Back in the mid-1990s, our journey into the world of banking technology began. From the very start, our main goal was to create solutions that not only streamline processes but also make a real difference to the customer experience in banks and financial institutions. One of our first major projects was implementing the ‘Convenient Bills’ service for one of the largest banks in Poland — a project we still remember fondly.
A New Quality in Payment Processing
In January 2006, we signed an agreement with a bank that initiated the rollout of a bill-payment network. The new service we provided enabled customers to pay their household bills while doing their daily shopping at retail chains partnered with the bank. From hypermarkets to neighborhood shops, gas stations to specialized payment points, our technology was everywhere, making everyday payments fast and hassle-free for customers.
A Comprehensive Service Approach
Our collaboration model was based on full outsourcing. eSourcing handled the entire process — from training bank staff and agents to processing transactions, settlement, and reporting. We provided:
- Training for bank staff and agents.
- Bill payment processing under contracts with invoice issuers.
- Full settlement of transactions between agents, the bank, and creditors.
- Reporting and control of settlements.
- A 24/7 technical and complaints hotline.
- The technological backbone for success.
The success of ‘Convenient Bills’ was driven not only by innovative ideas but also by a robust technological foundation. We implemented the billing system in our Authorisation and Backup Centres, ensuring service reliability. POS terminals from world-renowned brands like Verifone, Ingenico, and Lipman operated offline, integrated with the CKC/ProCard authorisation application and Prepaid top-ups from the equally well-known Euronet network.
The use of modern algorithms, such as graph-based automaton mechanisms for parsing information from barcodes on bills, was also a fascinating approach based on the theory of formal languages.
Looking to the Future
Twenty years (actually, thirty — as our group is now that old) is just the beginning. We are proud of our achievements, but we are not resting on our laurels. The current regulatory environment is driving, and in many cases, forcing constant changes in processes, both for banks and ICT providers. All of this gives us incredible energy to create more and more new solutions based on ever-evolving technology.
Technological progress no longer moves forward at a slow pace; it’s accelerating, and we’re keeping pace with it! Our team is constantly working on new technologies that are redefining banking and adapting it to the needs of today’s customer, who is highly demanding in terms of time and service quality. Banks have known for a long time that in order to attract and retain young customers, they need to provide immediate responses and services at the highest technological level.
We would like to thank our partners and customers for their trust so far, and we look forward to another two decades of exciting challenges together!