ABA Bank transforms services with SUSE to boost digital shift

ABA Bank has expanded its partnership with SUSE to modernise its digital infrastructure and enhance banking services in Cambodia.

ABA Bank, which is recognised as Cambodia's largest private financial institution, is moving away from its legacy monolithic system towards a microservices-based architecture. This transition is designed to keep pace with the rising demand for efficient and reliable digital banking experiences among Cambodian consumers.

Through the adoption of SUSE Rancher Prime, ABA Bank's development and operations teams can now build, update, deploy, and manage containerised workloads across both cloud and on-premise environments via a unified interface. This has led to significant improvements in agility and operational visibility.

The bank has also integrated SUSE Security into the new environment to enhance its resilience against evolving cyber threats and to maintain compliance with regulations set forth by Cambodian financial authorities. With these technologies in place, ABA Bank reports achieving 99.999% service availability for all customer-facing and critical applications.

Men Phalla, Head of DevOps Department at ABA Bank, stated, "Delivering fast, secure, and uninterrupted banking services is key to maintaining our leadership position in Cambodia's financial sector. With SUSE Rancher Prime, we've gained the agility and visibility to innovate confidently—while SUSE Security gives us real-time insights to mitigate risks before they escalate."

The implementation of Rancher Prime has enabled ABA Bank to automate essential processes, including deployment and monitoring. As a result, the institution can now roll out new applications 50% faster than before. This increased operational efficiency has allowed the bank to reduce application deployment time by half and decrease container management costs by 15%, with cost savings redirected toward enhancing innovation and customer experience.

By leveraging SUSE Security tools, ABA Bank's DevOps teams are equipped to detect vulnerabilities in real time and act quickly to remediate any identified risks. The bank notes that these measures aim to safeguard both customer data and its organisational reputation.

The development comes as digital banking channels such as mobile banking, e-wallets, and digital payment systems become increasingly prominent in Cambodia, enabling broader access to financial services. Estimates suggest that Cambodia's total digital transaction value is expected to grow at an average compound annual rate of 11.78% by 2028.

Gayathri Peria, General Manager at SUSE ASEAN, commented, "The financial services industry in Asia-Pacific is one of the most dynamic and digitally-driven in the world. We are proud to support innovative institutions like ABA Bank in their digital transformation journey in the dynamic Southeast Asian market of Cambodia. SUSE's open, secure and enterprise-ready technologies empower financial leaders to deliver exceptional customer experiences with confidence and support greater financial inclusion."

ABA Bank's partnership with SUSE follows a year in which the institution reported a 27% increase in total assets under management in 2024. The bank is also investing in next-generation digital capabilities, including advanced AI-driven services such as customer support assistants, to further improve its digital channels.