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Kuda
Fast-scaling digital bank moves SaaS governance off Slack and into structured Omnea workflows
transactions processed in Q1 2025
in transaction value in Q1 2025
At a glance
People reshaping Kuda
Challenge
Kuda is a fast-growing digital banking group. In Q1 2025 alone, the neobank processed over 300 million transactions worth ₦14.3 trillion. As the organisation scaled across Nigeria, the UK, Canada, South Africa, and Europe, its email- and Slack-based SaaS governance model began to show strain.
On paper, the approval matrix was clear: department head → division head → finance → legal → InfoSec. In practice, enforcing it was difficult:
Approvals weren't tidy: requests moved through inboxes, email threads, Slack messages, and ad-hoc calls — easy to miss stakeholders, hard to confirm all approvals had been obtained
Contracts were scattered: agreements, order forms, and amendments stored across multiple shared drives, requiring manual effort to find the correct version
Security reviews were repeated: without a central record, new owners couldn't tell whether InfoSec had already assessed a vendor, so reviews started from scratch
Duplicate vendors grew: negotiations sometimes overlapped with no consistent framework to check for existing suppliers
As headcount and geographic footprint expanded, Kuda needed a single source of truth for SaaS — a place to see contracts, approval history, risk reviews, and commercial terms, and to respond quickly to regulatory information requests.
"When you reach a certain scale, emails and Slack don't cut it anymore. You need proper systems for approvals and governance that provide a complete record of the process."
— Uluç Yurtal, Group Financial Controller
Solution
Kuda chose Omnea as the structured front door for SaaS onboarding and renewals, bringing finance, legal, and InfoSec into a single workflow.
Co-designing the workflows
Kuda worked closely with Omnea to map the real approval journey from request to signature. Extensive internal testing and role-plays ensured edge cases were caught before launch, with finance, legal, InfoSec, and requesters all playing their parts.
"We co-designed the workflows with Omnea and spent time testing them with role-plays, with finance acting as supplier, legal, InfoSec, and requester. This meant we caught edge cases and launched with a robust workflow."
— Uluç Yurtal, Group Financial Controller
Request and division head approval
Department teams initiate requests directly in Omnea. Each request goes first to the relevant division head to confirm budget fit and strategic alignment — preserving business ownership while ensuring finance only sees validated requests.
Finance review and commercial negotiation
Finance verifies budgets and purpose. Omnea's intake questions prompt better decisions by checking for alternative quotes, overlaps with existing SaaS, and concrete use cases.
"You can buy the best dishwasher with 12 buttons, but if you only ever use one, what's the point? Omnea helps us bring that mindset to SaaS."
— Uluç Yurtal, Group Financial Controller
Embedded InfoSec checks with smart routing
Omnea automatically triggers proportional InfoSec assessments, skipping checks for vendors already assessed — eliminating repeated reviews and saving the security team significant time.
Legal review and DocuSign execution
Once finance and InfoSec approve, vendors submit commercial terms, legal entity details, and order forms within Omnea. Legal reviews documents in context, capturing amendments and comments. Finalised agreements flow to DocuSign for signature and sync back into Omnea — creating a complete, auditable history for each vendor.
Results
A single source of truth — governance that survives team changes
All requests, comments, and decisions are captured in Omnea. Contracts sit alongside each vendor's full approval history. Historical context is preserved so new team members can see how every relationship evolved — no more knowledge locked in someone's inbox.
"We wanted this to stop being personal, not stuck in someone's email or Slack. Now, even if half the company left, whoever comes in can easily see what was agreed with each vendor." — Uluç Yurtal, Group Financial Controller
Stronger governance at scale — audit-ready by default
Every request follows a consistent, traceable approval path. Regulatory and audit requests can now be fulfilled instantly rather than requiring hours of spreadsheet updates and chasing — critical for a regulated digital banking business processing hundreds of millions of transactions across multiple jurisdictions.
A cultural shift in how Kuda buys
Requesters are now prompted to consider cost, necessity, and overlap before submitting. Finance can challenge submissions more effectively without blocking important tools. Legal and InfoSec receive clearer, more complete submissions — reducing back-and-forth and enabling faster decisions.
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