The Co-founder of RM Applications Sdn. Bhd. (RMA), Lokesh Gupta is an entrepreneur having more than eighteen years of experience in Conventional and Islamic Banking Domain. Lokesh bears deep specialization in Data Management, Remittance, Payments and Solutioning for bespoke solutions. With the passion to create long-term value to customer, Lokesh started his journey with Card Management System implementation and part of VISA certification team for Citibank. Since then, Lokesh has been executing projects for various regional banks in South East Asia ranging from Banking Merging System Integration, Bulk Payments, Core Banking, Cash Management, Payment Gateway, Core Remittance, Digital Remittance, Data Marts development for Regulatory and Operational Reporting etc.
Practicing Flat Organization Structure at RMA to Uplift Employee Collaboration
In any organization, to transform a concept into a true product, collaboration between team members is essential. Lokesh feels proud to successfully perform multiple roles at RM Applications. However, he believes that his primary role is to maintain a collaborative environment in the company. He instilled a flat organization structure to ensure friendly teamwork. He calls his team members as RMATEs, who create outstanding customer-centric solutions. Lokesh takes part in various activities and contributes his knowledge at RMA. His humbleness enables him to easily work with his RMATEs and turn ideas into full-blown products. The versatile Co-founder also managed to take time from his schedule to publish articles. He is also a Co-author of numerous books on Islamic Banking and Finance. His recent publication is ‘Islamic Finance: A Practical Perspective’, published by Palgrave.
Delivering Tailor-made Financial Solutions
At present, clients from financial institutes require solutions which can address the pain points, niche requirements, and provide seamless integration. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, RM Applications Sdn. Bhd (RMA) with MSC Status. has been successfully delivering the cutting-edge technology solutions in the area of Remittance & Payments and developing Bespoke Data Marts for ALM (Asset Liability Management), FTP (Fund Transfer Pricing), IFRS9 & Liquidity (Basel 3) Reporting and also provides ETL Consulting & Development. It also provides localization and integration of renowned Partners’ Solutions for Conventional and Islamic financial Institutions in south east asia.
Lokesh along with RMATES analyzed the current financial organizations and found gaps like shortage of data standardization, data quality, and regularity. To fill-up these gaps, they developed Bespoke Data Marts, which are faster, easier to manage, and deliver more value using inhouse developed “OmniData” framework. RMA’s Bespoke Data Mart Development makes semi-processed data available that can be fed in Risk and Regularity Reporting Engine to generate the reports and analytics in the areas like AMLA (Anti Money Laundering), Basel 3 (Liquidity Coverage Ratio—LCR & Net Stable Funding Ratio—NSFR), FTP (Fund Transfer pricing), IFRS9/MFRS9, IRRBB (Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book), and other Regulatory Reporting Data Mart. Moreover, RMA offers homogeneous or heterogeneous Data Migration for migrating data with widely used commercial databases and now expanding into Open source databases.
“I am a strong believer of being a ‘Doer’ and always ready to jump in..,” says Lokesh
At RMA, Lokesh follows a thumb rule of “Unlearn and Relearn”. Unlearn what learned in the past and Relearn what today’s client requires and design the solution accordingly. This thumb rule has been a game changer for Lokesh and his team to seek opportunities from problems and drive innovation. It also helped RMATEs to do things in a different manner to address every customer’s needs. They have developed excellent platforms like ‘OmniData’ and ‘OmniRemit’. OmniRemit is a comprehensive suit for performing Digital Remittance across various channels like Branch, Agent, Online, Mobile and with AMLA functionality and integrated directly with Counterparts using inbuilt web API engine for real time transaction processing. Moreover, he is a strong believer of being a ‘Doer’ and explores new options to better serve his clients. Lokesh and RMATEs are currently working on prototype for integrating with leading technologies like blockchain. They are also focused on adopting Big Data and advanced analytics using R to work in the area of Data Modeling for financial reporting.
Meeting Customers’ Expectations by Conquering Challenges
Meeting Customers’ Expectations by Conquering ChallengesRunning a company needs continual growth and facing challenges is the part of organic growth. The Co-founder of RMA looks at a challenge as the way to create a new opportunity. In their initial days at RMA, to increase client alliance, Lokesh and his fellow Co-founders worked with large solutions providers and created a strong track record. Additionally, their sincerity, passion, and commitment have enabled RM Applications to build a loyal client base. On the side of recruitments, they used internal resources and referrals for any job openings. Furthermore, RMA’s friendly working culture, support of management, and better training have helped the company to assemble a resilient core team of RMATEs. Rather than focusing on extensive marketing and brand building, Lokesh and his team dedicated their work to be a delivery driven organization. In developing new products, the Co-founders and their teams carefully craft the product roadmaps and new technology expansion to tackle investment challenges in Research and Development.
Presently, Lokesh and RMATEs stand tall with RMA because of its reputation as a committed and client-focused company. Today, they confidently say, “We have never let down our clients’ expectations and have delivered value in all our delivery.”
Finding Technology to Solve Real-world Problems
Finding Technology to Solve Real-world ProblemsWhen asked for his advice for starting and sustaining a successful business, Lokesh stated that one must find the approach to use technology as a solver for real business problems. Customers never spend money on technology, but when it is used to solve their key problems, it becomes their first priority. Lokesh’s journey with RMA explains that starting a venture requires dedication, commitment, hard work, and sacrifices. According to Lokesh, being a leader of a company is like a roller coaster ride which makes it difficult to decide where to put the best resources. There are times when the success and growth lag behind and tight cashflows worsen such situations. But, “Every Problem brings Opportunity”, asserts Lokesh and follows this mantra to never give up.
