Our approach

Start with one priority.
Design for what comes next.

A bank does not need to transform everything at once. Start with the change that matters now, connect it to the estate already in place, then make what you build reusable across more journeys, customers, channels and markets.

Start with the initiative

Where does change need to happen first?

The first conversation should be about the outcome the bank needs — not about choosing a module.

01Launch or modernise a channelCreate or improve a customer experience without rebuilding the estate beneath it.
In practiceA retail bank with a capable core but a channel it could not change quickly. The work is in the layer above: new journeys, new screens, new rules — while the ledger, the cards platform and the payments rails stay exactly where they are.
02Improve onboardingChange how a customer or business enters the relationship.
In practiceOnboarding is where most of the relationship is decided and most of it is lost. The change is rarely the form itself; it is what the bank already knows about the person by the time they reach it, and what it is allowed to do with that.
03Serve SME or corporate customers differentlyIntroduce journeys and controls that fit a different operating model.
In practiceAn SME is not a large retail customer. Different mandates, different approval chains, different limits, several people acting on one account. The journeys and the controls have to reflect that, without a second platform to maintain.
04Expand into another marketReuse what already works while adapting language, services and local rules.
In practiceThe second market should cost a fraction of the first. Language, local services, regulatory rules and product mix change; the integrations, context model and journey components carry over.
05Replace a constrained digital layerModernise the experience while preserving systems that should remain.
In practiceThe systems underneath are usually fine. What has aged is the layer that decides what the customer sees. Replacing that layer alone is a far smaller programme than the core replacement it is often mistaken for.
06Introduce a new journey or serviceProve one priority, then make the capability reusable.
In practiceOne journey, properly built, leaves behind the integrations, the context and the rules that the next one needs. The first is a project. The second is configuration.

Different starting points. The same principle: solve what matters now without creating another dead end.

Understand what already exists

Start with what already exists.

We do not begin by inserting Stratum into the estate. We begin by defining the change, then mapping what must remain stable, what can already be reused and what rules govern the outcome.

01
KeepWhat should stay.

Core banking · Payments · CRM · Identity · Lending · Cards · Partner services

02
Draw onWhat is already available.

Customer and account data · Transactions · Products · Events · External services

03
GovernWhat decides what can happen.

Eligibility · Permissions · Risk controls · Business rules · Regulatory constraints

04
ChangeWhat outcome must improve.

A specific customer, operational or market outcome — defined before implementation starts.

The boundary becomes clear

What stays. What can be reused. What governs the change. What success needs to look like.

Define the first outcome

Choose something worth proving.

The first initiative should solve a real customer or operational problem while establishing capability the bank can reuse.

Business outcomeWhat needs to improve?

Not “we need a better app”. Something a board would recognise: SME digital adoption, cost to serve, drop-off at onboarding, revenue per relationship.

Customer momentWhen does it matter?

The point in real life where the outcome is won or lost — a business payment falling due, a salary arriving, a card declining abroad, a limit being reached.

Relevant contextWhat information matters now?

Out of everything the bank holds, the few things that bear on this moment: relationship, account, permissions. Not the whole customer record.

Bank rulesWhat is allowed and appropriate?

The constraints that must hold before anything is offered — limits and authentication, eligibility, risk appetite, local regulation, consent.

Systems requiredWhat must connect?

The systems that have to be reachable for this to work at all: core, payments, identity. This is where the integration effort actually lands.

ExperienceWhat should change?

The visible answer — an appropriate payment journey. A different screen, a different limit, a different next step, assembled from what the five steps before it established.

Example

Increase SME digital adoption → business payment moment → relationship + account + permissions → limits and authentication → core + payments + identity → appropriate payment journey

The point is not to design the whole future. It is to prove one useful change in a way that makes the next change easier.

How we work

From first priority to reusable capability.

A practical sequence that gets something useful into the bank, then makes it easier to extend.

01
AlignAgree what must change.

Define the initiative, success measure and first customer or operational moment.

02
ConnectUse what is already there.

Connect the systems, services, data and APIs required for that initiative.

03
ConfigurePut the bank in control.

Configure segments, permissions, journeys, business rules and experience behaviour.

04
LaunchPut the change into use.

Release the first capability into the chosen customer, market or channel.

05
ExpandReuse rather than restart.

Extend the same foundation into another journey, segment, channel or market.

Start small. Launch something real. Keep what becomes reusable.

Who owns what

The bank stays in control.

Stratum changes how the digital relationship responds. It does not take ownership away from the bank or replace systems that should remain authoritative.

The bank owns Policy and intent
  • Business policy
  • Eligibility
  • Risk controls
  • Permissions
  • Products
  • Customer strategy
Stratum enables Responsive digital behaviour
  • Context
  • Configuration
  • Journey behaviour
  • Experience assembly
  • Integration
  • Reuse
Existing systems continue Systems of record and specialist capability
  • Core / ledger
  • Payments
  • CRM
  • Lending
  • Identity
  • Specialist services

Stratum sits where change needs to happen — above the systems of record, within the bank's rules.

What the first initiative leaves behind

The first launch should make the second one easier.

A project delivers an outcome. A platform should also leave behind capability that the next initiative can reuse.

01Integrations establishedThe required systems and services are already connected.
02Context availableRelevant customer, account and event data can be drawn on again.
03Business rules configuredPermissions, eligibility and controls are no longer starting from zero.
04Journey components createdUseful interaction patterns can be reused and adapted.
05Operating model provenTeams know how the capability is governed and released.
06Expansion path openedThe same foundation can move into another journey, segment, channel or market.

Bring us the priority

Tell us what you are trying to change.

We can start by understanding what already exists, what needs to move and what should remain untouched.

Talk to us