Placing the Customer at the Core of Payment Processing Evolution in the German Financial Services Industry

Project Overview

Ageing financial software poses a major challenge in the fiercely competitive German banking market, as customer experience becomes an increasingly relevant driver of business growth, while risk management and security regulations may cause fines or loss of customer trust if not addressed. As a result, financial institutions often require a mix of tech skills and business understanding to develop stable, future-ready solutions that meet changing customer expectations without sacrificing stability or compliance.

As long-standing tech partners for Atruvia, with many past and ongoing collaborations with our client, our team worked closely with their specialists. This principle applies not only to major project decisions but also to everyday work, developing solutions that deliver tangible benefits to banks and their customers. We further strengthened our mutual understanding and cooperation through several on-site visits between our team and the client’s.

The solution we developed together fundamentally enhanced functionality, lowered risks, and modernized usability in four core banking processes.

While creating the Order limit management and Order approval processes, we enabled end users of the banks to change their order limits and approve orders independently and on a case-by-case basis, reducing manual effort for both the user and their bank. Users are automatically notified of completed limit changes via messages sent to their mailboxes in the OnlineBanking, which can also be downloaded as PDFs.

By developing the Direct debit process, end users were enabled to develop single direct debits, basic recurring direct debits and batch direct debits, improving flexibility and convenience while lowering the amount of manual effort needed. The SEPA direct debit returns process allows customers to return direct debits, whether they were not executed or already processed, ensuring better control over their financial transactions.

Enhancing overall Banking functionality, a goal effectively addressed through the migration from a legacy monolithic architecture to a microservices architecture, covered several key areas. The current solution provides better scalability and control over each separate process. Regulatory compliance and security were guaranteed by implementing cybersecurity measures from the earliest stages and updating existing containers. Statistics, useful for both optimizing system performance and understanding user behavior, are generated by a robust, event-driven system.

We ensured that all interactions between banks and their customers are modern, digital experiences that live up to today’s expectations. By redesigning the platform’s UI in conformity with Atruvia guidelines, including a Dark Mode functionality, we ensure it’s more intuitive, user friendly, and easier to use. We also made sure that the solution is available to more people through increased accessibility (multi-language functionalities) and provides added value by increasing autonomy (independent order management).

Results

The solution we developed together brings tangible benefits to both banks and their customers. For banks, the positive impact is on operational efficiency, covering system performance, compliance, security, reduced overhead, and fewer manual interventions. Bank customers gain an improved user experience, with an enhanced interface and new accessibility features.

The solution offers the bank’s customers, both business entities and end users, greater flexibility and control over their finances. They are able to customise their transaction limits according to their own needs and preferences.

The ability to set personalised limits also enables access to more customisation. Users can adjust their daily limits in line with their financial goals, risk tolerance, and spending habits. For example, they may choose higher limits when planning significant purchases or lower limits for enhanced security.

In addition, the ability to set daily limits can contribute to a stronger personal sense of security. Defined limits may give users greater reassurance and a clearer feeling of control over their payment transactions. At the same time, the feature increases convenience, as customers can adjust their limits directly in the application without needing to contact the bank or visit a branch.

For business customers in particular, this capability provides enhanced operational functionality. Setting daily limits helps organisations manage expenses more effectively and reduces the risk of unauthorised transactions, especially when multiple employees have access to company accounts.

For the banks, all these improvements in user experience directly contribute to increased customer loyalty and engagement, and an even more attractive offer compared to their competitors. In short, this solution strengthens relationships between banks and their customers, paving the way for sustained business growth.

An equally important positive impact is felt on operational efficiency. The omnichannel architecture ties operational costs to usage, reducing preventable costs, offering scalability by design, and improving system performance while reducing the risk of penalties and building trust with regulatory authorities.