ANKARA: Turkey-based QNB Finansbank, a subsidiary of QNB Group and one of the top five privately owned banks in the country, has enabled its customers to use digital signatures for account opening and loans in the bank’s branches. Customers can sign digitally in the branches on the “smart screen” – a small tablet application that is customer-facing and integrates wirelessly (4G/LTE) with the teller’s desktop solution. The data is then uploaded automatically to the relevant systems, including the core platform.
The bank’s core system – CoreFinans – is an in-house development, written in Java. It uses Oracle database, IBM AIX machines and IBM WebSphere application servers. Desktop client is also homegrown, written in C# .Net using Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) technology. The “smart screen” initiative is “the first in the Turkish market and, as far as I know, the only example”, says Ulaş Ergin, consulting designer and team leader, software infrastructure at Ibtech (the IT subsidiary of QNB Finansbank). “Selling products digitally without paper signing at bank branches does not have any instances in Turkey,” he says.
Previously, all the paperwork was printed and customers had to sign all the papers, which were then scanned and uploaded to the bank’s core banking system for audit, Ergin explains. “This was a cumbersome and time-consuming effort for both our teller and the customer. “Now the customer can read the regulatory forms for opening an account and approves them digitally using the smart screen.” As mentioned above, this process is also used for lending. Once the customer provides a digital signature, the money is deposited into their account immediately, Ergin says.
