Unlocking online banking services with a high-performing mobile app

Background

As mobile devices become central to everyday life, users demand a greater range of different services at their disposal. Recognizing this trend, a leading telecom network operator identified a transformative opportunity to boost convenience for its customers by bridging the gap between mobile users and online banking services.  

The client approached us with a vision to develop a mobile application that would seamlessly integrate their current banking services with one of Vietnam’s leading banks. Their goal is to enable customers to make bank transactions on any mobile device, anytime, anywhere. 

This integration enables customers to carry out transactions using their bank accounts, mobile numbers, or through any designated transaction points of the client. This innovative approach ensures that banking services are more accessible, convenient, and user-friendly than ever before. 

This groundbreaking service caters to the growing appetite for financial agility and hence boosting the client’s competitive edge significantly.  

Solution 

To navigate these challenges, our first step involved thorough exchanges with both the telecommunications provider and the banking institutions to clearly define the integration system’s requirements. Understanding and analyzing the banks’ intricate operational processes was pivotal in tailoring suitable functions for the app 

When building the API gateway, GEM’s team managed the bank system’s requests and responses from multiple entry points. Then we bring them back to the telecom network system through a single gateway to ensure consistent communication.  

GEM deployed the system on different nodes on the back end to ensure proper distribution for the platform. At the same time, we had to follow strict security guidelines as there was confidential customer data that needed to be processed. Given the sensitive nature of banking transactions, adhering to strict security protocols was non-negotiable. Thus, a considerable part of our effort was dedicated to implementing robust security measures to protect the vast amounts of customer data being processed. 

Tech stack

• Native Apps in Apple App Store and Google Play Store 

• JBOSS/EJB3 for web-service and business logic 

• Hibernate for persistence layer 

• Database Oracle 12 

• SOAP protocol for communication between client’s server and external system integration 

• Source management using Bitbucket 

Output

Since its launch, the app has been considered a leading player in the Vietnam fintech landscape. It allows users to use their registered phone numbers to make transactions up to 40 domestic banks in Vietnam. They can also open savings accounts from their mobile phones and make payment for electricity bills, internet bills, and cable TV bills. 

Impacts

Thanks to the work done by GEM’s team, the mobile app offers an unparalleled level of convenience and versatility via multiple fintech services available. It is one of the pioneers in connecting users to several banks in the market. 

With these outstanding characteristics, it won two national awards and two international awards in the Finance-Technology industry for its innovation and connectivity. 

As of 2021, it attained over 3 million users with 10.3 million transactions monthly and a rating of 4.3 out of 5 on the Google Play Store.