Inetum supports Backbase, one of the top FinTech companies in the Netherlands and an Engagement Banking Platform provider

We are carrying out a greenfield FinTech project, supporting Backbase in creating innovative engagement banking solutions that are changing the face of banking. Our dedicated teams, including the best Java developers in Poland, are developing one of the leading digital banking platforms in the world.

The need

Backbase is a Dutch FinTech and the provider of an engagement banking platform (EBP) streamlining online financial operations, which is used by over 120 banking institutions around the world. The Backbase solution is globally recognized as a frontrunner by leading analyst companies: Forrester, Ovum and Celent, and is currently developing intensively on foreign markets. Apart from its headquarters in Amsterdam, the FinTech company has branches in Great Britain, United States, Mexico, Singapore to name a few. Next to these regional HUBS Backbase set out to set up an R&D center in Poland, Krakow. Backbase’s goal was to build teams in a new location within the shortest possible time, and therefore they were looking for an IT nearshoring partner. Inetum was the standout choice.

The client’s system

Backbase provides a flexible engagement banking platform which enables financial institutions and banks to create web and mobile applications tailored to their needs without interfering with existing transaction systems. Digital Banking and Digital Sales are the main trends in the increasingly digitized banking world and a response to greater customer needs in the field of UX and mobile banking. Thanks to the Backbase platform, banks’ customers can use the application on any device; what is more, thanks to integration with other innovative digital solutions offered by FinTech providers, they are also able to use additional services.

The challenge

• Opening a development center in Krakow and fast onboarding of Back-End, Front-End, mobile development teams and automation testers
• Experience in the field of FinTech and banking to ensure high financial services security standards
• Remote implementation of the project and the possibility of joining other teams
• Upscaling the teams in terms of further cooperation

Solution

From the very start of building the Development Center, Inetum played a significant role in accelerating the growth in both areas – R&D and Professional Services.

Engineering Manager

Initially, 15 people from Inetum joined Backbase’s teams: Front-End, Back-End (Java), mobile developers, QA engineers and a Scrum Master. After eight months of cooperation, 40 specialists were already involved in two teams: R&D Digital Sales and Customer Success. Next, as the cooperation developed, our backend developers provided support for R&D Digital Sales team.

As part of Customer Success, we provide support for mobile developers, and the R&D team develops new modules of the Backbase Engagement Banking platform – Java developers work only on new functionalities, using the latest proven technologies, such as Java 11, AWS cloud, Spring Boot and Kubernetes. The projects are based on a microservice architecture which facilitates product management and the implementation of changes in functionalities. Inetum’s solutions are implemented by dedicated teams on the client side. Developers work based on agile methodology, independently selecting technologies and tools used in projects, and QA engineers take care of the quality of functionalities. The code of the developed application has almost 100% unit test coverage.

Benefits for the client

• Support of the best Java developers in Poland (according to the Clutch 2020 ranking)
• Quick response to the need to scale teams
• An independent and mature competence team
• Delivery Manager and Business Development Manager who coordinates the activities on the provider’s side
• A dedicated project website, helping to promote and build Backbase’s image on the new Polish market

What’s next?

One year after cooperation began, the client decided to entrust us with building another team – R&D Trade Banking. After R&D Digital Sales and Customer Success, it will be the third team working for Backbase on the Inetum side.

“We treat Inetum consultants the same way we treat our own employees. Simply they make up one team, working together on a daily basis”

• Poland – a proven destination for FinTech projects
• Support for innovation: FinTech Poland – Financial Innovation Foundation
• Intensive development of the payment sector and respected providers: BLUE MEDIA, PayU and BLIK (Polish Payment Standard)
• Warsaw has been ranked 12th in Europe and 1st in Central and Eastern Europe in the Global Financial Center Index (GFCI) ranking, which examines the competitiveness of financial centers
• Krakow’s vast investment potential: a friendly academic and business environment for the development of greenfield projects

Read more: Why is it worthwhile outsourcing IT services to Poland