Case Study: Revamping Fintech Applications with Smart Nearshore’s TaaS Model

Smart Nearshore, the nearshore branch of Smart Consulting, has embarked on an exciting partnership with a leading fintech company based in Luxembourg. Faced with challenges stemming from a previous nearshore provider in Eastern Europe, including communication gaps and cultural misalignment, the client sought a more effective solution. Smart Nearshore stepped in with a customized Team-as-a-Service (TaaS) model, revitalizing collaboration and driving optimal results for this project.

Project Overview

Smart Nearshore, the nearshore branch of Smart Consulting, had the opportunity to partner with a prominent Luxembourg-based fintech company. With the goal of simplifying the world’s payments, this client operates a digital banking platform that offers services such as payment banking, global payment processing, account receivable and payment automation, and sough to revamp it after struggling with a previous nearshore team from Eastern Europe.

The client encountered challenges such as communication gaps and cultural misalignment, which affected project outcomes. Smart Nearshore stepped in, leveraging a customized Team-as-a-Service (TaaS) model to address these issues, offering a new approach and improving collaboration for optimal results.

The Challenge: Revamping an Outdated Fintech Platform

Smart Nearshore’s client was facing critical issues with its banking platform. Built seven years ago, the application suffered from poor performance, outdated design, and limitations in supporting the current technology, hampering user experience and scalability.

Initially built using Java and JavaScript, the Smart Nearshore team chose to enhance the system by transitioning to Java with Spring Boot for back-end improvements, migrating the infrastructure to the Cloud, and updating the front-end with React. Since the client faced challenges with its previous nearshore provider, one of the main priorities was to work with a culturally aligned nearshore team, which highlights one of the core benefits of nearshoring - seamless collaboration and technical expertise.

Smart Nearshore’s Solution: Modernizing a Banking Application with Java, Spring Boot and React

The project goal was to refactor the banking platform by moving it to Java with Spring Boot, migrating everything to the Cloud, and redesigning the frontend using React. The project would involve 3 key phases:

1. Development of a new feature that would allow currency exchange to be carried out in a user-friendly way – an essential feature given that the company operates in 150+ countries and works with 24 currencies.

2. Development of new features and a new architecture in the banking application – the aim is to enable faster transactions and fewer currency conversion authorizations.

3. Maintenance and continuous development of new features.

All in all, this collaboration aimed to improve the functionality and usability of the existing platform, ensuring they could support modern banking operations. In order to do this, Smart Nearshore assembled a dedicated team of five consultants - one Tech Lead, a Backend Developer, a Frontend Specialist, a Business Analyst, and an UI Designer- to work alongside the client’s internal team. While the client’s team maintains the existing platform, the Smart Nearshore team is in charge for developing the new version of the application. By opting for nearshore in Portugal, with a time difference of just one hour, communication and collaboration between the teams was facilitated, which allowed the project to develop seamlessly.

Implementing a customized Team-as-a-Service model

As one of the client’s main needs was to reinforce the team, the solution chosen was Smart Nearshore’s Team-as-a-Service model, which involves creating nearshore teams adapted to the specific needs of a project or a client. However, due to the client’s previous bad experience with a third-party provider, Smart Nearshore decided to make a U-turn by offering a new approach to the traditional TaaS model. During the first month of the project, we assigned just one Tech Lead to conduct a comprehensive project assessment and act as a bridge between our team and the client’s team, ensuring effective communication.

Only once we had established the priorities and roadmap for the project's development did we gradually integrate more consultants, such as backend and frontend developers. While the backend team was responsible for updating the backend architecture and fixing bugs to optimise performance, the frontend developer focused on developing new designs for the application’s dashboards to accompany the new features. In turn, the business analyst took on the role of collaborating with stakeholders to understand business requirements and ensure alignment with technical changes. After a total rebranding of the client’s brand, the UI designer stepped in to make a presentation for a completely new product, working in collaboration with the developers to ensure the best possible user experience.

Project Timelines

- The project began in May 2023 with only one Tech Lead.

- Two weeks later, two additional consultants were hired – a Backend Developer and a Frontend Developer.

- In August 2023, two more Backend Developers were added to project.

- In mid-2024, Smart Nearshore’s team completed the first phase of the project.

Key Technologies

- Java

- Spring Boot

- Cloud

- React

Project Management Methodology

The project was developed using the agile methodology, specifically Kanban. “In this project, we adopted the Kanban agile methodology because of its flexibility and efficiency, which allows us to manage work in a continuous and adaptable way. Unlike Scrum, with fixed sprints, Kanban facilitates continuous deliveries and real-time prioritisation, allowing us to respond quickly to the client's needs without overloading the team. This adaptability is essential in a consultancy environment specific to this client where priorities can change frequently.”, explained the Tech Lead in charge of the project.

Looking Ahead: The Project’s Next Steps

With one phase of the project complete and a second underway, the project’s next steps involve continuing to refactor the banking platform, while ensuring ongoing collaboration between Smart Nearshore and the client’s internal team and resources. Given the strategic nature of this project, the focus will be on maintaining oversight and making updates even after the initial refactoring is complete, ensuring the client's needs are consistently met as they evolve. The development of a mobile application is also on the table – a small project that the client has already expressed an interest in developing with us.

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!