Case Study: How a Nearshore Partnership Can Drive Innovation in the Banking and Finance Industry

In today’s rapidly evolving banking landscape, innovation and agility are key drivers of success. Smart Nearshore, the nearshore branch of Smart Consulting, has established itself as a trusted partner in delivering top-tier IT services to the fintech industry.

This case study explores how Smart Nearshore collaborated with a subsidiary of a leading bank in Germany to support its next phase of growth. With the goal of developing two cutting-edge financial applications that streamline invoicing and tax management, the client sought Smart Nearshore’s expertise to improve its operational efficiency. Through this successful collaboration, this case study sheds light on how a nearshore partnership can drive innovation in the financial sector.

Project Overview

Smart Nearshore’s client is a subsidiary of one of Germany’s largest banks, specializing in providing digital accounting solutions for freelancers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Focused on financial services, the company offers a range of applications designed to simplify day-to-day financial management, such as invoicing, order management, preparatory accounting, digital cash book, and ATMs. Their core offerings include a simplified green receipt app and a fully automated finance portal.

Constantly seeking ways to improve and innovate, whether through the development of new applications or enhancements to existing tools, as our client’s user base grew, the need for further expansion became binding. Simultaneously, a new engineering director took over at the company, bringing fresh perspectives on how to streamline operations and improve application offerings. To that end, they decided to seek the help of a specialized nearshore team to work with them on the project.

The Challenge: Developing Cutting-edge Fintech Apps to Meet Growing Demand

Smart Nearshore’s client had the challenge of developing two new financial applications:

1. An invoicing app that streamlines the process for businesses to issue invoices.

2. A tax management app to simplify tax-related tasks for users.

Although they already had an internal team responsible for developing the applications, they realized that they needed to increase their team with specialized professionals to help them develop the new fintech applications as quickly as possible without losing the quality that characterizes them. This is where Smart Nearshore entered the picture. Thanks to good feedback from clients who had previously worked with us, the client approached us to increase their team and, consequently, its operational capacity.

Smart Nearshore’s Solution: A TaaS Approach to Fintech Development

Smart Nearshore tackled the challenge of building two cutting-edge fintech apps — an invoicing tool and a tax management platform — by reinforcing the client’s internal team with expert developers. Before kicking-off the project, Smart Nearshore aligned itself with the vision and goals of the new engineering director and quickly assembled a specialized nearshore team based in our Lisbon office, which began working on the project in May 2023.

One of the key technologies used by the client to power its automated invoicing systems is Phyton, so knowledge of this technology would be essential for the development of the project. To this end, Smart Nearshore hired a highly skilled Tech Lead with expertise in Python and Flask, along with three additional Python developers. In addition to development, Smart Nearshore’s team was responsible for designing the architecture, ensuring that the solutions would integrate seamlessly with the client’s existing platforms.

The Team-as-a-Service Solution

As Smart Nearshore’s client required more experienced professionals to work on the development of the two new applications, they opted for our Team-as-a-Service (TaaS) service, more specifically the Extended Team model. The client already had an in-house team working on the project but needed to fill specific skill gaps due to the needs of project. TaaS responds to this need, as it involves setting up nearshore teams tailored to the unique needs of a project or a client.

Key Technologies

• Python (used for both existing and new applications)

• Flask (framework for developing web applications)

Results of a Successful Nearshore Collaboration

The partnership between this leading client and Smart Nearshore was a direct result of the positive feedback we had received from other projects. Thanks to the alignment of our goals with those of the company and close collaboration, our team is well on track to deliver solutions that will expand the client’s overall efficiency. Although the project is still ongoing, now in a maintenance phase, these are some of the beneficial results of the partnership so far:

- Enhanced Operational Efficiency: The development of two new fintech applications allows the client to better respond to customer demand and guarantee the delivery of high-quality digital accounting solutions.

- Significant Cost Savings: By leveraging Smart Nearshore’s services, the client can significantly reduce operational costs compared to onshore alternatives, without compromising on quality.

- Improved Collaboration: By nearshoring in Portugal, with a time difference of just one hour compared to Germany, our client took advantage of real-time collaboration, which increased project efficiency and fostered a strong relationship between the teams.

- Accelerated Development: Smart Nearshore’s team worked closely with the client’s in-house team, enabling faster design and development of two key applications for invoicing and tax management.

Tailored Nearshore Solutions for Your IT Needs

Smart Nearshore can also be your go-to partner for nearshore solutions. We offer our clients and partners three different nearshore services – IT Solutions, IT Managed Services and Team-as-a-Service, tailored to their unique needs. So if you’re looking for a nearshore partner to work with you on your project, get in touch!