Digital banking modules: a guide for banks and insurers

What does each digital banking module do?

Each module handles one customer-facing job and connects to the bank's systems behind it. Peekaboo Connect ships 9 modules; the six most asked about are below.

Account opening. A customer applies for an account from the app or web without visiting a branch, with identity checks and document capture in the flow. FetchSky's Kashf work for UBL, with a three-step identity check, reached testing accuracy of 98% for Smart CNIC, 92% for Urdu CNIC and 97% for face verification.

Offers and privileges. The merchant discounts attached to the bank's cards, searchable by category, city and card type. This is the module that goes stale fastest, for reasons explained in why card offer catalogues go stale.

Digital rewards catalogue. Where points are spent: the items, vouchers and experiences on offer, with the points price kept current.

Instalment plan catalogue. The products and merchants available on instalment, with tenures and rates, so a customer can see what a purchase would cost per month before committing.

Debit and credit cards. Card products, features and application flows, presented consistently across channels.

ATM and branch locator. Nearest ATM and branch by location, with hours and services. How a bank uses location data to decide where those branches should be is covered in branch network optimisation without closing branches.

Which channels do the modules run on?

The modules run on four channels from one platform: native apps on Android, iOS and HMS (Huawei Mobile Services, which matters where Huawei devices are common); the bank's website via iFrame; WhatsApp; and Facebook. HMS deserves attention because a bank that ships only to the Play Store and App Store silently excludes Huawei users. WhatsApp is increasingly where customers ask about an offer, an instalment plan or the nearest branch, and the same module answers there; see conversational banking on WhatsApp. The iFrame channel lets a bank add a module to its existing website without rebuilding the site, which is often how a bank starts before extending the same module to the app and messaging channels.

Why does keeping channels in sync matter?

Keeping channels in sync matters because a customer who sees an offer on WhatsApp and a different offer in the app stops trusting both. When each channel has its own copy of the content, every change has to be made four times, and in practice it is made once or twice. The app shows a restaurant that closed, the website shows last quarter's instalment rates, and the call centre has a third version. One platform feeding every channel means a change made once appears everywhere at the same moment. That is the design principle behind Peekaboo Connect, and it is the reason the modules are sold as a platform rather than as four separate integrations.

How is the data kept accurate?

Data is kept accurate by a data management service, not by the bank's marketing team on a spreadsheet. Offers, rewards, instalment plans and locations are dynamic content: merchants change, points prices move, ATMs go out of service. Peekaboo Connect ships with data management services that keep this dynamic content accurate, drawing on the same merchant operations behind FetchSky's alliance programmes (5,000+ merchants across 50+ cities, with regular mystery shopping). For a bank, the practical outcome is that the catalogue is someone else's daily job, and the modules stay true without an internal content rota.

How does theming work?

Theming means the modules carry the bank's brand, not FetchSky's. Colours, typography and logos are set per bank so a customer sees one consistent app, and the module is not visibly a third-party component. The same applies in the iFrame on the website and in the message templates on WhatsApp and Facebook. Theming is what makes a shared platform acceptable to a bank's brand team: 15 banks run the same modules, and no customer of one bank sees anything that belongs to another. The content differs too, because each bank's offers, plans, cards and locations are its own data on the shared platform. Theming covers colours, fonts and the basic look of the modules; the layouts themselves are shared, which is what keeps every bank on the same tested release.

Should you build or buy digital banking modules?

Build or buy comes down to upkeep. Building gives full control and a one-off cost that is easy to approve. It also means owning four channels, HMS support, store policy changes and the daily content upkeep for every module forever.

The fuller argument, including where building is the right answer, is in build vs buy digital banking modules.

Where is Peekaboo Connect running today?

Peekaboo Connect is running at 15 banks in Pakistan, delivering 9 modules on 4 channels from one platform. It is one of six products FetchSky runs itself, which means the engineers who built it are the ones who maintain it through every OS release, store policy change and WhatsApp API update. Product detail is at Peekaboo Connect.

Go deeper

• Build vs buy digital banking modules
• Branch network optimisation without closing branches
• Conversational banking on WhatsApp
• Why card offer catalogues go stale

See the modules and channels on Peekaboo Connect.