The Challenge

Pumori Core Banking, a legacy system, was originally designed for a branch-first world where transactions were performed by tellers and ATMs. With the rapid rise of Mobile Banking, Internet Banking, and digital-first strategies, the system struggled to keep pace with modern demands.

Key issues faced:

• Limited digital readiness: The core was not API-first and could not directly support mobile and internet applications.
• High latency for frequently accessed data: Customer, account, and KYC queries placed heavy load on the system.
• ATM switch instability: Host-to-host communication for ATMs frequently failed due to thread starvation, requiring frequent server restarts.
• Middleware dependency: Banks relied on costly third-party middleware to bridge core and digital services.
• Lack of observability: Limited visibility into API usage, performance, and failures.

Our Solution

We partnered with banks using Pumori Core Banking to modernize their legacy system and enable a digital-first transformation.

• Online Data Store Integration: Introduced a high-performance caching layer for frequently accessed information (account details, customer profile, KYC data), reducing load on the core and ensuring faster response times.
• API-First Strategy: Built modern APIs to expose critical banking functions such as:
  • Account opening
  • Lending services
  • KYC information retrieval
  • Balance inquiry
  • Account statements
• Stabilized Host-to-Host ATM Communication: Re-architected the ATM switch integration to eliminate thread starvation, enabling continuous uptime without frequent server restarts.
• Eliminated Third-Party Middleware: Direct API-driven integration removed dependency on external middleware, lowering cost and complexity.
• Observability Platform: Delivered a unified monitoring and observability layer to track API performance, system health, and transaction-level visibility.

Before vs After

Aspect	Before Modernization	After With Our API Platform
System Design	Built for teller & ATM operations only	API-first design for mobile, internet & digital apps
Data Access	Core overloaded with repeated queries	Online Data Store caches frequently used info for faster access
ATM Switch Stability	Frequent restarts due to thread starvation	Stable host-to-host communication with no downtime
Middleware	Reliance on costly third-party middleware	Eliminated middleware, replaced with direct API integration
System Monitoring	Limited visibility into issues	Full observability platform with API and system-level monitoring
Time-to-Market for New Services	Weeks to months for service rollout	Rapid enablement of digital services through ready APIs

The Results

With our modernization effort, banks running Pumori Core Banking achieved:

• Faster performance through online data caching for account and KYC information.
• Uninterrupted ATM operations, solving long-standing stability issues.
• Simplified architecture by removing third-party middleware.
• Operational visibility through an observability platform to monitor APIs and system health.
• Rapid deployment of digital services, powered by an API-first approach.
• Future readiness, with a scalable architecture to support open banking, fintech integrations, and evolving customer needs.

Conclusion

By modernizing Pumori Core Banking with our API Management Platform, Online Data Store, and Observability layer, we transformed a legacy teller-and-ATM-focused system into a digital-first, API-enabled core. This empowered banks to meet the demands of modern mobile and internet banking while reducing costs, improving stability, and ensuring transparency across their operations.