Our Profile Automated Testing Tool (PATT) combines the advantages of manual and mass testing. Another improvement of the platform is the integration of PATT with one of the most popular web application testing solutions, Selenium.

PATT says “Check!”

The platform PATT is the result of many years of cooperation between experts with CCA Europe.pl and banking sector institutions. It enables comprehensive testing not only of the FIS Profile software but also other IT solutions beyond reach for classic test automation tools.

The environment allows both running classic automated tests and verifying the data. PATT supports the development and functional tests, but can also be used for integration, acceptance tests, etc. Until now, PATT performed three types of testing operations: SQL – queries directly to the database, MRPC – remote FIS Profile procedures, e.g. creating a new client and ATM – preparing and processing card messages in the ISO-8583 standard.

The application defines commands in a natural language, and the intuitive interface is user-friendly.

A deep dive into banking processes

Running tests on systems inaccessible via the browser level is very expensive and most often done manually. Thus, test automation is typically only done in critical areas.

Previously, to test banking applications, the CCA Europe test team used PATT and the web application testing tool, Selenium independently. Following the two-way integration with Selenium, PATT’s functionalities can be used for comprehensive testing of banking applications. On the other hand, the Selenium functionalities enable designing comprehensive tests for banking processes and drawing meaningful conclusions based on the obtained results.

“Thus far, if the bank has only used Selenium for automation, now it will be able to update its existing test scripts”, explained Jacek Nowak, CEO of CCA Europe. “Integration gives it the missing extra depth. Now it can verify not only the visible effects of the test but also its effects in the core system. As a consequence, it introduces a completely new quality, drastically reducing the risk of problems with the tested software.”

For the first time, integration of these two powerful tools enables end-to-end testing of banking processes – not from the perspective of a single application, but from the banking process in its entirety, which can include multiple applications and is similar to a chain reaction.

“PATT’s integration with Selenium allows accelerating the work of human testers, and moreover reduces costs for the business. What is most important from the end-user point of view, extensive system validation, ensures a reliable representation of the banking process”, says Mateusz Cierpka, Full-Stack Developer at CCA Europe.pl, responsible for the integration project.

Top-class IT standards now available for banking

Thanks to the integration with Selenium, the new solution has a user-friendly interface. It can be used to test a wide range of banking application functionalities and entire banking processes, also in non-web systems other than FIS Profile.

However, to obtain meaningful results, the test parameters must be set correctly. “Properly designing a banking application testing process requires knowledge of banking rigours and areas that require special attention”, said Jacek Nowak, CEO of CCA Europe. “A modern bank is a software developer and must implement the best standards in the IT industry, in line with the approach of continuous delivery and continuous integration. As certified test specialists, we are an independent partner of the bank guaranteeing the reliability of the software produced”, concluded the CEO of CCA Europe.pl.

If you want to learn more about CCA Europe’s comprehensive testing projects and regression testing for banking, both manual and automated, please contact us.

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Cloud’n’play: the future of banking?

The transition to the cloud is a revolution of a much greater size than the emergence of the core systems 20 years ago. Back then, the leap was contained only inside of the realm of the banking world. Now the banks are transforming in the hope of becoming hubs for all matters of life, not only finances.

This is because In their strive towards improved customer experience, the e-commerce giants such as Amazon or Google have stepped into the realm of payments. They proved that they are technically savvy enough to handle payment processing, and to do it well, i.e. exceeding customer expectations. In response, banks have spotted the red flags and dashed after the runaway train. Their agenda is not only to improve their CX to match that of e-commerce’s, but also to expand their offer with services in such a way that will keep e-commerce at bay. The new standard of banking will include insurance services, investment consulting, or any finance-related service, that Amazon is new to. However, to withstand the competition of agile e-commerce, banks need  more than even a top-class core system. What they need is an entire ecosystem of integrated applications – no longer on-prem, but in the cloud.

In the new ecosystem, each mobile banking application is to bring benefit to the customer and to be standardized. In some time, Apple Store or Google Play will offer several dozen applications meeting all customer needs, not only those related to finance. With standard interfaces, the application can “plug’n’play” into the bank’s IT architecture, regardless of the manufacturer. And when a revolutionary fintech application comes up on the market, a “cloud-native” bank will be able to buy it, connect it to their servers and offer the service to the customer via a plug, available for download in an ordinary app store. 

In my opinion, this is what the banking of the future will look like in the cloud model. The clients “plug” the preferred application package into the architecture of the selected bank, and “uninstall” as they wish. In such an arrangement, the bank will do everything to encourage customers to “plug in” with them, and not with their competition. To retain the customer, the existing central systems must become at least “plug’n’play-ready”, either natively or via adapters. There is only one “but” – no mature central banking system in the world is ready for this yet. 

Is the runaway train worth chasing?

Of course, there are visionary solutions such as @Frank Sanchez’ Finxact, a cloud-native Core as a Service. In March this year, the new digital banking app One and FirstBank operating in western US announced that they chose Finxact to power their services. In late 2019, Finxact launched cooperation with the US Clearing House (TCH) to bring real-time payments capabilities to its customers through the RTP® network, a new payment network financial institutions can use to clear and settle real-time consumer and business payments. 

Finxact initiative is a big leap towards genuine cloud freedom, but it still has a long way to go, as does all the industry. Perhaps, since the system was designed natively for the cloud, its “plug’n’play” features will allow it to supplement any missing functionalities with third party cloud native plugins? In the meantime, what are small and medium-sized banks to do? First of all, they don’t have a core system that could handle cloud solutions well. The solutions available so far have limited functionalities, but over time we can expect core system upgrades to the cloud, with several pre-integrated applications.

FIS, a leading technology provider for the financial world, recently announced that it already has 74 external SLA-guaranteed applications ready for its cloud-ready core system. Still, replacing the core system, or even upgrading its version, is a multi-million dollar investment, which amortizes within a dozen or so years.

When faced with such decisions, banks, especially medium and small-sized, will probably try to patch up the old systems with makeshifts. However, for some operations, these temporary solutions will not be enough. In-house solutions will certainly not be able to compete with the proposals of those players who join ranks with Amazon, Google and Facebook. How will this translate into customer satisfaction? I’m sure the customer will vote with their feet. As a result, within 12 years time, 80% of financial firms will either go out of business or be rendered irrelevant by new competition, changing customer behaviour and advancements in technology, according to forecasts by Gartner.

The giants have enormous money sacks, which they use easily when there is a potential to earn even more in the future. With modern solutions in place, the largest players will be able to adapt to the client overnight, at the same time dividing and conquering the market among themselves and leaving no room for third-party competition. It will impact business partners, customers and IT suppliers of minor players. The question is not if it happens, but when.

Focus on the customer, and not on the chase

However, traditional banking is not without a chance. In its fervor of chasing the next exciting technology the top players can actually lose their touch with reality and the customer will be lost on the way. This is where the banking model based on a proven, long-term partnership has the upper hand. While a part of society feels good about constant change, it is still in the minority, albeit growing. The latter part is focused on stability and gradual evolution. After all, the average length of a relationship with a bank in the UK is 17 years, often longer than a marriage! 

Before the central system vendors are ready with the product and the race leaders reach the “cloud’n’play level”, customer satisfaction is the safest bet. Instead of building virtual worlds, it is worth putting your efforts into a relationship with the client and showing that it is you who is trying harder. There already is a way to genuinely care for the customer, and have them attached enough so that they won’t change ship in the first wave to come as soon as Google Pay offers them a bank account.

How to emerge a winner?

I believe the quick wins strategy is most effective. The clients will feel appreciated when they notice the bank cares for them through frequent, yet not necessarily major, improvements and changes. 

Our proprietary system Payres is based on this idea. It activates banking data in real-time and keeps the customer engaged, or even appreciated thanks to push notifications. The bank is following the e-commerce trends we got us accustomed to – instant response combined with proximity.

The point is not to give up the cloud altogether, but to think about which applications are crucial from the bank’s point of view, and to have them ready when the time comes. Meanwhile, you can consider redirecting the flow of investments from the cloud race to pro-customer solutions. 

If you want to learn more about how the Payres system works, or talk about cloud solutions for banking, do not hesitate to contact me!

Jacek Nowak, CEO CCA Europe

Jacek has been working in the IT sector of the banking industry since 1997, and is a business owner since 2004. He specializes in the digitization of global and local processes related to payment processing, card payments and customer satisfaction. In his limited spare time, he plays board games. LinkedIn profile: linkedin.com/in/jacekvonnowak/

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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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