Argenta Netherlands is a digital bank specializing in savings and mortgages, catering primarily to individuals rather than businesses. The bank relies on independent advisors for mortgage closings and the provision of related products.
Argenta places importance on enabling customers to manage their banking affairs quickly and easily. Consequently, the public website and self-service environment are crucial components of Argenta's service. The challenge with the old environment was twofold: maintenance costs were high, and the possibilities for further development were extremely limited. With the capabilities of the low-code platform Mendix and the assistance of Emixa, Argenta successfully addressed these issues.
The Trigger
To remain a financially healthy, customer-friendly, and competitive bank in the future, cost leadership is a crucial aspect of Argenta's strategy. Providing excellent customer interaction is a differentiating quality for the bank. Argenta aims to have more control over IT matters to manage technical developments more easily. To achieve this goal, Argenta initiated various digital projects.
One of these projects involved replacing the 'my environment.' The maintenance of the old version was expensive, and ongoing development was nearly impossible. When reformatting and improving it, three objectives were at the forefront:
- Create a new platform for the 'my environment,' transferring the current functionality.
- Reduce the 'run costs' of the environment.
- Achieve lower costs for further (and faster) development of the 'my environment.' According to Argenta, low-code, and specifically Mendix, offered the most potential to remodel quickly and flexibly.
How Argenta and Emixa Connected
The initial contact between Argenta and Emixa resulted from a chance encounter. The two companies are located no more than a hundred meters apart, leading their employees to regularly cross paths. After this initial meeting, Emixa organized a hands-on session involving the creation of a demonstration app, following the proven Emixa approach of 'seeing is believing.' Subsequently, Emixa received an invitation to participate in the request for proposal (RFP) and ultimately secured the contract.
Sprint 0
After the selection process, the starting shot was finally fired for realizing the revamped closed domain. Emixa set up an initial sprint (Sprint 0) entirely to provide the challenging project with a good and solid foundation. Thoroughly exploring all challenges provided a clear picture of the tasks at hand for all involved. Sprint 0 was divided into four tracks: business analysis (creating business and company-specific added value), user experience, technical design, and project management.
Development Period
Argenta and Emixa began active development in August 2021. The development trajectory of the minimal viable product (MVP), the first version of the application with only the essential basic functionalities of the end product, took 25 weeks, equivalent to 12 sprints of 2 weeks. The application is now successfully in use by customers after a few improvements.
Quality Assurance
Throughout the project, the principle of quality assurance (QA) was consistently prioritized. A QA specialist from Emixa was involved in validating the quality of the realized application. This specialist also ensured the preservation of all agreements regarding IT architecture and assessed the development process based on the Emixa project methodology.
The Omnext program 'Stay Fit and Secure,' objectively measuring the quality of Mendix applications based on ISO 25010 standards, a broad set of Mendix guidelines, and best practices, provided the necessary security checks. Stay Fit and Secure allows gaining control over the security configuration of the application through brute force controls. This insight helps determine which roles have access to which data, reducing the risk of data breaches.
Argenta Authenticator
Furthermore, ongoing development is taking place, with Emixa and Argenta actively working on the authenticator app. This app operates on the principle of 2FA authentication. 2FA is a method to verify a user's identity, combining multiple authentication factors to grant access to Argenta's 'my environment.'
Want to know more?
There are plenty of opportunities to drive forward digital transformation in the tech industry. Would you like to improve the digital state of your organisation? And are you looking for a partner who can help you achieve this goal? In that case, Emixa is the right fit for you. We translate complex issues into simple, user-friendly IT solutions that accelerate your digital transformation and take your business to a higher level. Don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be delighted to meet you!
