Our client, a major digital bank based in Singapore, aims to improve financial inclusion through the secure and ethical use of technology and data. By leveraging leading-edge technology, the Singaporean Digital Bank redefines banking experiences, making them more accessible, seamless, and user-friendly. With unique customer experience solutions and engineering excellence, the bank is at the forefront of digital transformation in Southeast Asia's vibrant and competitive fintech ecosystem.
Opportunity: Empower customers with more accessible, flexible loans
Each individual and small business has unique needs and circumstances. To empower its customers, our client needed to offer tailored and transparent financial solutions that complied with regional regulations. Providing flexibility in loan structures and repayment options would enable customers to better manage capital and cash flow.
Using advanced engineering practices, the Singaporean Digital Bank had the opportunity to customize loan offers to each customer based on its proprietary credit assessment model. This model combines credit bureau data with a broader set of ecosystem data to ensure accurate assessments.
Solution: Singapore's first unsecured term loan
In collaboration with Thoughtworks, our client launched FlexiLoan, Singapore's first unsecured term loan. This innovative offering allows customers to repay their loans partially or in full without early repayment fees, delivering significant convenience and cost savings.
Key features of the FlexiLoan
Personalized loan offers delivered in under three minutes, with QR-code functionality enabling secure mobile transactions.
Flexible interest rates and repayment options designed to meet diverse customer needs.
Comprehensive transaction histories and monthly statements that provide customers with greater clarity on their finances.
Agile approach to software delivery
An agile methodology ensured the development of the FlexiLoan was both efficient and effective. A thorough discovery phase identified critical business drivers, user needs, and technical requirements. These insights were used to outline a clear roadmap, focusing on delivering incremental, high-value outcomes through a modular approach.
With a joint program governance team to address bottlenecks, refine workflows, and enable effective decision-making, our client accelerated product delivery and fostered an environment of continuous improvement.
We have bold ambitions to improve financial inclusion and support economic growth for our customers across the region. For us to achieve this, we knew we had to be nimble and that our build had to be modular and scalable.
Optimizing engineering culture
Utilizing Thoughtworks’ engineering effectiveness approach, the Singaporean Digital Bank redefined its engineering culture to prioritize rapid iteration and innovation in product offerings.
This enhanced developer productivity, optimized costs, and ensured the delivery of consistently high-quality customer experiences. These efforts allowed our client to remain agile in the rapidly changing financial and technological landscape.
Thoughtworks is a pioneer in the field of agile frameworks, and its disciplined approach, understanding of best practices, and engineering principles have been a strong support for our engineering teams.
Outcomes: Exponential growth and industry recognition
The FlexiLoan achieved remarkable success, disbursing over 100,000 loans within its first year. This number doubled to 200,000 loans in just six months, illustrating its wide appeal to various demographic groups.
Our client also received significant acclaim, winning multiple awards.
