Innovation
Security
ATOM BANK
Innovation
Atom Bank had to undertake some serious innovation in order to make it work . “ You ’ ve got to think about how to squeeze the whole of a bank into a landscape of a few inches ,” says Bromley , meaning that his team had to decide what a bank needed to be , and the top priority was customer experience . Atom created an animated interface using Unity 3D – a platform used predominantly in the gaming sector – and expanded that into a fully animated experience without any formulaic navigation .
The app features real-time information architecture , bringing the contextually-relevant information to the customer ’ s screen without the need for menus . Atom writes its own code for the app , but the services that depends on are almost entirely bought through partnerships . While most banks will partner with huge global companies like IBM , Atom prefers to form relationships with many smaller companies , ensuring that it keeps ahead with innovation and lowers costs . “ Without those types of partners ,” Bromley says , “ we would never be able to deliver at this pace . And we will readily create more partnerships to maintain pace and supply best-in-breed capabilities .”
Security
As the potential for security breaches becomes an increasing concern , Atom is made an all the more attractive prospect as a mobile-only – and therefore specific to the customer – concept .
“ You get massive increases in levels of security with mobile-only ,” says Bromley . “ If all we did was regurgitate what a bank did there ’ d be no point – we had to completely differentiate . We use either facial , voice recognition , or a passcode , depending on what the customer wants . Soon we ’ ll have fingerprint technology too .
“ Most of our customers prefer the facial recognition software , and while some global companies may be using this technology , it ’ s new to the UK . We do have a support centre for any customers needing help , and it ’ s integrated into the app with a live
86 December 2016