Banking on Intelligence: Nurana Verdiyeva on Digital Transformation in Impact Investment

In this episode of Banking on Intelligence, nCino's Brandon Lokits sits down with Nurana Verdiyeva, Functional Business Analyst at Invest International, to discuss how impact investment organizations are using digital transformation to drive development finance in emerging markets worldwide.

Meet Nurana Verdiyeva and Invest International

Nurana Verdiyeva brings over a year of expertise as a Functional Business Analyst at Invest International, a Netherlands-based impact investment company that operates as a financial institution for government-backed development projects. Known as the "nCino Queen" within her organization, Verdiyeva has championed the adoption of digital banking technology across Invest International's diverse portfolio. The institution focuses on capital lending and SME lending while also managing grants across developing countries including Senegal, Ghana, Gambia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Invest International has been partnering with nCino for three years, implementing the platform end-to-end across all their products and recently participating as an early adopter of continuous credit monitoring capabilities.

Hear from Nurana Verdiyeva, Functional Business Analyst at Invest International, in this episode of Banking on Intelligence.

Key Insights: An Abbreviated Q&A

Brandon Lokits: Tell me about the challenges you see in your work across the financial industry.

Nurana Verdiyeva: We are using nCino for our old products that we are covering from end to end. We have two focuses: capital lending and SME lending, and we're also doing a lot of grants in different countries. It's quite hard because it's a lending system, so sometimes it's really hard to adapt for a public investment manager because there are too many payment details and they're like, "Hey, what is it? I don't understand, it's not for us." But the good thing is, we make them love it. They call me nCino Queen at our company, which is really cool.

Brandon Lokits: How have you seen growth in digitization and banking over the last several years?

Nurana Verdiyeva: We’ve been using nCino for three years now. I can see a lot of progress over the past two years in how the adoption is ongoing toward nCino and the functionalities. We also got a new module—we were part of the earlier adopter program for continuous credit monitoring. The Banking Advisor functionality is super cool. Unfortunately, it’s not available in our region yet, but I see that nCino is going forward by end of summer, so pretty excited for that and how we can make best of it.

Brandon Lokits: Where do you see technology in your space five to ten years from now?

Nurana Verdiyeva: Going forward, the new functionalities that we are about to inherit can really help investment managers, analysts, etc., to do more of their work and be more client-focused rather than just do those daily tasks, entering information 100 times. These new functionalities that are more Gen AI or AI oriented can help with their daily tasks so they can focus more on their clients, on their business. I really see great spark there.

Our Take

Nurana Verdiyeva's experience at Invest International illustrates how digital transformation extends far beyond traditional commercial banking into the critical realm of impact investment and development finance. Her journey from initial resistance to becoming the "nCino Queen" demonstrates the universal challenge financial institutions face when implementing new technology—and the transformative results when adoption succeeds.

What makes Invest International's story particularly compelling is how they've adapted a commercial lending platform to serve the unique needs of development finance across multiple emerging markets. This flexibility speaks to nCino's platform architecture and its ability to scale across different financial use cases, from traditional banking to complex multi-country grant and investment programs.

Verdiyeva's vision for AI-powered functionality resonates with a core theme across financial services: technology should eliminate repetitive tasks to free professionals for higher-value, relationship-focused work. In the context of development finance, this becomes even more critical—investment managers and analysts working on projects that can transform entire communities need to spend their time on strategic decision-making and client relationships, not data entry.

The early adoption of continuous credit monitoring and eagerness for Banking Advisor capabilities shows how forward-thinking impact investment organizations are embracing the same technological advances as their commercial banking counterparts. This convergence suggests that the future of financial services technology isn't just about serving traditional banks—it's about empowering any organization that moves capital to create positive outcomes.

As development finance continues to play a crucial role in addressing global challenges, partnerships like the one between nCino and Invest International demonstrate how technology can amplify impact by making development capital more efficient, transparent, and effective across emerging markets worldwide.

Banking on Intelligence is nCino's thought leadership series featuring conversations with industry leaders about the future of financial services. To learn more about how nCino can help your institution navigate digital transformation while maintaining strong customer relationships, schedule a demo today.