ING’s development projects, operations and day-to-day customer service-related tickets are handled in the Shared Services Center for IT in Bucharest, Romania. Besides the day to day activities and changes, the client’s main program was Model Bank, to unify ING’s product offer by improving payment and customer service processes in several countries.

Our task was to implement integrated solutions based on FIS PROFILE in those countries while maintaining standards and flow of service in the remote work model. We aimed for easy scalability and cost-cutting.

Working mainly remotely from Wrocław, we have supported ING Group’s IT SSC in 5 implementation projects, carried out for 4 different countries. The project team included subteams of 20 people, supported by 2-3 members from CCA Europe.pl. The contingent from CCA Europe.pl most often acted as business consultants, but also developers or testers.

“We believe CCA Europe.pl demonstrated flexibility and high levels of business and technical knowledge of Fis Profile, which allowed them to transfer project requirements into functionalities of the system. Cultural proximity and adaptability allowed the team to blend in seamlessly, practically with no onboarding period required. In fact, they seemed like a part of the team ever since. Members of CCA Europe.pl are known for their responsiveness and responsibility. They always deliver on time, and the occasional overtime was never a problem,” wrote Constantin Spiridon, IT Area Lead for Core Banking within ING Tech Romania.

Read the full case study here.

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FIS Profile is a well-known core banking system, but its role and place in the core banking architecture have changed over the last several years. Made in the USA, the system hasn’t reached no. 1 in its class, but it has been widely deployed, especially in medium-sized banks. Profile is valued mainly for its well-developed Product – Customer – Account architecture and the reliable real-time transaction processing.

Despite the noticeable technological debt and competition from other systems, Profile is still the “heart” of many banks in Europe and the world. The solution was benchmarked at more than 3,000 on-line banking transactions per second on a 5 million account database and 2,600 transactions per second on a 50 million account database.  Is it worth replacing the system, and if not, how to use its full potential (see details)?

Less Profile in Profile

In the past, when choosing Profile, the bank based its entire architecture on the system. Profile modules were almost exclusively used to support the bank’s functional areas. Therefore, every legal and business change had to be introduced as part of the system parameterization or adaptation. Unfortunately, this type of banking IT architecture structure is inefficient in the current, agile business context. And although Profile works well in balancing, transaction processing or charging interest, new banking functionalities are designed as separate applications. Developed in popular languages, e.g. Java, they are then integrated with the central system. Currently, Profile operates most often in such a model. It supports a “lean” core, supported by numerous integrated applications, whose implementation and maintenance is easier, faster and cheaper.

The heart of banking: to replace, or not to replace?

Among Profile users, there will be those who claim that the system is simple and intuitive, and those who appreciate its functionality, but emphasize that few specialists can fully use it.

Profile works best as a core system, but it is challenged by solutions based on newer and cheaper technologies. Its biggest competitors are Temenos Transact and Infosys Finacle, which are rated by Gartner.com users at a similar level, between 4 and 4.5 out of 5 possible points.

Core system replacement is a complicated operation. Smaller banks can switch to the new system within 6 to 12 months. In larger banks, the challenge is even greater and often means moving one element at a time. Hence, large organizations that already use the Profile system are unlikely to replace it. Instead, they choose the hybrid model described above, based on the latest version of Profile, following the lean model. It assumes regular upgrades of the system’s versions and further adaptation to current market needs as well as ongoing maintenance works. This model works well for our client, ING’s SSC. 

Business applications support the core system

As mentioned above, instead of completely replacing core systems, most banks prefer to “wrap up” the existing core with new solutions. But in the model that uses business applications as an architecture support for the Profile system, it is not only knowledge of new technologies that counts. Without the in-depth knowledge of how the bank’s “heart” works, in terms of banking procedures and technology, it is difficult to design processes that will meet the set business goals.

Over the past few years, we have delivered several projects involving the development of business applications that replaced the no longer sufficient Profile modules. For example, in VietinBank, whose architecture was very extensive, we have integrated Profile with a number of external applications. One of them was a major integration of Oracle GL, an application supporting General Ledger, which replaced the FMS Profile module (see case study).

In many implementation projects we took part, banks have aimed at improving their digital channels, focusing on increasing the quality of customer experience and offering new products and services. The existing Profile core is doing a great job in a strategic area and will continue to do so for many years to come. However, in order to offer their clients genuinely added value, i.e. services based on personalization and using digital channels, banks need an increasingly extensive IT architecture.

And we help them do just that.

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The IT architecture supporting credit card payments is one of the most delicate areas of the bank. A denied card payment due to a faulty banking system can provoke client’s emotional response and reflect poorly on their opinion of the bank. We are all the more happy that the new module based on the PROFILE system we have delivered, together with data migration, was rated at 4.5 out of 5 stars on the renowned rating portal Clutch.

Reliable word of mouth in the flood of offers

Clutch.co is currently one of the most popular sources of rating for various industries. However, the IT world values it particularly. The portal appraises companies based on meticulously collected feedback from the company’s clients. Following an initial survey, Clutch analysts conduct personal interviews with the company client’s representative, asking after the details of cooperation. This is what allows the reviews on the portal to offer in-depth, meticulous verification, and forming a reliable view of the company’s actual performance and reputation. We want to thank Mrs Katarzyna Tomczyk-Czykier for the time spent on completing the complicated evaluation procedure! 

Collecting evidence of a job well done

Although presenting a reference from a customer is one of the most effective ways to attract new prospects, obtaining a recommendation is not easy. The most important thing is to choose a project that stands out in some respects: the largest, the most difficult or delivered for a high-end customer. Another, equally important issue is the client’s representative, who plays the part of the “link” between their company and ours. To help the person go through the entire process, you can prepare a note with the details of cooperation, or by sending a link to the project case study.

If you want to know the details, read CABP’s review on Clutch.

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The banking sector is increasingly adopting Big Data and Cloud into their business models. Deloitte reports that just 25% of European banks feel confident and are ready to implement the changes. Banks are teaming up with small FinTech companies and start-ups or big players as Microsoft to develop better tech abilities and deliver their products in the best possible way.

Netflix-like Bank

As with any other service these days, customers expect tailored services from their banks. Accenture’s 2019 Global Financial Services Consumer Study states that one in two customers would like to get reports on spending habits as well as advice on money management. Trying to meet these needs and expectations, over 40% of finance-related companies consider adding personalized services to their offer, according to Econsultancy. 

Unfortunately, as revealed by TheFinancialBrand, 94% of the banks do not deliver proper personalization for their clients. However, there are still a few examples of good practices. 

For example, Bank of Ireland started to use customer data in a way that is similar to organisations like Netflix. Using online and offline data, the bank advises customers with the right action at the very moment they need it. 

The personalized content in customer communication has increased the number of loan application submissions by 15%

Another bank following the Netflix path is Aion, the new arrival on the Belgian market, launched by Wojciech Sobieraj. Based on a subscription model, Aion gives access to the services by monthly subscription. Customers can purchase one of two different options; basic services or advanced plan, including the tool MoneyMax, which helps to improve money management.  

Italian automation 

As reported by McKinsey, automation can cover even 30% of the workload in banks. Apart from minimizing costs and increasing productivity, automated workflows allow banks to re-organize their personnel and systems. 

A great example of workflow automation implementation is Italian bank Banca Popolare di Sondrio. Moved by a need to quickly launch new customer services and keep control costs under, Banca Popolare di Sondrio invested in automation. Thanks to that, the organization managed to decrease the average transaction handle time from 1 hour to 10 minutes. With flawless processes in place, the quality of customer service took off, followed by time and cost savings. Within the three coming years, Banca Popolare di Sondrio expects cutting costs in 40% of development and testing phases through intensified productivity and increased efficiency.

When partnership means security 

Apart from money, banks handle a massive amount of data, which makes them, even more, a target of potential attacks. To protect both the clients as well as the organizations, investment in cybersecurity is crucial. Fortunly forecasts global spending in this area to surpass $6 trillion by 2021. CitiBank has already invested a lot in Big Data technologies and startups. Their partnership initiative with tech companies, Citi Ventures, is a good example of how a bank can focus on cybersecurity. The recent investment, a data science company Feedzai, helped CitiBank to minimize financial risk for online banking providers. Thanks to the real-time machine learning and predictive modelling solutions, CitiBank can now track possible frauds, unusual charges or any suspicious transactions. Their clients are notified about the detected anomalies on their accounts. At the same time, Feedzai helps providers and retailers to monitor all financial activity and identify threats related to their business.

The wind of change

Focus on customer experience, automation and higher investments in cybersecurity will inevitably impact the banks’ offer. With many new fin-techs emerging lately as an alternative to traditional banking, banks need to reestablish their operations, processes and adopt new approaches if they want to stay competitive on the market. 

Changes should take place quickly, and the industry is starting to realize the fact. At the latest Digital Finance Summit conference (a more detailed report coming soon) Pierre-Alexandre Boulay, Head of Sales CEE from Backbase postulated moving away from the long-term RFP (Request for Proposal) procedure. Instead of a long-lasting process, sometimes taking up to 2 years, he proposed a more agile approach: using a Proof of Concept and a quick decision-making framework to start projects within 6 months. Will this be a game changer in a way to compete with aggressive fintech strategies? In my view it could be one to put the bets on.

Still, the potential of data-driven banking has not yet been fully discovered and exploited. Only a small number of banks have been successful in data-leveraging as 85 % initiatives normally fail in this area. Learn how CCA Europe’s solution could help you use some of your data to your benefit. Contact us for a discovery call.

The post Automation and customization: how to go onto data-driven banking first appeared on CCA Europe.

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