News
Faulu Bank Goes Live on MuRong M5 and IDO, Bets on Cash-Flow Lending to SMEs
Faulu Microfinance Bank moved its full core banking to MuRong M5 and its omni-channel banking to MuRong IDO in ten months. Huawei supplied the infrastructure. Computech Limited led local delivery and integration. KPMG managed the project. The new platform has run live since August 2026.
You rarely see a bank swap its core this fast. Faulu serves more than 500,000 customers through 24 branches and 150 agents. It also acts as the main banker for Old Mutual Group in Kenya. The partners worked as one team and moved that entire base with minimal disruption.
Faulu now plans to use the new stack to lend to traders against their cash flow, not their title deeds.
Key facts
- Bank
- Faulu Microfinance Bank, Kenya, an Old Mutual subsidiary
- Customers
- More than 500,000
- Group role
- Main banker for Old Mutual Group in Kenya
- Core platform
- MuRong M5, full core banking
- Digital layer
- MuRong IDO, omni-channel banking
- Infrastructure
- Huawei cloud servers, storage and networking
- Delivery partner
- Computech Limited
- Project management
- KPMG
- Timeline
- Ten months
- Live since
- August 2026
- Backing
- Sh1.2 billion in fresh capital from Old Mutual, August 2026
What changed
Faulu moved off its legacy system onto a cloud-native, microservices setup. The project team ran a planned database cutover with minimal disruption to customers. The bank has run live on M5 and IDO since August.
Staff in every branch and agent outlet now work from the same core as the bank’s digital channels:
- Faulu DigiCash app
- Internet banking
- USSD *339#
- Agency banking app
- ATMs
- POS terminals
The platform links to Kenya’s main local and global rails:
- M-PESA
- PesaLink
- SWIFT
- RTGS
- EFT
- Cheque clearing
Who did what
MuRong Technology: core and digital platforms
Michael Huang, Managing Director, Global Marketing and Sales at MuRong Technology, said the M5 and IDO deployment gives Faulu room to scale and a single view of each customer.
Huawei: hardware and cloud layer
Solutions Architect Victor Muganda said the team focused on disaster recovery, security and capacity for real-time payments.
Computech Limited: regional delivery partner
Chief Revenue Officer Adam Nyaga said Computech connected the new core to domestic and international payment networks.
KPMG: project management
KPMG managed the project and coordinated the work across all partners.
Faulu CEO Julius Ouma said leaving the legacy framework lets the bank handle complex transaction volumes, credit and compliance, and launch new products faster. The bank says it can now roll out digital loan products in days.
The strategy behind the system
Faulu built its book on retail banking and payroll-backed loans. It now wants to become a bank for traders and merchants.
The plan:
- Give SMEs one portal to pool payments from cash, till numbers and paybills
- Read each business’s cash flow in real time
- Lend against that data, not land or vehicles
- Give frontline staff a full view of each customer’s accounts, transactions and insurance cover
The context
- Old Mutual put Sh1.2 billion into Faulu in August 2026 to fund technology, including the new core.
- That follows more than Sh900 million from Old Mutual in July 2024 for a digital and MSME refocus.
- Faulu held Sh1.33 billion in core capital at the end of 2025, against a Sh60 million minimum.
- The new core went live in August 2026. Faulu and its partners presented the finished platform at a launch event in early November.
What this means for you
Questions to watch
- Can Faulu grow its SME book on cash-flow data without a rise in bad loans?
- How many new digital loan products will it launch in the next 12 months?
- Will the upgrade return Faulu to profit in 2026 or 2027?
- Which bank replaces its core next?
