BANKING PAYMENT HUB

Category

Payment Gateway / Banking Integration

Overview

A mid-tier bank was managing multiple payment channels—credit cards, wire transfers, ACH, and mobile payments—across various legacy systems. This caused operational bottlenecks and made it difficult to have a centralized view of transactions. Compliance and reporting also became cumbersome due to inconsistent data formats and fragmented workflows.

How the Problem Was Solved

Technology Stack:

  • Backend: Java (Spring Boot) microservices for payment orchestration
  • Integration Layer: Apache Camel / MuleSoft for routing and transformation of payment messages
  • Database: Oracle / PostgreSQL for storing transaction data and audit logs
  • Security: OAuth 2.0, TLS encryption, and JWT-based authentication for internal services

Key Features:

  • Unified Payment Hub: A central platform to handle different payment types (ACH, SWIFT, SEPA, card payments).
  • Real-time Fraud Detection: Implemented rule-based checks and anomaly detection before processing payments.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Automated generation of compliance reports (e.g., KYC, AML) from consolidated data.
  • Dashboard & Alerts: A real-time monitoring console for transaction statuses and alerts on suspicious activities.

Approach:

  • Microservices Architecture: Separated payment methods (ACH service, wire service, card service) into independent services for easier updates and maintenance.
  • Message Transformation: Standardized payment message formats (ISO 20022, SWIFT MT) with an integration layer to accommodate various transaction protocols.
  • High Availability: Deployed on a clustered environment with load balancing to ensure minimal downtime and handle peak transaction loads.

The Results

Impact on the Business:

  • Increased Efficiency: Reduced manual reconciliation work by 50% due to centralized transaction tracking.
  • Better Customer Experience: Faster transaction times and improved transparency for end-users.
  • Reduced Risk: Streamlined fraud detection cut down false positives by 30% and significantly improved compliance.

Cost:

  • ~275K USD
  • Initial investment in new infrastructure and integration tools, offset by long-term savings in operational overhead.

Time:

  • 10 months to complete the integration and roll out across all branches, including a pilot phase of 3 months.

Lessons Learned

  • What Went Well:
    • Adopting microservices and an integration layer made it easier to add future payment types.
    • Early involvement of compliance teams ensured the solution met regulatory standards from the start.
  • What We Would Do Differently Next Time
    • Allocate more resources to stress testing and performance tuning before go-live.
    • Implement advanced analytics earlier to provide better insights into transaction patterns and potential fraud.
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