Emirates NBD, a leading banking institution in the UAE, embarked on an ambitious journey to introduce E20, the nation's premier digital bank. As an engineer on this innovative project, I played an integral role in developing backend services, seamlessly bridging the gap between traditional banking and the digital era.
In a market accustomed to traditional banking infrastructures, establishing the UAE's first digital bank posed significant technical challenges. The pre-existing systems were not designed for seamless integration with modern digital banking services. As the Principal Software Engineer, I was presented with multiple hurdles.
Legacy banking systems, often built on dated architectures, don't easily align with modern, digital platforms. At ENBD, the challenge was two-fold: Ensuring that existing users experience a seamless transition without disruptions and making certain the platform is scalable for an anticipated influx of new users. Incorporating these older systems into UAE's first digital bank required not only technical expertise but a strategic approach to integration that minimised potential bottlenecks and performance issues.
Ensuring that the backend services interacted seamlessly with the frontend, providing a consistent and responsive user experience, was of paramount importance. This required the development of a unified API that bridged the gap between backend microservices and the frontend application
I developed a number of NodeJS/Javascript-based microservices tailored for E20's unique requirements. Understanding the importance of consistency in user interactions, I employed external NPM packages to ensure a seamless interplay between frontend applications and backend services. Beyond the code, my role involved ensuring the harmonisation of the platform's technical aspects with the user's digital journey.
To guarantee the robustness of our solution, I implemented testing protocols using Cucumber, Sinon, AVA, and Cypress test suites. Leveraging the capabilities of Continuous Integration, I ensured that the digital bank's foundation was resilient and secure.