How a composable platform and customer obsession shape Cembra's mobile app
Switzerland has long been recognized as one of Europe's most dynamic financial markets - a landscape where traditional banking meets a growing appetite for digital innovation. Across the continent, fintech challengers are rapidly reshaping customer expectations, and Switzerland is no exception. For all players, long-term adaptability has become an important differentiator. Cembra, a leading Swiss provider of innovative financing and payment solutions, understood that winning in today's market isn't about chasing every trend, but about building a scalable, resilient foundation.
2M+
In an AI-driven world, legacy systems don’t just slow you down — they shut you out of real growth. To compete, banks need a modular foundation built for speed, intelligence, and scale.
customers
800+
In an AI-driven world, legacy systems don’t just slow you down — they shut you out of real growth. To compete, banks need a modular foundation built for speed, intelligence, and scale.
employees
Zurich, Switzerland
In an AI-driven world, legacy systems don’t just slow you down — they shut you out of real growth. To compete, banks need a modular foundation built for speed, intelligence, and scale.
is the headquarters
Objectives
Cembra has defined a clear ambition to become top of wallet, and that vision demanded both speed and institutional reliability. Cembra needed a mobile platform that could support rapid iteration while maintaining the rigorous stability and compliance a Swiss bank requires.
Solution
As its partner, Cembra chose Backbase. The partnership follows a true buy-plus-build model: Backbase provides the composable foundation, while Cembra designs and develops on top of it. Using Backbase SDKs, back-end tooling, and open components, the bank builds and deploys new app features independently.
Results
On the customer side, digital self-service adoption has surged, reducing the need to call support for routine requests. Transparency has also improved - customers receive real-time push notifications for every transaction, complete with merchant details and location data, helping them stay fully in control. Cembra was also the first bank in Switzerland to let customers report suspicious transactions or initiate chargebacks via a virtual agent directly through the app.
Backbase gives us the best of both worlds: a platform proven to perform at scale and the flexibility to shape it around our own vision. It is enterprise-grade, future-ready, and built with the kind of precision and reliability you want at the core of your bank.
Backbase
Building top-of-wallet banking
Backbase
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