Client at a glance
Digitizing the Future of Banking
Through advanced architecture, seamless collaboration, and rapid digitization, Mashreqbank is transforming customer experiences across all channels. By reducing reliance on legacy systems and introducing scalable solutions, we enabled Mashreq to maintain its leadership in the competitive financial sector while setting a new benchmark for digital innovation.
Challenge
Mashreqbank PSC, the UAE’s oldest privately-owned bank, launched an ambitious initiative to completely transform all its customer-facing channel applications. The scope included digitizing their Mobile Banking, Desktop Banking, Credit Cards Marketing, KYC, and Branch Service Tablet applications.
The initiative faced several challenges:
- Time Constraints: The MVP phases for all applications were planned to roll out simultaneously within one year—a tight timeline for such a large-scale transformation.
- Complex Collaboration: With over 40 team members spanning multiple vendors, in-house squads, and McKinsey Digital, seamless communication and alignment were essential to deliver the project on time.
- Legacy Infrastructure: The existing middleware (ESB) exposed functionalities to all applications, creating bottlenecks and latency issues that could impact performance.
- Performance and Scalability: The architecture needed to handle high traffic, ensure security, and support future growth while detaching from legacy dependencies.
Our Approach
To address these challenges, we focused on creating a unified backend infrastructure and delivering an MVP for the Branch Service Tablet application.
Key actions included:
- Backend Transformation:
- Developed a scalable, modern backend using Java Microservices with the Spring Framework and Spring Cloud, following Domain-Driven Design (DDD) principles.
- Addressed performance issues with the legacy middleware by implementing the CQRS pattern and efficient caching at the backend layer.
- Introduced two intermediary layers to streamline communication with the ESB, reducing bottlenecks and improving system performance.
- Automated CI/CD Pipelines:
- Implemented deployment pipelines for Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD), enabling autonomous deployment of microservices in staging and production environments.
- Digitization of Branch Services:
- Developed the MVP for the Branch Tablet Application, digitizing and automating over 50 service journeys in just three months, including:
- Funds Transfers
- Print Statements
- Transaction Dispute Requests
- Cheque Book Requests
- Card Replacement
- Account Closure (reduced from one week to minutes)
- Developed the MVP for the Branch Tablet Application, digitizing and automating over 50 service journeys in just three months, including:
Impact Delivered
- Scalable Backend Architecture: Delivered a unified backend for all frontend channels, reducing dependency on legacy infrastructure and enabling future expansion.
- Enhanced Development Efficiency: CI/CD pipelines improved the development process, enabling faster, independent deployments.
- Accelerated Service Delivery: Automated over 50 customer-facing service journeys, improving operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Successful MVP Launch: Deployed the MVP Branch Tablet Application at Dubai Mall, marking the first step in Mashreq’s digital transformation journey.
Expertise and Scope
- Deliverables: Fully-featured MVP Branch Tablet Application
- Technology Stack: Java 8, Spring Framework (Boot, Batch, Cloud, Redis), RabbitMQ, MSSQL, React Native, Azure DevOps
- Team: 5 Backend Developers, 4 Frontend Developers