Access to ATMs without the need for a card, quick online banking, and a series of other operations are what users are demanding to make the management of their accounts more convenient. 

Hence, the BiOSBank project was born as part of the INTERCONECTA Program. This proposal aims to create an Open and Intelligent Platform for Banking, but what is its purpose? Its objective is to incorporate technologies to develop a new banking model and thus improve the relationship with the end customer.

Developing a financial-technological ecosystem

The BiOSBank project was intended to create an Open and Smart Banking Platform where customers could find everything they needed. In this case, the main challenge was to enable operations with other sectors, other than the bank itself, through a new Intelligent ATM system and a Mobile Banking tool. 

Putting all this machinery in place was quite a challenge, as it would be the first initiative of this type to be undertaken entirely in Spain.
But one thing was clear to enable the development of this new banking model: it was necessary to use disruptive technologies and cutting-edge techniques. Only in this way could the following objectives be achieved:

• Facilitate a much closer model of interaction with banking customers.
• To adapt the system to the new times and new technologies.
• To meet the needs and preferences of each customer, both individuals and companies.

Also, it was expected that this new platform would be a starting point for:

Use of cutting-edge technology

We manage four main elements to achieve the objective of creating an Open and Intelligent Platform for Banking:

• The BaaS platform itself, in which the entire technological ecosystem will be incorporated. This solution has all the necessary aspects to operate as an entire banking platform and to act as a marketplace, enabling the entry of new players: FinTech companies.
• A Big Data and Machine Learning subsystem that not only provides the BiOSBank platform with the tools required to capture, process and exploit data but also provides functionalities, such as the detection of patterns, customization of the services offered, assessment of anomalies and anticipation of financial risks, among others.
• A Mobile Banking application through which the banking platform services will be offered. These functions range from general banking operations to new services, such as biometric recognition, virtual voice assistant, digital signature, etc. This will guarantee the confidentiality, integrity and privacy of the data and operations.
• A Smart ATM solution with scalable architecture, incorporating the most advanced technologies on the market. This offers the possibility of real-time monitoring of the bank's status and remote diagnosis or prediction of events at the ATM. For users, this will mean access to a set of services with a multi-channel vision through ATMs with the possibility of accessing them without a card and with total guarantees in terms of the security of the operations carried out.

An open and intelligent banking platform

Thanks to the technology applied, three algorithms have been developed that are already automating tasks and facilitating different types of banking transactions: 

1. Financial risk. This algorithm takes as input the outcome of loans previously granted to customers, as well as their economic and personal characteristics. Once it has this information from the user, it automates the decision to authorize or not a risk operation, such as the granting of a loan. 
2. Recommendation and clustering. In the case of BiOSBank, it has certain financial products that we can offer, such as a pre-approved loan of different amounts. With this algorithm, users with similar profiles are grouped to offer them a product based on their economic and personal characteristics.
3. A mixture of the two previous ones. In other words, a third algorithm was developed that mixes the recommendation and clustering model with the repayment calculation model. In effect, this system offers a pre-conceded loan of different amounts to a specific group of users and, at the same time, calculates the probability of repayment based on their personal and economic characteristics.

In addition, the BiOSBank mobile application has incorporated and has the following use cases in operation:

Signature management of banking operations

The mobile application allows users to perform operations through a digital signature. The type of operations that can be carried out with the signature is the execution of money transfer operations between two accounts in the national territory or managing the transfer of money between two accounts of the same bank.
 

Fingerprint authentication with a mobile device

A fingerprint reader has been developed so that users can access the Mobile Banking application in this way. If the device does not have fingerprint recognition, customers can identify themselves through a username and password.
 

Voice assistant with cases of banking operations

With the Voice Assistant, users request the operations they want to carry out with the Banking System. The operations can be related to contracted products, account balance, list of movements... On the other hand, operations such as movement between accounts, national transfers, card blocking and payment of bills can also be carried out.
 

Access to core banking anonymously

If the application exposes data to other applications, there is total control over reading/writing access so that it is anonymous, regardless of the storage medium chosen for the data.
 

As a projection for the future, the scope of application is to be extended beyond the purely banking environment. For this reason, a use case focused on the hotel sector has been included. In this way, hotels could offer their own services through a cash dispenser or through the BiOSBank platform itself: booking modifications, upsellings, currency exchange, ticket sales, excursions, etc.