Caribbean bank

Outcome

Working side-by-side with the client’s IT department, Computools team implemented critical upgrades to the outdated online banking mobile application and implemented three VISA API-integrated microservices. As a result of efficient collaboration, the goals and objectives were achieved, the client is completely satisfied with the finished mobile application, which opens up new opportunities for its consumers.

Several key options we solved:

Provide users with ultimate transaction control, security hold, and parental control options.
Implement transaction validation when the account holder is abroad.
Implement service that allows users to create, preview, edit, and stop transactions.

+ 108%

Throughput, Users

+109%

Average Order

+83%

Increasing Productivity

+ 79%

Increasing Revenue

- 46%

Reducing Costs

52%

Business Process Automation

Business
challenge

weaknesses

Insufficient time for internal IT department scaling
Unavailability of sufficiently experienced in-house engineers
Demanding development schedule

strengths

Market leader with strong demand across the Caribbean
Full range of financial services tailored to regional markets
Customer-centric business processes for increased satisfaction rate
Culture of corporate social responsibility and contributions to important local causes

Project
Description

Caribbean Bank is the largest regional bank across the Dutch and English speaking Caribbean. It offers a full range of financial services in Retail, Corporate, and Investment Banking, as well as Wealth Management and Credit Financing. With millions of private and business customers across 17 Caribbean countries, Caribbean Bank puts client at the center of business processes to ensure satisfying experience and become the first choice of financial services provider in the region.

To fulfill the corporate vision and increase the development pace, the client turned to Computools team for a rehaul of an outdated online banking mobile application. Upon analyzing the client’s requirements, Computools selected experienced software engineers to assist the in-house IT department with updating the mobile app features, developing new microservices and integrating them with VISA API.

Digital Platform & Technology

Java

Computools experts selected Java to update the client's mobile app. This object-oriented programming language ensures security necessary for a financial application. Platform independent multithreaded coding, high performance, and a mature ecosystem with multiple libraries and frameworks made Java a logical choice to meet the client’s requirements.

Microservices

Microservice architecture enabled continuous and independent delivery and deployment of separate blocks of a single complex application. Tight block bounds supported technological variety and allowed Computools experts to implement the most efficient stack for each of the application’s features.

JAX-RS

JAX-RS is a JSR standard that enabled Computools team to develop a RESTful web service that can be deployed by any Java application server. This approach was used for routing definition and to eliminate service class limitations.

Microsoft SQL Server

Computools software engineers employed Microsoft SQL Server to maintain the server’s stable performance and ensure data recoverability and availability. This relational database management system is easily scalable, high performance, secure, and low maintenance which meets the requirements of the client’s application.

Communication Framework

Open and efficient two-way communication is crucial to the success of a digital transformation project. Following consultation with the client, we agreed upon a clear and unambiguous communication framework with scheduled regular face-to-face and online meetings and regular reports by email.Our communication ecosystem also incorporated a structured documents environment and client access to Computools' internal task managing platform. This made both the general project roadmap as well as specific processes transparent and clear for all parties.

Skype

Jira

Slack

Team

To complement the client’s in-house team, Computools screened the pool of software engineers. The most experienced developers with Backend Java and Microservices architecture expertise were chosen to accelerate the mobile app development.

1. Computools team 2. CARIBBEAN BANK

Business Analyst

Nikita Abelmasov

Team Lead

Oleg Svet

Project Manager

Andrey Melnichenko

Software Engineer

Igor Ryadinsky

Software Engineer

Mikhail Bobrovsky

Quality Assurance Engineer

Gleb Kovalenko

Team Lead

Project Coordinator

Backstage

The efficiency of the Computools team is contingent on an established development flow and seamless communication between in-house engineers and the client-side specialists. A routine of regular planning sessions and review meetings promotes successful cooperation among the distributed team members.

Sprint Retrospective

Retrospectives rounded up every sprint. Development team members analyzed the strongest and weakest aspects of their processes. Each session was concluded by a plan of operational improvements to be implemented in the course of the following sprint.

Planning Session

Beside initial planning meeting, the Computools team assembled at the beginning of sprints to discuss the features to be implemented, decompose large tasks, assess and assign them to individual developers. Regular planning sessions enabled the team to keep to the development schedule and deliver the product within the deadline set by the client.

Sprint Demo

To ensure cohesive development efforts, Team Lead finalized every sprint with a review and demo session. The whole team could assess the implemented features and the overall progress of the project as well as identify future sprint priorities.

Internal Communication Flow

Computools engineers complemented an international development team that ensured timely implementation of the updated mobile application. Team members used Email, Slack, and Skype for daily communication. The client introduced technical requirements through Confluence, while Jira was the chosen task tracking tool that ensured each assignment was completed on time.

Project Management Methodology

To manage a globally distributed international team, the Scrum agile framework was implemented. Sprint-based project management methodology with daily scrums allowed the team to follow the development plan and stay flexible in the face of unexpected roadblocks. Client-side Scrum Master provided access to Jira and used it to distribute the roles, manage resources, and track the tasks. This cohesive approach enabled the team to successfully address the challenges of the project.

Project timeline

CONSULTING

First Sight

Client's business processes analysis
Identifying strengths & weaknesses
Setting goals with the client
Deriving Specification, Tasks & Deadlines

Product DESIGN

Planning

Business process modelling
Technology selection

Project Management Flow

Expertise-based talent evaluation and team forming
Internal Communication Flow establishment
Project Management Methodology

Development Flow

Methodology Implementation

Product Engineering

System Implementation

System requirements’ analysis
Role Assignment Tasks Assignment

Software Development

Code Creating & Refactoring
Testing & Fixing

Launch

Verification of safety requirements
System Launch
Deploy & Support

Design

The design team had the task of designing a dashboard interface that would be concise, easy to understand for port staff, and without distracting elements. At the same time, however, the design had to include all the essential operational elements. The focus was on achieving that; the work was carried out dynamically, with ongoing communication with the client, taking into account all individual features of the project.

User persona → Site map → Wireframes → user interface

User persona

Designing a product based on worked out user personas who are going to use a product or interact with a brand.

Site map

Logically structuring pages and their content within a domain.

Wireframes

Creating a prototype for a product, presenting future layout of different interface elements and their interaction: navigational systems, search forms, news feeds, and other components.