Fraud protection comes first as a banking software provider eyes cloud transformation
KPMG delivers speed to value through an elegant orchestration layer
Client
A global payments and financial services technology provider
Industry
Technology / Financial services
Primary goal
Integrate existing anti-money laundering (AML) and fraud screening capabilities with a next-generation banking core platform
The financial services industry needs more flexible, innovative core banking platforms to deploy new products and services. A global fintech and payments company introduced a cloud-native Core-as-a-Service platform to address this need for more agility, adaptability, and scalability. When it was acquired by a larger financial service software provider, the goal was to offer new cloud solutions. But creating market-ready products would require integration with the company’s existing software.
As the client planned to combine two very different banking solutions, KPMG supported the integration of the existing fraud and AML solution to the new core and adapt batch capabilities to be more real-time relevant. Addressing this critical function first would make the difference in transforming the client’s products to meet the changing needs of the banking industry.
KEY OUTCOMES
Making a measurable difference
- A single cloud-based fraud protection solution
- Two technical platforms combined after an acquisition
- An extensible road for future transformation of multiple banking functions
Client transformation journey
Click on each part of the journey to learn more about our client’s transformation.
One of the reasons we won this project was because most other integrators just provide bodies, and then the client has to manage them along with their own staff. Well, they don’t have the time—they already have a day job. And so doing additional things and having to manage somebody else is just another burden for them. At KPMG, we take ownership, and as we work with our clients to deliver these types of solutions, we collaborate with them every step of the way.
Rebecca Pound
Managing Director, Cloud Engineering, KPMG Lighthouse
A Lighthouse-led KPMG team makes the difference
1. Definition and design phase
Looking at end users to plan a better product
The Lighthouse team began by working with the client to define the capabilities and features that new fraud screening solution should provide for banking customers. Key steps included:
- Establishing general end-user requirements for fraud screening, AML, and related functions
- Defining specific end-user personas, such as fraud analyst, fraud supervisor, and banking customer wire transfer personnel
- Planning the future end-user experience and workflows
- Identifying key stakeholder requirements for product approvals
- Reviewing service-level agreements for customers already using core banking solutions from the acquired company.
Once these product goals were set, the next step was to evaluate the technical and performance requirements needed to deliver them, including:
- Basic nonfunctional requirements such as real-time speed and mainframe-level reliability
- Specific functional requirements such as data domains, API end points, and the ability to monitor inward and outward requests for payment transactions
- Creating a user interface that can be easily adapted to meet the needs of customers and individual end users.
2. Development and construction phase
Applying the right resources, people, and program management techniques
Meeting the scope and scale of the project would require a coordinated global delivery team. Overall direction came from lead business analysts and software developers from the Lighthouse network, while day-to-day programming and integration were executed in partnership with professionals at offshore delivery centers operated by KPMG Global Services (KGS) and KPMG Technology Services Americas (KTSA).
Integrating the client’s existing fraud solution with the acquired cloud-based core banking platform was executed in four phases:
- API modernization via Representational State Transfer web services architecture, which allows applications in multiple programming languages to communicate with each other
- Data ingestion and extract, transform, and load from the new core platform to the fraud product via Apache’s Kafka open-source distributed streaming system
- Establish integration points between existing fraud scoring logic and new real-time scoring capabilities
- Create user interface enhancements based on user personas, requirements, and workflows.
In managing the project, KPMG followed an Agile-Scrum methodology model to provide ongoing oversight and continuously measure progress toward key goals and delivery dates. Day-to-day management practices included:
- Two daily stand-ups (a.m./p.m.) for global team alignment
- “Sprints” of two weeks allowing the development team to focus on iterative design and build
- Weekly client “sync” meetings to review progress
- Biweekly sprint demo sessions with client stakeholders to demo the technology and receive feedback
- Maintaining close contact between the Lighthouse team and client stakeholders.
3. Testing and delivery phase
Primed with a market-ready solution on a tight schedule
In the final phase of the project, KPMG conducted performance testing of the new fraud detection solution with the client’s product team and pilot banking customers. This testing confirmed that fraud-scoring alerts were triggered accurately and delivered in real time to the user interface. After providing an initial minimum viable product (MVP) for review by the client and making further revisions, a production version of the solution was released in April 2023—only six months after the project began.
4. Evolution phase
Blazing a new trail for future transformation
With fraud protection now adapted to a cloud-native architecture, our client is evaluating other banking functions for the same migration. The software orchestration layer created for fraud and AML can be applied to other areas, such as digital solutions, customer channels, and payments platforms. How these additional functions will be prioritized in the near term will depend on commitments to the client’s current banking customers, but over time demand for more cloud-based banking options may also attract new customers seeking a combination of flexible, forward-looking technology with an established banking software provider.
Accelerate your transformation to a digital first, customer-centric bank
Changing customer expectations, new competitors, and technical innovation are revolutionizing the banking industry. The KPMG Lighthouse network can show banks and other financial institutions how to accelerate digital transformation by applying advanced technology to drive optimization and sustained growth. Learn more at KPMG Lighthouse.
Meet the team that made the difference for a major financial service software provider
Let’s talk about how we can help you use the right technology and techniques for transformation.
Rebecca Pound
Managing Director, Cloud Engineering, KPMG US
Kevin Martelli
Principal, Lighthouse, KPMG US
Rebecca Pound
Managing Director, Cloud Engineering, KPMG US
Kevin Martelli
Principal, Lighthouse, KPMG US
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