Ben Goldin, CEO of Plumery, discusses reshaping digital banking, addressing industry misconceptions, and the future of hyper-personalized banking experiences.
Ben, can you walk us through your journey from your roles at Mambu and Backbase to founding Plumery, and what motivated you to start Plumery?
My journey began with a passion for computing and programming, sparked by my early exposure to one of the first internet banks in Lithuania, where I grew up. My roles at Mambu and Backbase—as Chief Technology and Product Officer and Chief Architect, respectively—allowed me to see firsthand the limitations traditional banks faced in enhancing their digital offerings compared to more agile fintech companies. This disparity motivated me to create Plumery’s Digital Success Fabric—a platform designed to empower financial institutions to deliver unique mobile and web experiences quickly and cost-effectively. My goal was and still is to bridge the gap between innovation and traditional banking systems, enabling banks to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
The idea of building a digital banking solution in six months is often portrayed in the media, but what are the real challenges and complexities involved in developing and integrating such solutions?
Building a digital banking solution in six months sounds impressive, but the reality involves significant challenges. These include integrating with core banking systems, creating a scalable and maintainable architecture that supports continuous evolution and improvements, and delivering a seamless user experience across multiple channels. Additionally, addressing security concerns, managing data privacy, and meeting the nuanced expectations of users is all part of the process.
How does the concept of “Instagram vs. Reality” apply to customer-centric banking, and what are the common misconceptions about the timeline and effort required?
The “Instagram vs. Reality” concept reflects the gap between the idealised portrayal of implementing digital banking solutions and the actual complexities involved. Much like an iceberg, where the complexity is mostly hidden beneath the surface, developing digital banking solutions involves significant unseen effort. There is a common misconception that digital banking solutions can be built in six months, but in reality, the bulk of the effort is spent developing digital journeys and integrating them with core banking infrastructures, which typically requires 80% of the effort. It is not uncommon for financial institutions to spend an additional six to twelve months post-go-live to achieve the desired level of reliability and quality.
In your experience, why might CTOs at neobanks, despite working in advanced technological environments, sometimes hinder continuous innovation, and how can they overcome this?
This might seem direct, but sometimes CTOs coming from traditional banks bring the same culture and approaches with them, even in a neobank setting. This can result in recurring problems and challenges despite the shift to a new banking model. My suggestion is that they start by questioning whether they are repeating the same practices whilst expecting different results.
What distinguishes the third generation of digital banking from previous phases, and why are some banks advancing while others seem to lag?
The third generation of digital banking is all about hyper-personalisation, advanced AI, seamless integration across various channels, and ecosystems that include offerings beyond traditional banking. Unlike earlier phases, which focused on basic digitalisation – such as displaying balances, transactions, and providing mobile access – this generation emphasises delivering highly personalised experiences and leveraging data-driven insights.
Several factors can be attributed to why some banks advance while others lag behind. Leading banks typically engage deeply with their customers, understanding and addressing their specific needs, which fuels their progress. They are also open to experimentation and demonstrate end-to-end product ownership driven by true customer-centric principles. In contrast, challenges such as outdated legacy systems tightly coupled with legacy core banking systems, heavily regulated environments, limited resources, a lack of the right talent, and siloed organisational cultures can hinder banks’ ability to keep up with evolving digital banking standards.
How do you see hyper-personalised, AI-driven banking experiences reshaping customer expectations and interactions with their banks?
Customers now expect more than just transactional services; they demand highly tailored experiences and personalised advice that anticipate their specific needs and deliver relevant, timely solutions. More importantly, these solutions should be seamlessly integrated into banking journeys in the right place at the right time. Although not directly related to customer expectations, AI helps banks achieve greater efficiencies in onboarding, loan origination, fraud detection, and others, creating better opportunities for previously unbanked segments of customers.
The digital banking space is flooded with terminology. Can you help clarify the key differences between Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) and Digital Banking Platforms (DBPs)?
I noticed that the term Digital Banking Platform (DBP) is often applied to Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs), Digital Engagement Platforms (DEPs), and Core Banking Systems, interchangeably.
Digital Experience Platforms (DXPs) are designed to create and manage multi-channel digital experiences, such as digital account opening or loan origination. They optimise digital activities across online and mobile applications, providing real-time insights and reducing friction in user journeys.
Digital Engagement Platforms (DEPs), in contrast, focus on enhancing interactions between financial institutions and their customers. They offer tools for CRM, social media management, and marketing automation to drive personalised communication and foster customer loyalty.
Lastly, Core Banking Systems (CBSs), also known as banking processing platforms, provide the essential infrastructure for managing core banking products like deposits, loans, and payments.
What should financial institutions consider when navigating the digital banking landscape to ensure they are making informed decisions and selecting the right technologies?
I suggest embracing the digital revolution with boldness and agility. By adopting principles of experimentation and continuous improvement, banks can effectively cater to a broader range of customers. When navigating the digital banking technology landscape, financial institutions should consider several key factors. First, avoid having to choose between ‘buy’ and ‘build’; seek platforms that offer both out-of-the-box capabilities and developer-friendly autonomous customisation options, allowing you to leverage pre-built solutions while tailoring unique features to your needs. Secondly, opt for technologies that facilitate rapid, cost-effective modernisations, provide tools to understand user behaviour, prioritise enhancing the customer experience and support ongoing updates and improvements. Finally, select vendors with proven industry expertise to ensure you receive valuable support and guidance throughout your digital banking journey.
How does Plumery address the complexities and challenges associated with modernising digital banking experiences?
Plumery addresses these complexities by offering a flexible, developer-friendly platform that facilitates rapid deployment and customisation of digital banking journeys. Our platform provides pre-built digital banking journeys while also allowing institutions to craft their own experiences, ensuring that modernisation efforts are both efficient and aligned with specific business needs. By sitting on top of existing core banking systems, we minimise disruption and enable financial institutions to enhance their digital presence without overhauling their existing infrastructure or replacing their core banking systems.
Looking forward, what trends or advancements do you believe will shape the future of digital banking, and how is Plumery positioned to capitalise on these developments?
Customer experience will remain a central focus alongside transformative trends. Financial services will be seamlessly embedded into everyday activities, with digital banks of tomorrow providing omnichannel, consistent experiences across all touchpoints. They will leverage AI and machine learning for hyper-personalised financial interactions and harness open banking to enhance services and integrate with a broader range of applications. Since its inception, Plumery has focused on delivering and evolving a platform to stay at the forefront of these trends. In the near future, we will introduce additional features, including AI-driven automation and insights, conversational banking, and other advancements.
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