Make The Most of The Rise of Neo Banks and Digital Transactions

In the last year, the banking industry has seen the dramatic rise of Revolut/Monzo-like applications or the so-called Neo Banks. Initially, their applications did not seem something different from a standard mobile banking application. However, there are key factors that determined their high-growth potential. These features seem to overlap with the needs of the new generation, which is used to:

• Fully digital experience
• Immediate results
• Social interaction
• Proactive suggestions

While the trend is obvious, the question is what banks can do in order to minimise the disruption.

RBS and Their Mettle Product

RBS is one of the first banks to start tackling the disruption. Maybe because the UK/London is the fin-tech paradise and most of the disruptors come from there. However, the banks in the whole of Europe are in danger of disruption, since a NeoBank is fully digital and can operate on any local market, without investing in physical infrastructure. RBS launched Mettle end of 2018, targeting business users. Their fully digital platform is under a separate brand and is targeting business owners, who want to send/receive payments and manage their credit cards with ease. The marketing language Mettle is using is “easy, instant, single tap and forward-looking finances”. One of the main diversifiers from standard mobile banking is that payment transactions happen IMMEDIATELY. This is done via separate payment infrastructure, which is not the core banking payment infrastructure. Allowing immediate transactions, however, is a risk driver. That is why there are limits for transactions:

• £50,000 maximum account holding
• £10,000 maximum transaction
• Maximum transactions of £20,000 a week and £50,000 a month
• Cash withdrawal limited to £500 a day and £4,000 a month

The application is really user-friendly and allows extra interactions such as:

• Manage credit cards
  • Request
  • Activate
  • Deactivate
  • Change pin numbers
• Send/receive money from other named accounts (not IBANs)
• Simplified bookkeeping
• Convenient business reporting

The design and UX of the app make Mettle really attractive for SMEs and new generation users.

How to Implement Such Solution

Implementing such a solution requires an innovative approach and out-of-the-box thinking. Usually, internal IT teams are full of ongoing tasks and rely on the existing infrastructure. That is why RBS has hired external software partners to deliver the product for them. The main components that need to be delivered are:

• New payment processing infrastructure
• Super convenient UI and UX
• State of the art mobile applications
• Back Office and support portals

The implementation of such a product requires agile, customer-centric delivery that follows best enterprise standards. In order to provide quick release cycles, the delivery teams need to adopt:

• Continuous delivery model
• DevOps
• Test Automation
• Agile project management

Models of Delivery

Dreamix can provide 2 models of work to deliver such a solution - either with an external partner or by building a new delivery unit. Dreamix is happy to assist with both of them: Dedicated delivery team - a team that consists of top quality experts from Dreamix and take on the positions of:

• Software Architecture
• Product Management
• Software Developers
• Testers
• DevOps experts
• UX & Designers

Build - Operate - Transfer (BOT) - this starts with creating a delivery team in Sofia that will work on standard time and material model. This model is working really well with Pro7Sat1, where Dreamix and BICA Services have assembled a team of 20+ software experts, who are delivering the next generation video streaming platform. Once the team is up and running and you're happy with the delivery, the team is transfered to your banking organisation.