Case Study

How Vivasoft Helped City Bank Eliminate Third-Party Licensing Costs Through a Unified Banking Platform

Client

Industry

Region

Bangladesh

Overview

City Bank PLC was founded in 1983 as Bangladesh's first private commercial bank. Over the past four decades, it has grown into one of the country's most prominent financial institutions, serving millions of individuals and businesses across a wide range of banking products.

As the bank expanded, its operations became increasingly dependent on two third-party platforms - Finacle and Ababil. These platforms handle everything from treasury bonds and loan approvals to account management and card processing. The problem was the pricing model. Both platforms charged per user, so every time City Bank added staff or expanded access, the licensing cost went up with it.

To solve this, City Bank started building a unified banking platform that would bring all these operations under one system. The platform had a wide scope, covering over 30 modules, and the internal team needed more engineers to keep up with the timeline. That's when they approached Vivasoft for staff augmentation support.

Vivasoft joined the project in January 2025, embedding six engineers directly into City Bank's development team. The engineers worked alongside City Bank's team to build and improve the platform, following the bank's technical direction while actively contributing to development. The project is still ongoing, with two Vivasoft engineers continuing to work on the platform today.

Technologies Used

Java

Spring Boot

Python

Next Js

Oracle

Elasticsearch

Redis

kafka

Cashin

Challenges faced by the Client

When City Bank started building the unified banking platform, they were dealing with a set of interconnected problems that had built up over years of relying on third-party systems

1.A licensing model that kept getting more expensive

Since both Finacle and Ababil charged per user, the cost of running these platforms grew every time the bank expanded its team or increased access. City Bank had over 30 modules tied to these platforms covering treasury bonds, loans, account management, cards, cheques, and more which meant the licensing exposure was significant and growing.

2. No single place to see the full picture

With operations spread across multiple platforms, there was no centralised system of record. Data sat in separate silos, and teams often had to jump between tools just to complete one workflow. This made day-to-day operations slower and more error-prone than they needed to be.

3. Customers with multiple accounts were hard to manage

Many City Bank customers hold five or six accounts at the same time. Without a system that linked these accounts to a single customer identity, relationship managers had to look up accounts individually to piece together a full picture of any given customer. It was time-consuming and left room for things to be missed.

4. The platform scope was too large for the existing team alone

The platform was not a small build. It needed to cover account lifecycle management, treasury operations, loan workflows, card and cheque processing, and a full 360-degree customer view, among other things. The internal team had the direction, but they needed more engineers to match the pace the project required.

5. Requirements kept shifting during development

As development progressed, stakeholder discussions led to changing priorities and evolving requirements. The team working on the platform needed to stay flexible while still keeping the project on track.

How Vivasoft Solved It

Vivasoft came in as a staff augmentation partner, which meant working within City Bank’s existing team structure and following their technical direction rather than coming in with a separate approach.

1. Adding engineering capacity quickly

Vivasoft deployed six engineers. Primarily backend developers, along with a full-stack engineer, who joined City Bank’s team and started contributing right away. This gave City Bank the extra capacity they needed without the time and overhead of hiring and onboarding new permanent staff.

2. Building the API layer that reduced licensing costs

One of the core architectural decisions in the platform was to route all banking requests through it first, before anything reaches Finacle or Ababil. The platform logs the request internally, then sends only what is necessary to the third-party platform. Because of this, Finacle and Ababil only ever see a single user making requests on their end, regardless of how many people are actually using it. This approach significantly reduces per-user licensing costs.

3. Building the 360 module for unified customer identity

Vivasoft worked on the 360 module, which ties all of a customer’s accounts to a single customer ID. Instead of treating each account separately, the system now links everything under one identity. This makes it straightforward for relationship managers to see a customer’s complete profile without having to search across multiple accounts or platforms.

4. Taking ownership of key modules

Vivasoft’s engineers built and improved several core areas of the platform, including account opening, account maintenance, account closing, and treasury bond management. These now run through it rather than being handled separately through legacy platforms.

5. Staying adaptable as requirements changed

Throughout the project, requirements evolved as stakeholder discussions progressed. Vivasoft’s engineers adjusted to these changes without stalling delivery, staying in close communication with City Bank’s product team to keep development aligned with what was actually needed.

Core Features of The Unified Banking Platform

Unified multi-account management

Customers who hold multiple accounts can have all of them managed through a single interface. This removes the friction of handling accounts separately and gives staff a cleaner, more consolidated view.

360-degree customer identity

All accounts and interactions are tied to one customer ID. Relationship managers can pull up a complete view of any customer instantly, regardless of how many accounts they hold.

Treasury bond management

The full process of handling treasury bond requests, from submission through approval, runs within the platform.

Account lifecycle management

Account opening, maintenance, and closing are all handled inside the platform, covering the full lifespan of any account.

Loan workflow management

Loan requests go through a structured process within the unified banking platform, including submission, processing, and multi-level approval routing.

Card and cheque handling

Card management and cheque requisition, processing, and approval are handled end-to-end within the platform.

API gateway to legacy systems

The platforma sits between City Bank’s operations and Finacle or Ababil, acting as the single point of contact with those systems. This reduces dependency on them while keeping existing infrastructure in place.

Performance infrastructure

Elasticsearch handles search across the platform, while Redis manages caching. Together, they keep the system responsive as transaction volumes increase.

Dedicated Experts

Resources	Count
Backend Developers	5
Full-stack Developers	1

Project Duration

Project Start Time

Jan 2025

Project Status

Continuing

What's Next

The unified banking platform is still in active development, and the scope continues to grow. City Bank plans to bring all remaining operational modules into this over time, which would significantly reduce and eventually eliminate their reliance on Finacle and Ababil for per-user licensing.

On the partnership side, City Bank has indicated interest in working with Vivasoft on additional projects once the current phase progresses. The work on this platform has built a level of familiarity and trust that makes expanding the engagement a natural next step for both sides.

As more modules move into the platform and the 360 customer identity tools mature, the platform is also expected to improve the overall experience for City Bank’s customers. It will make service faster and more consistent across the board.

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Tech Stack

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