Overview
Client:
Neero
Location
Cameroon & France
Industry
Fintech
Platform
Web & Mobile
Technology
Java / Spring Boot / Kubernetes / Flowable
Timeline
1 Year (on going)
Team
5 backend engineers
The Project
Neero is an early-stage fintech startup whose goal is to provide financial services in Central and West Africa to those without access to traditional banking providers. Launching soon, the app offers a digital wallet and allows users to apply for loans and credit cards.
When Neero approached us, they were facing problems that are common for fintech startups: how to verify their users’ identity, how to become compliant with financial regulations, and how to seamlessly integrate with their banking partners. At Ethical Devs we built the backend of the app using a microservices architecture and choosing a low-code tool to automate core process flows like identity verification. Together with Neero we created a strong partnership and the app is now ready to launch on time – while being fully compliant with PCI DSS.
Automating process flows using Flowable
One challenge for any fintech is how to verify the user’s identity during the registration process (known as ‘KYC’). To highlight the complexity, few traditional banks provide services in the region of Africa that Neero aims to serve. Banks that do operate in this region often require too much information right from the start of the sign up process – this means many of the requirements can’t be met by everyone. Therefore it was very important to Neero that the identity verification process was as frictionless as possible for the user while still allowing Neero to gather the information needed.
To facilitate the key processes, we used an open source, low-code tool called Flowable. This allowed us to automate the business decisions required in the app in a way that would be extensible in the future. The tool was chosen in discussion with Neero’s CTO who had experience using Flowable as a workflow engine in the banking industry. Together we developed a helper library to be used in all microservices where Flowable is needed.
The Flowable UI provides a way for Neero to manage changes to the process without an engineer’s involvement. Neero’s CEO says:
“I have a UI/UX designer background with no real technical knowledge. But I have extensive business knowledge in the banking and finance industry. Flowable helps make sure that complex processes will be implemented in the right way without me having to see any code. Moreover, we can update different parts of the processes instantaneously with little to no effort. It is a fantastic tool!!!”
One of the core flows for Neero is the registration process, which is defined in Flowable and includes steps such as the user providing their name, phone number and identification documents (e.g. passport). In some processes, there may be the need for human intervention – such as for a loan application – in this case there is an approval stage in the flow and the automation pauses until the financial advisor has approved, rejected or modified the loan application.
Achieving PCI DSS compliance
Another challenge facing Neero was ensuring their app was compliant with financial regulations – this is necessary in order to provide financial services such as issuing credit cards.
Complying with PCI DSS can be very resource intensive. We offered two solutions: either we could single-handedly architect the system to be PCI compliant or we could connect to a third party system that would handle the compliance. Both scenarios are relatively complex to implement but the latter is cheaper to maintain – this is the option Neero’s founders chose.
For the third party system we decided to use VGS (Very Good Security) which handles the PCI DSS requirements and allows Neero to focus on building their product.
Integrating with third parties
As a fintech, Neero integrates with a wide range of different partners such as banks and credit card providers. Each of these partners offers complexity with their own API and systems. We used our expertise in fintech to quickly and seamlessly integrate with these third parties.
Building our partnership
Overall we have built a strong partnership with Neero to help them achieve their aim of launching a fintech app to serve individuals in Central and West Africa. Neero’s CEO says:
It’s a real pleasure to work with the Ethical Devs team. We are a fintech, and to go fast in production we needed to work with a company able to understand our constraints and our need to have excellent developers. The Ethical Devs team exceeded our expectations and allowed us to move forward without worrying about developer staffing, allowing us to focus on the product. We are currently working together to release the first version of our application. We highly recommend them.
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