I&M Bank Partners with Otoma to Revolutionize Payments Infrastructure Across Africa

I&M Bank has partnered with payments infrastructure provider Otoma to deploy an AI-native, no-code payment hub across its operations. For fintech professionals, this move signals a significant shift away from legacy banking architecture in East Africa, prioritizing transaction visibility and rapid service deployment to compete in an increasingly digital regional economy.

What was announced

The partnership centers on the implementation of Otoma’s payment hub to modernize I&M Bank’s end-to-end technology stack. The primary objective is to enhance the speed and reliability of payment services while reducing operational friction, specifically targeting the elimination of failed and duplicate transactions. By centralizing payment operations through this new hub, the bank aims to improve transaction visibility and accelerate resolution times for its customer base.

The solution is built on a no-code framework, which allows the bank to build, test, and deploy new payment capabilities in near real-time. This flexibility is intended to help the bank expand its access to various payment channels and networks across Africa. The rollout will commence in Kenya, with the intention to support the broader Group’s payment ambitions as it continues to grow across the continent. This modernization effort is designed to move the institution beyond the constraints of traditional legacy hubs, which often require lengthy vendor-led roadmaps for even minor updates. By adopting an AI-native approach, I&M Bank seeks to automate complex payment workflows and simplify the process of introducing new financial products to the market, offering customers greater choice and convenience while simplifying internal operations.

The companies involved

I&M Bank is a prominent Tier 1 commercial bank headquartered in Kenya. It operates as a significant player in the East African financial sector, providing a range of banking services across the region. The bank has increasingly focused on digital transformation to maintain its market position against both traditional competitors and emerging fintech challengers.

Otoma is a provider of AI-native, no-code payments infrastructure. The company was established by the team previously responsible for Fundtech, a payments technology firm that was acquired by D+H and later merged with Misys to form the global fintech giant Finastra. Drawing on this experience in building previous generations of payment hubs, the Otoma team focuses on providing banks with greater control over their infrastructure. Their platform is designed for rapid deployment and continuous change, aiming to reduce the cost and complexity typically associated with large-scale payments transformation. The company positions itself as an alternative to legacy vendors, offering technology that allows financial institutions to innovate without being tethered to external development timelines.

What FF News has reported before

I&M Bank has been consistently active in upgrading its technological infrastructure over the past two years. FF News previously reported on the bank's efforts to deploy a full cognitive AI financial crime compliance platform in partnership with ThetaRay to secure its regional operations. In Tanzania, the bank reached a milestone by launching the country's first Mastercard World Elite debit and multi-currency prepaid cards, utilizing OpenWay’s Way4 platform. Additionally, the institution has focused on corporate banking modernization, having tapped Surecomp to modernize digital trade finance across East Africa, demonstrating a broad strategy of digitizing multiple business lines simultaneously.

What this means

This announcement highlights a growing trend among Tier 1 African banks to reclaim control from legacy technology vendors. By opting for a no-code, AI-native hub, I&M Bank is addressing the "vendor lock-in" that has historically slowed down innovation in the region. The move puts pressure on other established banks in Kenya and East Africa to accelerate their own infrastructure refreshes or risk being outpaced by more agile competitors. It also raises questions about the future of traditional core banking providers; as banks move toward modular, no-code "hubs" for specific functions like payments, the role of the monolithic legacy system is increasingly marginalized in the modern stack.