Retail Bank³ – a digital banking revolution
November 2021The coronavirus pandemic and high customer expectations have forced banks to innovate. One by one, they have been introducing new online banking services or at least improving existing ones. But it has not always been a change for the better. "The development of software usually takes many months or years, and the investments are in the tens of millions of crowns. When problems arise during implementation, the bank finds itself in a tight spot," says Čeněk Navrátil of BSC, which is responding to this situation by introducing its own digital banking solution delivered in the form of Retail Bank³. Retail Bank³ is a unique approach that allows banks to try out mobile and web applications and quickly deploy them into the banking environment in only three steps.
COVID-19 has moved the majority of customers into the online world and the boom in communication through digital channels has been a significant stress test for many banks. When COVID first hit, the weaknesses of existing online banking and applications became apparent. Financial institutions realised that they needed to innovate if they wanted to survive and keep their customers. Komerční banka, ČSOB, Poštovní spořitelna and mBank all introduced new internet banking while others, like Air Bank, have, at minimum, improved their applications.
However, some innovations have not been introduced to the market as quickly as the banks and the clients themselves would like. “The problem is that software development and implementation are both time-consuming and costly, and banks usually don’t have the opportunity to test everything in advance,” says Čeněk Navrátil, who has been involved in digital transformation of banks for over 30 years, and adds. “Then, if there is a hitch, banks don’t want to throw it all away and start over again. It would be a big loss for them, so they try to save what they can.”
Retail Bank³ offers a unique approach
Aware of these complications, BSC has brought to the market a new digital banking solution and an unconventional form of delivery that can prevent potential problems. “Even before the project was launched, we were surprised by the interest from banks,” notes Čeněk Navrátil, explaining, “We thought that the digital banking market was pretty much saturated, but it turned out that there was a significant demand for replacing outdated solutions.”
Retail Bank³, from the leader in the banking software segment, gives interested financial institutions the opportunity to test whether the software is right for them and meets all their expectations in three simple and quick steps. In the first step, mobile and web applications can be tested immediately. The next step is to try them out in the bank’s environment, including the implementation of customizations. The final step is the delivery of customized digital banking and its full integration with the bank’s systems. The unprecedented speed of this entire process is revolutionary.
The main advantage of this approach is the transparency and quickness with which the new digital banking can be implemented. Thanks to the modular Digital Bank OS platform which the solution is built on, it can be developed further and features can be added flexibly and quickly according to the needs of a specific bank. Another plus is the much friendlier price compared to custom-made solutions. “Instead of many long months or years of development, the bank can use a proven platform, a pre-prepared and bank-tested solution, including our experience from dozens of implementations, and have everything in a much shorter time frame,” says Čeněk Navrátil from BSC and concludes. ” Our product solution also allows third-party integration via APIs which provides clients comprehensive services far beyond just core banking needs. Overall, it’s a modern technology that can be continuously improved and developed. Retail Bank³ will never be a software solution that’s been in the pipeline for such a long time that it’s obsolete before it’s even implemented and is criticised instead of celebrated.”
