A major UK banking group

BankingMajor UK Banking Group

Modernising customer screening for agility and oversight

From vendor-driven black boxes to a configurable, event-driven screening platform.

Platform & ArchitectureEconomic Crime & Fraud

→

Re-architected screening as an event-driven platform with distributed search architecture

→

Capable of real-time screening and full-book rescreen across large data volumes

→

Delivered modern observability and non-repudiation audit trails

→

Enabled efficient onboarding of new screening providers and policies

→

Supported high-availability requirements under significant transaction volumes

Request a detailed version of this case study →

Engineering Facets

ReversibilityObservabilityEvent DrivenDomain AlignmentZero DowntimeRuntime Integrity

Expertise

Cloud Transformation Engineering Event-Driven Architectures

Accelerators

Platform Architecture Event-Driven Architecture API & Microservices Observability Baseline Governed Delivery Console

Capabilities

Platform Engineering

“Screening modernisation isn't about replacing vendors. It's about regaining control over how screening is orchestrated, monitored and audited.”

Context

The bank relied on an ageing screening technology stack that limited change velocity. Each rule or provider change triggered time-consuming deployments and regression cycles. Monitoring and auditing were fragmented, making regulatory conversations harder than they needed to be. The bank wanted to retain its choice of vendors, but regain control over how screening was orchestrated, monitored and audited.

The Challenge

→
Decouple orchestration from vendor products
→
Retain existing providers while enabling measured migration and dual-running
→
Provide operational transparency across brands, lines of business and jurisdictions
→
Reduce time-to-change for policy and workflow updates from months to weeks

Our Approach

Event-driven platform design

Screening built on an event-driven architecture capable of real-time screening and full-book rescreen operations. Downstream systems integrate via stable API contracts while the platform evolves underneath.

Distributed search architecture

A distributed search layer designed for high-throughput screening across large data volumes, supporting both real-time individual checks and periodic full-book rescreens against updated regulatory lists.

Modern engineering practices

Microservices with idempotent APIs and failure-aware design. Containerised workloads deployed on bank-approved cloud platforms. Shift-left testing, including contract testing and automated regression suites.

Business metrics & operational monitoring baked in

Metrics for hit rates, timing, error patterns and manual review loops. Built-in dashboards for risk, operations and technology.

Transition architecture

Side-by-side integration to de-risk migration from legacy screening engines. Pluggable adaption layer for current and future providers.

Engagement Timeline

Assessment & Design

2 months

Assessed current screening landscape, defined API-first target architecture, and designed the transition strategy for dual-running.

Platform Delivery

6 months

Built the screening platform with versioned APIs, pluggable provider adapters, and comprehensive business metrics dashboards.

Migration & Dual-Running

4 months

Side-by-side migration from legacy screening engines with automated reconciliation and progressive traffic shifting.

Outcomes

→
A governed customer screening platform capable of supporting multiple vendor engines without locking into any one provider.
→
Improved clarity for regulators and internal governance functions.
→
Reduced operational friction and clearer ownership of performance, coverage and exceptions.
→
A platform architecture designed to extend to group-wide screening requirements (including batch regulatory list rescreens and payment screening) as future capabilities.
→
A foundation on which AI-driven triage and prioritisation can be safely added.

Technologies & Patterns

Event-driven microservicesDistributed search architectureContainer orchestrationContract testingReal-time and batch processingObservability stack

What Our Client Said

“It's miles ahead of any other technology we currently have, which is fantastic. What's particularly encouraging is that people are now changing other controls and thinking of different approaches based on what we've learned here.”
List Screening Platform · published TechPros interview

“Bugni work at a pace that's basically unprecedented in my experience. They also bring a level of technical expertise and domain knowledge that's exceptional.”
List Screening Platform · published TechPros interview

“It's both groundbreaking and a path to the future simultaneously.”
List Screening Platform · published TechPros interview

Perspectives that argue this

Guides that cover this

AI copilots need engineering control

Sibling case studies

Want the full story?

Client names, detailed architecture diagrams, metrics, and implementation insights are available on request. We're happy to walk you through the engagement.

Discuss a similar challenge