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August 23, 2023

4 Ways FinTechs can Unleash Super Mario’s Superpowers & Thrive in a World of Minions

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Posted on by Ruchi Aggarwal

When Mario was first launched in 1983 no one could have guessed that Nintendo’s plumber would end up becoming one of the most famous cartoon characters ever. But he has, and it is not due to his ability to flex his muscles, but his infinite avatars, steady evolutionary graph, and the creative ability of the franchise to be ahead of the times.

As the Super Mario Bros Movie sets new records at the box office – earning a massive $58.23 million in its third weekend of release, a shout out to all Financial Institutions and FinTech’s to ingrain Super Mario’s characteristics and topple the Minions (the disruptions) with smart work, intelligent processes, and a partner like Magic FinServ.

Here is how to be like Mario and out run the Minions.

# 1 Have a trusted and loyal ally

The reason Mario survives all the escapades is because he has allies. Princess Peach, his twin brother, and many others who help him in his multiple adventures.

DeepSightTM – the trusted ally for fintechs

FinTechs need allies as well. They need an ally that understands their specific needs and provides them with customized solutions. Whether it is the automation of long-winded, repetitive, and mundane tasks or streamlining processes and ensuring STP, or ensuring ROI on the new tool that they have purchased, or simply amplifying the customer experience, DeepSightTM can do all of that for fintechs. DeepSightTM AI Optimization framework integrates process workflows and utilizes structured and unstructured data to build tailored solutions that reduce the need for human intervention. This promotes upto 70% efficiency in Front & Middle office platforms & processes. It provides their legacy systems with a new lease of life by integrating with the existing workflows and architectures seamlessly and ensuring accuracy, efficiency, and productivity.      

# 2 Adapting and overcoming obstacles with least possible resources:

The reason the Mario franchise has thrived all these years is simply because they have been extremely agile and adaptable. Mario always gets his girl- Princess Peach. He always manages to rescue her from the Browser making up new tools and overriding the obstacles with a new imaginative approach.  

Magic FinServ’s winning deals: Helping fintechs adapt to changing times and customer preferences  

Financial services have undergone a massive transformation in recent times. The need to provide an enriched customer experience in KYC is greater than before, however considering the flux that markets, fintechs must also measure the ROI when it comes to any new investment. In this catch 22 kind of situation, an AI and ML powered solution that can be planted and baked into existing applications to better it, while reducing the cost of ownership, and eliminating the overhead of paying for recurring subscriptions holds an edge over an off-the-shelf product. That solution is DeepSightTM  

True digital transformation or modernization comes when organizations and processes are agile and adaptable to changing circumstances, because not everyone can build from scratch. Fortunately, fintechs have the advantage of a partner like Magic FinServ. Magic FinServ’s financial services solutions, like Mario’s trusted power-ups and tools, are built to scale and to be agile as per circumstances. We have a three-fold strategy for creating value, which begins with building a partnership – understanding the challenges, with the focus always on data management and technology, and pursuit of digital transformation.

#3 Evolve continuously and constantly! Only the fittest survive

The secret of the FinTechs success story is their ability embrace any disruption quicker than the rest and ensure faster, smoother, and richer engagement with the customer compared to the monoliths or the banks and legacy FIs.  In 2023, as the businesses (capital and financial markets) demands greater levels of personalization and engagement, Magic FinServ assures that fintechs stay on top of the game, here’s how.       

Magic FinServ: How we help the FinTechs evolve

Like Super Mario, we have several superpowers that can give a boost to the fintech’s evolutionary journey.    

  • A data expert partnering with the EDMC   
  • A cloud and DevOps expert
  • Automation expert on workflows and APIs
  • Legacy transformation and rapid digitization experts
  • RegTech experts
  • DeepSightTM for making light mundane and repetitive work

We are also expanding our reach to new and unexplored domains such as generative AI and low/no code support and maintenance

We have a center of excellence for each of the avatars that we possess to keep abreast of the times. Our expertise in all the latest practices of Agile and DevOps, AI/ML, and the cloud enables a quicker, smoother transition/ evolution from stage 1 (largely manual and legacy architecture dependent) to a highly automated/advanced stage, and then to a futuristic stage that relies entirely on APIs and extremely intelligent and intuitive platforms.  

# 4 Process Optimization: Leveraging Technology and Quality Data

Just like Mario needs to collect coins and power-ups to progress through the game, fintechs need access to financial services and tools that can help them grow and scale their business.

Magic FinServ’s extended suite of solutions to prime up to every FinTech need

Magic FinServ offers a suite of solutions that can help fintech’s with everything from payment processing to compliance, giving them the resources, they need to succeed.

Advisory Services: Leverages capital markets domain and understanding of business rules to create foundation for game changing digital transformation

Cloud Migration and Management: SaaS enablement of Fintech and custom IT platforms, best practice driven migration to cloud leveraging native properties of Azure, AWS, GCP

Quality Engineering: Magic FinServ performs comprehensive Functional, Performance Load, Security and User Acceptance Testing for our clients. We offer unique frameworks to build automation pipelines using custom solutions as well as industry standard tools like Selenium and Cypress

DevOps and Automation: Leverages Magic’s proprietary automation fabric framework to build frictionless CI/CD and automated testing pipelines, using custom or open-source tools; thus, enhancing time to market

Production Support: Proactive SLA driven support/maintenance of applications, environments, and infrastructure (cloud) to ensure scalability, stability, and availability.

Platform Engineering and Integration: Leverages next gen & cloud native technologies, including Python, Node.js, Angular etc., building on inputs from advisory services to build, implement and modernize fintech platforms. Also, build and manage APIs, custom interfaces, data feeds in an automated manner to achieve seamless integration between OnPrem and Cloud.

AI/ML driven user experience: Leverage DeepsightTM , a Magic FinServ platform with AI/ML and RPA at its heart, to automate and integrate last mile business processes for improved user experience and enhanced benefits realization

# 5 Customizing response to different environments

Lastly, in each of his journeys, Mario navigates through different worlds and environments, each with their own unique challenges and obstacles, by smartly adapting as per need and using resources that are readily available.  

Magic FinServ: How our rules-based solution is an ideal solution for meeting compliance and regulatory needs for different jurisdiction    

In the fintechs world, there is increasing pressure to confirm rules and regulations. When you are operating in multiple geographies this can be cumbersome, as each region has its own set of rules, timelines, disclosures, etc., related with KYC, shareholding disclosures, ESG disclosures, AML, etc., and violations are severely punished with fines and penalties.  

We address the key requirements according to geographies with an AI and ML powered approach that takes the rules governing that data for the jurisdiction and updates their impact on the value of key information, thereby ensuring that critical information is up to date. Our unique “rule-driven” solution with Data Management, Document Record Management, AI, ML, API Integration, and Reporting and Dashboard are powered to ensure that funds and wealth managers are kept up to date with the latest developments.

 Be like Mario: Embrace disruption without falling apart!   

Just like Mario needs his power-ups and allies to succeed, fintechs need reliable financial services solutions and experienced partners to help them grow and thrive and Magic FinServ is that partner. Magic Finserv’s suite of solutions can provide fintechs with the resources they need to succeed in the competitive world of fintech and give them a winning edge over the competition while navigating the complex financial regulations and compliance requirements.

August 16, 2023

Is your testing getting bloated? It’s time to get acquainted with our QA Companion!

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Posted on by Ruchi Aggarwal

As the scope of an application or software expands, for most QAs staying in control poses the biggest challenges, as there is either a surfeit of tests or a deficit of tests. Both instances are undesirable. Because if you can’t run a comprehensive array of tests, you will end up bugs and vulnerabilities passing downstream and a poor-quality product, and alternatively if you fail to reduce the number of tests or work them out quickly, you might end up with massive pile up of tests – a bloated CI/CD pipeline. And when this happens, you might just end up “putting your hands up in the air” and demanding a postponement of the release. Much to the chagrin of the business owners who will lose precious time and competitive advantage.   

The Kind of Tests Programmers Run during SDLC

The job of programmers or QAs is not easy, they run reams and reams of codes, write codes from scratch, and decipher the gaps/bugs/vulnerabilities with little help apart from the coding libraries and their experienced seniors. As a runup to the SDLC, a programmer or a QA will run tests such as:  

  • Integration tests: for finding out whether the components merge in the larger subsystem; interact with other components and whether the data flow is smooth or not, along with testing the interfaces and contracts for compatibility, environment testing, and testing scenarios. 
  • Smoke tests: a smoke test checks if the basic functionalities of the software are working properly before proceeding with more comprehensive testing. 
  • Release to beta users: gather valuable insights, identify and address issues early, and ensure that the final release meets user expectation  
  • Regression testing: The purpose of regression testing is to verify that previously tested and working features of the software continue to function correctly after modifications or enhancements have been made. It helps ensure that changes in one part of the software do not adversely impact other parts.  

Most of the time the tests that are underlined above run in parallel. As there are a million things that programmers or QA teams must address at one and the same time, the chances of queues building up when you are working manually or have not invested in an end-to end automated system, for facilitating testing, are inordinately high. 

Testing queues: An emblematic problem with software testing

Software testing queues present a notable challenge in the realm of testing, causing difficulties for programmers when juggling multiple tasks and determining priorities. They face the dilemma of whether to focus on resolving the existing test issues or addressing the previously identified bug that exposes a vulnerability, all the while contending with overflowing pipelines. Alongside the issue of bloated testing, additional concerns arise from problematic code stemming from legacy systems and a lack of documentation, insufficient resources, and strict deadlines, resulting in unnecessary apprehension. Furthermore, programmers are burdened with handling environmental matters, such as configuring a test environment to resemble the production environment, grappling with intricate and hard-to-isolate bugs, and effectively managing test data. These manual processes consume a significant amount of time. Hence, there arises a necessity for a platform that combines artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) and robotic process automation (RPA) to expedite the testing process while ensuring efficiency, transparency, and accuracy.

Meet the QA Companion: Turbocharging the SDLC 

If there is an area where AI is silently revolutionizing, it is the software development lifecycle, encompassing not only coding tasks but also quality assurance (QA). According to a McKinsey study, generative AI can accelerate coding tasks by up to twice the speed, while AI’s role in QA serves as a key differentiator, ensuring quality, transparency, and timeliness.

Magic FinServ’s QA companion, powered by AI, addresses all testing challenges throughout the SDLC. This intelligent solution takes care of tedious, repetitive, and complex testing aspects. With its exceptional intelligence and intuitive nature, it automates tasks, enabling developers to build high-quality software and achieve faster and more reliable release cycles, even when dealing with extensive test suites and challenging tests. Moreover, it provides actionable insights based on its built-in intelligence.

  • By efficiently handling humongous amounts of data, surpassing previous capabilities, the QA companion mitigates risks and reduces unnecessary redundancy simultaneously.
  • AI-assisted testing eliminates friction between teams.
  • The AI-assisted QA Companion takes on most of the demanding tasks, resulting in a highly enriching and empowered developer experience, promoting workplace efficiency.
  • Lastly, developers no longer need to rely on more experienced colleagues for assistance, as QA can fulfill their needs by explaining new concepts, synthesizing information, and providing step-by-step guides.

Unique selling points of Magic FinServ’s QA Companion 

The QA companion serves as a reliable aid in navigating the SDLC, offering automation and intelligent code generation that far surpasses human capabilities in terms of time efficiency. Here are some key features that highlight the value of the QA companion for programmers and QA teams:

  • Effortlessly track and communicate testing progress in a highly effective manner with the help of the QA companion.
  • Seamlessly process data from various file types, including handwritten notes.
  • Utilize the in-built test scenario generator to produce intelligent test cases and scenarios, ensuring the pursuit of only necessary test cases and preventing test bloating.
  • Download AI-generated test cases and scenarios in any desired file format, customizable to meet user output requirements.
  • Generate automated scripts and eliminate the tedium associated with writing code from scratch multiple times.
  • Manual scripting becomes unnecessary as the QA companion supports a wide range of scripting languages, such as Python, Java, JavaScript, C++, and more.
  • Experience the benefits of a streamlined testing process within agile workflows, integrated with Agile tools like JIRA.
  • Leverage the code optimizer’s smart detection technology to identify best practices, code smells, and vulnerabilities.
  • Generate high-quality reports, including test plans, test strategies, execution reports, and more.
  • Ensure continuous testing throughout your development pipeline, guaranteeing quality at every stage.
  • Accelerate time to market by shortening project/product deployment times, gaining a competitive edge in the market.

Now you can bid goodbye to all the juggling between tests as the QA companion not only allows you to carry out tests in parallel tests without getting lost, but it also ensures that you are in control when it comes to timelines and releases. For a more comprehensive discussion on what the QA Companion can do  and its role in Financial Quality Assurance and Quality Assurance in Financial Services, write to us at mail@magicfinserv.com

August 1, 2023

How Barbie’s Summer of Pink Echoes in Financial Organizations

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Posted on by Ruchi Aggarwal

It’s the summer of pink.

Barbie, one of the most anticipated movies of the year, is finally here. Running a packed house and setting new records, Greta Gerwig’s Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling movie has all rethinking the zeitgeist of the time which is certainly neither black nor white – it is pink.  

Once frowned upon, 2023’s summer is splattered with pink; Anne Hathaway, the Princess of Wales, Margot Robbie, and others have worn Barbie’s favorite color on multiple occasions. But the zeitgeist of the Barbie movie is far more serious. It is a creative attempt to dispel many of the prevailing notions about gender stereotypes in a true Greta Gerwig manner. In particular, the kind of stereotyping that implies that blondes are dumb and wearing pink means that you are silly and not smart enough. With Barbiecore signaling an open rebellion against the notion of gender stereotypes, women (including trans women) across the world are embracing their femininity in a manner that would have seemed a bit overwrought in another time or year.

Organizations have 30 years of existence in the Financial Industry and are still subject to stereotypes.

Fintech companies have faced a unique and pervasive form of stereotyping in the business world. Despite the emergence of the first fintech pioneers like PayPal and Bloomberg over 30 years ago, these companies continue to be confined by various misconceptions. Some of the most prevalent stereotypes imposed on fintechs include the following:

  • Fintechs are seen as mere disrupters, shaking up traditional financial systems.
  • There is a perception that fintech primarily caters to Generation Z and young individuals.
  • Fintech companies are often wrongly assumed to be unregulated, operating in a regulatory gray area.
  • It is wrongly believed that fintech companies do not adhere to necessary compliance measures.
  • Fintech is unfairly perceived as not actively promoting inclusivity in its services.

Spurred by the magic of the Barbie movie, we hope to rub-off many of the fintech stereotypes that exist even today, while pointing out the accessories/assets that fintechs require to nail the #barbiecore trend. 

Dispelling the Stereotypes

Do fintech companies truly live up to their reputation as disrupters?

Financial technology solutions have stepped in to personalize, streamline, and enhance operations, leveraging open banking APIs to ensure accuracy, transparency, and efficiency. With processes speeding up and response times improving, the integration of Deep Intelligence in these applications provides up-to-date information. As a result, the traditional boundaries between disrupters (fintech) and the disrupted (banks and financial services) are gradually fading away.

Currently, there exists a strong collaboration between banks, financial services, and fintech companies, particularly in the back and middle offices, where manual and repetitive tasks were once overwhelming.

Are Fintechs exclusively serving the millennial generation?

In the beginning, fintech companies primarily focused on catering to the tech-savvy millennial generation. However, this is no longer true. The modern fintech industry is now actively targeting a broader customer base, including baby boomers and retirees who constitute 25% of America’s wealthiest population and will remain so until 2030. Fintech is now offering personalized content for portfolio management, timely advice, and up-to-date financial services, as well as fraud prevention, all of which can significantly empower seniors.

Do Fintechs abide by the same regulations as banks and financial institutions?

It’s intriguing to note that fintechs are now among the most heavily regulated businesses, primarily due to their significant investments in cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and data analysis. Consequently, when there are changes or updates to regulatory rules or new amendments are introduced, fintech companies seamlessly incorporate these changes into their workflows and backend systems using automated and rules-based approaches, ensuring transparency, accuracy, and timeliness.

Dispelling the Notion that Fintechs neglect Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity

Nothing could be more wrong. Fintechs basic premise is inclusivity. They were the first to come out with an out-of-the-box approach and offer affordable, and customized services and solutions related to finance, mortgage, and loans processing to customers who could not approach the traditional banking and financial institutions.  Today, fintechs have democratized finance and anyone can trade in stocks and decide how to manage their portfolios and make payments from the comforts of their home thanks to fintechs.

Fintechs have also taken the center stage when it comes to complying with ESG and DE&I. They are either showcasing their commitment to DE&I through vision and mission statement or have ensured that reporting pertaining to DE&I such as GRI (Global Reporting Initiative), Bloomberg, Refinitiv, etc., are fee or available at a price. Because either way the investor has the right to know.

While fintechs promote inclusivity in their business practices, their workspaces are one of the most diversified and equitable.    

Reconsidering Compliance measures in the Fintech industry

Earlier, fintechs were not expected to follow the kind of rules and regulations that banks and other financial institutions had to comply with. Fintechs could therefore work out of the box and forge deep ties with the customer using personalized approaches and instill a degree of agility that was not possible earlier. However, there has been a sea change and fintechs today come under the ambit of the same rules and regulations that govern banks and FIs. Also, in the case of many fintech-bank collaborations, it is imperative for fintech to raise the bar and ensure compliance under all circumstances and hence the stereotype that fintech does not follow compliance measures does not apply.  

Nailing the zeitgeist of the times with Magic FinServ

If Barbie uses fashion to defy gender stereotypes, fintechs rely on the cloud, AI-enabled tools and platforms to nail the prevailing zeitgeist of diversity, inclusivity, and acceptance. As an AI company, here’s how Magic FinServ has been changing the narrative around fintechs with tools, platform and resources. 

Faster onboarding, KYC, and due diligence with DeepSight for CX, inclusivity, and regulation compliance

While the fashionistas can easily nail the Barbiecore trend as there is a flood of pink-colored clothing and accessories for both genders, for fintechs embracing the zeitgeist (diversity, inclusivity, and acceptance) would require some sea changes and increased levels of collaboration. For example, for swifter and streamlined onboarding, KYC, and due diligence, just investing in a powerful tool or platform is not enough. For quicker onboarding of customer data, DeepSight, an AI-driven platform ensures faster onboarding of customer data, while also using a rules-based approach that ensures that only relevant data points are extracted, which makes it easier to draw premises and make intelligent decisions quicker than ever before. Quick data onboarding and KYC delights the customer and results in highly engagement and inclusivity.   

Relying heavily on automation for doing the heavy lifting with regards Testing, QA, and DevOps

When the whole world turns “pink” can you afford to be left behind. Whether it is day trading or payments or even loans processing, ease of communication with the customer is vital for creating a truly enriching customer experience.

However, for a truly great application or front-end, or for enabling a lean platform-centric model, there is a lot of heavy lifting that must be done at the backend. A good user-friendly interface is not built by magic. Behind the scenes teams of developers and QA work in tandem to build the product.

When backed by robust DevOps and Quality Assurance automation solutions such as Magic FinServ’s QA Companion, firms can deliver on the promised timelines without sacrificing the quality. Whether it is code commit, or coding bloating, or generating automated scripts so that manual effort is kept at a minimum and QAs have more time and effort in their hands to work on details related to personalization, UI/UX, and enhancing the customer experience.  

Streamlining with Magic FinServ

As fintechs operate across multiple jurisdictions and subject to the same intense regulation as traditional financial institutions, compliance can be a challenge. The challenge is more so for banks that partner with fintech to access innovative technology.  There are risks associated with data privacy and consumer protection, for example the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that must be addressed. As a fintech provider team up with the experts at Magic FinServ who have years of experience addressing such issues. We provide fintech consulting services that will help ensure transparency, efficiency, and productivity while meeting timelines for monitoring and reporting.

Get smart with our financial technology solutions and get going with barbie. For more write to us at, mail@magicfinserv.com.

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