Digital Bank for SMEs
Discover how we managed to launch a full-fledged digital bank from scratch in record time, leading a team of over 70 professionals
11,6k
monthly active users
29 845
clients
$333k
transactional income
$37,5M
merchant sales amount
Client
Home Credit Bank is a leader in consumer lending with a global partner base of 119.6 million clients.
By summer 2022, the SME banking market in Kazakhstan began to change due to the exit of several major players such as Alfa-Bank, SME Banking, and Sberbank, which provided ready-made solutions and services for SMEs. A niche opened up, offering banks a competitive advantage if occupied quickly and efficiently. Also, in 2022, Home Credit Bank introduced the SME segment. Previously, the banking group only served individuals.
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Ranked in the top 10 banks by the number of retail clients
Assets as of February 1, 2023 — $1.125 billion. Equity — $277.8 million
426,900 points of sale and service offices worldwide
Assets as of February 1, 2023 — $1.125 billion. Equity — $277.8 million
426,900 points of sale and service offices worldwide
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Challenge
The task was to create a full-featured bank for entrepreneurs from scratch in a competitive market within tight deadlines.
The mission of the Home Credit Bank SME team is to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. For the company, this meant launching a new business direction — creating a highly competitive digital bank that would solve all entrepreneurs' problems in the best possible way.
The mission of the Home Credit Bank SME team is to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses. For the company, this meant launching a new business direction — creating a highly competitive digital bank that would solve all entrepreneurs' problems in the best possible way.
Market analysis
Kazakhstan's market has nearly 2 million entrepreneurs, with 1.6 million in small business and over 300,000 merchants. All are active bank users, but most are served by 2-4 banks because none cover all their needs.
In collaboration with our partner, we identified the deep needs of users and formulated a product hypothesis. We conducted in-depth interviews with B2C and B2B entrepreneurs from major cities in Kazakhstan in trade and services, created a client profile, and discovered the following:
In collaboration with our partner, we identified the deep needs of users and formulated a product hypothesis. We conducted in-depth interviews with B2C and B2B entrepreneurs from major cities in Kazakhstan in trade and services, created a client profile, and discovered the following:
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Users are attracted to installment payments, but the commission is often unprofitable for the seller, hence the need for installment in a subscription format.
Foreign economic activity (FEA) and cross-border transfers are currently long, expensive, and inconvenient. There is a demand for a bank for foreign trade with convenient and profitable international transfers at maximum speed.
Transfers between legal entities require the use of EDS keys and access to a PC. They should be as simple as between individuals and be carried out without delays — with instant sending and crediting.
The working hours of banks are not synchronized with the entrepreneur's lifestyle. They only work on weekdays, so critical business operations cannot be performed on weekends or in the evenings.
Each bank has its own QR code and significant commission, and transactions during transfers take a long time — the seller and buyer lose time and money. Therefore, the ability to accept payments from individuals, regardless of the buyer's bank, with a reasonable commission, acceptance of funds via QR from any bank account, and instant crediting is relevant.
Entrepreneurs worry when contracting and interacting with legal entities due to a lack of expertise. Therefore, there is a need for a partner bank that shares responsibility and risks with the business, helps conclude contracts with counterparties on its platform, informs about the contract's progress, and monitors the fulfillment of obligations.
Foreign economic activity (FEA) and cross-border transfers are currently long, expensive, and inconvenient. There is a demand for a bank for foreign trade with convenient and profitable international transfers at maximum speed.
Transfers between legal entities require the use of EDS keys and access to a PC. They should be as simple as between individuals and be carried out without delays — with instant sending and crediting.
The working hours of banks are not synchronized with the entrepreneur's lifestyle. They only work on weekdays, so critical business operations cannot be performed on weekends or in the evenings.
Each bank has its own QR code and significant commission, and transactions during transfers take a long time — the seller and buyer lose time and money. Therefore, the ability to accept payments from individuals, regardless of the buyer's bank, with a reasonable commission, acceptance of funds via QR from any bank account, and instant crediting is relevant.
Entrepreneurs worry when contracting and interacting with legal entities due to a lack of expertise. Therefore, there is a need for a partner bank that shares responsibility and risks with the business, helps conclude contracts with counterparties on its platform, informs about the contract's progress, and monitors the fulfillment of obligations.
Simple and fast transfers between legal entities.
The best international bank for foreign economic activity: convenient and profitable cross-border transfers.
A sales dashboard that helps track statistics and increase business turnover with installment programs.
The best international bank for foreign economic activity: convenient and profitable cross-border transfers.
A sales dashboard that helps track statistics and increase business turnover with installment programs.
Therefore, the new product's value proposition was based on three main functions:
Functionality
The bank was designed based on qualitative and quantitative research and considering CIS and global benchmarks. This is a fundamentally different approach: we studied all market scenarios, tested each one, and defended the best solution for the bank. Based on these target scenarios, the bank built and rebuilt internal processes.
The main page of the application was intended to be organized as a stack of cards with information about the business state: account balances and transaction statuses, as well as the most frequently accessed operations — a statement and transfer to a counterparty.
In the first release, three main service functions worked fully:
Daily Banking. Opening an account, receiving and sending payments, viewing the current balance, and transaction history — this is the foundation with which any entrepreneur's bank begins. It was essential to do this quickly and conveniently both in the digital channel and within the bank: to give the entrepreneur the necessary speed for operations — to simplify communication and accelerate payments.
Foreign Economic Activity. Initially, including FEA in the first release was not planned. However, market analysis showed that more and more entrepreneurs in various business segments in Kazakhstan are already engaged in foreign economic activity — for example, trade turnover with EAEU countries in January-April 2023 amounted to $19.874 million, 12% more than in 2022. Kazakhstan's trade with China is also growing: from January to May 2023, its volume increased by 21.6% to $22.385 million. Over the same period in 2022, the figure was $18.407 million. At the same time, entrepreneurs often do not have accountants on staff and face specific difficulties.
Sales Dashboard. This was also included in the first release as a tool that helps track statistics and increase business turnover with installment programs. It now displays the number of sales per day and the balance. In the future, it will feature a dashboard with summary information about the business: income and expenses for the period, sales dynamics in a section, growth dynamics, growth and decline forecasts, or an asset portfolio.
Foreign Economic Activity. Initially, including FEA in the first release was not planned. However, market analysis showed that more and more entrepreneurs in various business segments in Kazakhstan are already engaged in foreign economic activity — for example, trade turnover with EAEU countries in January-April 2023 amounted to $19.874 million, 12% more than in 2022. Kazakhstan's trade with China is also growing: from January to May 2023, its volume increased by 21.6% to $22.385 million. Over the same period in 2022, the figure was $18.407 million. At the same time, entrepreneurs often do not have accountants on staff and face specific difficulties.
Sales Dashboard. This was also included in the first release as a tool that helps track statistics and increase business turnover with installment programs. It now displays the number of sales per day and the balance. In the future, it will feature a dashboard with summary information about the business: income and expenses for the period, sales dynamics in a section, growth dynamics, growth and decline forecasts, or an asset portfolio.
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Design
The design concept was also defended before the bank, backed by evidence. The focus was on addressing the needs of entrepreneurs, avoiding distractions from main tasks, and seamlessly integrating the app into the user's daily routine. A minimalist solution with two accent colors — black and red — was chosen.
We opted out of popular 3D illustrations commonly used elsewhere, favoring a style the team called "duotone isometry" — 2D illustrations imitating 3D. This approach was unique in the market.
For error screens, we aimed to neutralize negative feelings by using illustrations to soften the impact. This led to the creation of a cute robot finding itself in various awkward situations.
We opted out of popular 3D illustrations commonly used elsewhere, favoring a style the team called "duotone isometry" — 2D illustrations imitating 3D. This approach was unique in the market.
For error screens, we aimed to neutralize negative feelings by using illustrations to soften the impact. This led to the creation of a cute robot finding itself in various awkward situations.
Development
Flutter
Chose Flutter as the technical stack — an innovative cross-platform development technology from Google. Home Credit Bank uses Flutter in developing other products, so integrating the new solution into the bank's systems would be easier. Flutter allows the development of one application for both iOS and Android, significantly speeding up the process, which was crucial for each project stage.
Microservice Architecture
The goal of Home Credit Bank is to become one of the top 3 digital banks for entrepreneurs in Kazakhstan. The bank must be convenient, available 24/7, and scalable. Therefore, a microservice architecture was chosen. Unlike a monolith, it provides flexibility and speed, allowing independent teams to develop functionality and reduce time-to-market. Additionally, a microservice architecture allows services to scale flexibly, handling growing user traffic and ensuring high response speed.
Project Management
The project followed the Scrum framework with incremental development and concrete results every two weeks. Teams worked in sprints with clear goals agreed upon in advance. This allowed tracking real progress. The teams were divided into four streams based on the functionality they developed: core banking, payments, FEA, and the sales dashboard. This facilitated communication and eased regular meetings.
Results
In six months, we went from initial design to app store publication. This is an unprecedented timeframe for both global and Kazakh markets.
Launched a digital bank for entrepreneurs from scratch in record time
Implemented basic daily banking functionality and created a sales dashboard for merchants
Launched the online FEA management function
Implemented basic daily banking functionality and created a sales dashboard for merchants
Launched the online FEA management function
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