INTRODUCTION

Capco was the strategic partner and system integrator for a de novo digital retail bank. Capco assisted the bank in designing their Target Operating and Capability Models, providing structure to the bank’s evolving product suite, business operations and technology stack as we envisioned the cloud-based architecture between the de novo’s core banking platform vendors.

As the SI partner, Capco has supported the bank and its vendors with the design and build of the front-end client

experience, the middleware tech stack, and the back-office operations. We collaborated with 15-20 different vendor partners, each of which played a vital role in both the bank architecture, operations and client experience. Capco has provided strategic delivery against the following business functions: core banking infrastructure, call center operations, product suite definition, regulatory policies and procedures, debit card infrastructure, and payments (ACH, wires, transfers).

WHY NOW?

This de novo digital retail bank partnered with Capco to leverage our expertise in providing services and deliverables that constitute industry best practices and meet regulatory expectations based on their advisory experience. Digital banking has faced increasing levels of consumer demand over the years, allowing customers to do things such as apply for loans or open deposit accounts outside of local branches. This de novo bank aims to use this increase in demand to their advantage and set themselves apart from other digital banks by offering a set of diversified solutions that includes foreign currency deposits, precious metals, market index CDs and self-directed IRAs. Through this diversified product set, the bank will identify high net worth individuals and expand their market share within the cloud-based digital banking industry.

HOW WE DID IT

• The key steps/milestones from start to finish
  • Target Operating Model and Capability Model Design
  • Integrated Delivery Timeline across ~15 vendors
  • Platform Configuration and Design
  • Call Center Stand-Up
  • Front End Originations and Online Banking Platform Design
  • Dual Core Synchronization across Deposit Products and Global Markets Portfolios
  • Payment Rails Configuration and Integration (ACH, Wires, Debit Card, Checks, Lockbox, etc.)
  • UAT, E2E Testing
  • Command Center Bank Launch Activities & Post-Production Support

• The duration of the project
  • 16 Months to date (targeting 20-24 months in totality for bank launch)

• Challenges which were overcome
  • Front End Client Platform Functionality was not scalable: The originally contracted front end client platform was deemed unfit to scale to the bank’s needs, which led to a pivot halfway through the bank launch to move forward with a new vendor and required the Bank to nearly restart their requirements and design
  • National Charter Impacts to Delivery: There are several downstream impacts associated with obtaining both FDIC and OCC Approvals for the core vendors. As the digital de novo bank is trying to obtain their National Charter we have been simultaneously executing across system integration responsibilities
  • Dual Core Integration and Synchronization: This de novo digital bank will operate under a dual core banking platform due to the fact that their product suite is quite niche. They are standing up a deposit product suite and a global markets portfolio trading desk. These products do not sit on a single next-gen core banking platform and thus needed to synchronize the two platforms

• If the scope of the project increased in-flight (and if further Capco resources were onboarded as a result)
  • Testing: A User Acceptance Testing team has been brought to deliver Integrated Quality Assurance and end-to-end Testing across all vendor partners. Additionally, they have been responsible for identifying and building automation scripts

• The different areas of the business the project team operated across
  • Business Operations (Product, Servicing, Finance & Compliance, Debit Card)
  • Core Banking Platforms
  • Front End Client Experience and Client Interface Build
  • Integrated Quality Assurance & Testing
  • OCC Compliance Readiness
  • Program Delivery Governance

WHAT WE DELIVERED

• The immediate (tangible and non-tangible) benefits realized and the long-term, prospective benefits resulting from the project
  • Capco transformed the bank’s business proposition into a fully scaled Target Operating Model, illustrating all the necessary steps required to launch and establishing working relationships with all vendors involved
  • Capco played a major role in getting this de novo bank’s dual core platform configured
  • The de novo bank has received conditional approval from the OCC

• Financial gains if applicable (cost-savings or revenue improvements)
  • Revenue generating (deposit and loans)

• Artefacts produced by Capco
  • BRD: Contains all business requirements for the bank and the responsible vendors associated with each item
  • Capability Model: defined business operations and technology stack functions that the bank needs in order to operate the bank
  • Executive Milestone Tracker: Highlights all dependencies between target dates amongst the core vendors for key milestones, which ultimately helps Capco with prioritization
  • Integrated Timeline: Consolidated view of all core vendors’ key milestones/deliverables that stems from project origination through target go-live
  • Project Charter: Provides a summary for each respective workstream that includes items such as key milestones, relevant vendors, risks/issues, and associated documentation

• Evidence of going above and beyond the initial scope and remit of the project
  • Capco was extended on this project four separate times (multi-million dollar contracts)
  • As the bank evolves its bank launch lifecycle, Capco continues to play a strategic role in defining the next steps needed in order to get to the next phase/milestone across all vendors and clients

• Further work/projects secured due to client satisfaction with the current project delivery
  • Additional de novo and direct bank launches that Capco has been engaged to support