The bank worked with Backbase to create a new app that facilitates card management and delivers clear overviews of transactions and loyalty points. The project was completed to deadline and acceptance rates have so far exceeded expectations.

Íslandsbanki faced the challenge of migrating data, including loyalty offerings, from American Express to Mastercard. This project had a very ambitious timeline, as implementation had to dovetail with the closure of American Express’ operations in Iceland. This was successfully reached, with go-live accomplished within six months. Results have been positive in the short-term, with the app achieving high penetration rates.

Reaching go-live between June and early December was additionally impressive as the August holiday occured in the middle of the project. Acceptance rates for the app have been high. Within the first six weeks, over 4,000 cards were activated and the PIN was retrieved over 12,000 times.

“Acceptance rates have been high, in the six weeks since go-live, over 7,500 customers have come on board.” Jóhann Friðgeir Haraldsson, Executive Director - Digital Business Partner, Íslandsbanki

Amongst the functionalities required were real-time status, real-time transactions, card activation, PIN retrieval and freeze and unfreeze card. Airline loyalty points earned on the American Express platform also had to be migrated over.

The project team consisted of around 20 people, including business analysts, backend, frontend, UX and mobile specialists. Training of the bank’s team was done internally, with a workshop being run for developers in Ukraine. Backbase provided onsite support for the first month, along with further training and support through to completion. Following completion, all that was required was some remote Q&A, which Backbase also provided.

Having seen such success amongst the initial base of customers, the app will be rolled out to all segments. The relationship with Backbase will continue into the future, with commercial banking and the public website on the roadmap for potential areas of collaboration.