish him all the best in his retirement. Furthermore, I am looking forward to working alongside the team as we integrate the three companies and play a key part in rewriting the way that banks and credit unions, together with other financial services providers, interact with their customers.”
About ieDigital
ieDigital has been providing sophisticated, interactive, and intuitive digital customer services solutions to the UK’s leading financial services names for over 20 years. Its suite of products allows banks, building societies, lenders, and motor finance providers to offer the highest levels of digital functionality available today, including cutting-edge website functionality and the latest smartphone technology. This enables them to encourage engagement, nurture trust and develop valuable, long-lasting relationships with customers. ieDigital is established as an industry thought leader, with its experts regularly featured in leading trade press outlets and invited to deliver keynote presentations at industry events. Learn more at www.iedigital.com. ieDigital is a portfolio company of Parabellum Investments, which is led by founder and CEO, Rami Cassis.
About Connect FSS
Connect is a technology Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) focused on the benefit of credit unions and their members. Connect's customizable enterprise digital banking solutions support credit unions' unique individual needs by offering online and mobile banking, bill pay, programming services, and digital account opening and lending applications. Connect has complete user interface design flexibility and provides parity across all digital channels, creating a better user experience. By partnering with more than 150 third-party providers, many of which are selected by clients, Connect offers a wealth of evolving functionality to better meet members' current and future needs.
Visit www.connectfss.com to learn more.
About ABAKA
With deep expertise in AI, machine learning and hyper-personalisation, ABAKA is a multi-award-winning provider of Artificial Intelligence technologies that serve the needs of global clients including top-tier financial institutions covering retail banking, wealth management and insurance. By combining machine learning, data analytics with behavioral science, ABAKA helps financial institutions deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences and build a truly customer centric ecosystem across their range of products and services.
Established since 2016 with headquarters in the United Kingdom and further offices across the APAC and Europe, ABAKA has expanded with solutions now deployed across three continents. Learn more at www.abaka.me
About Parabellum Investments
Parabellum Investments, the family office of Rami Cassis, owns a portfolio of companies across the enterprise software, business & IT services, life sciences and fintech. The firm deploys its own capital to acquire majority control of companies in these sectors anywhere in the world.
For further information visit www.parabelluminvestments.com