From Vision to a Next-Gen App: How J&T Bank Rebooted Its Digital Channels in Just Months
A new approach changed that. By partnering with Trask, the bank accelerated its digital evolution: in less than eight months, it built a robust, scalable architecture powered by Kafka event streaming and REST APIs. This became the backbone for a fully integrated, next-generation mobile app—now live and processing over 2 million messages daily with high availability and responsiveness.
Business Impact in Numbers
The transformation brought measurable improvements:
- 7.5 months – time needed to deliver complete integration factory
- 2M+ messages processed per day
- 80 ms latency (compared to 350 ms before)
- 15+ core banking systems integrated
- 11 suppliers aligned into a unified digital ecosystem
[.infobox][.infobox-heading]About J&T Bank[.infobox-heading]J&T Bank is a prominent private investment bank based in the Czech Republic, serving clients across Central and Eastern Europe. It focuses on helping clients grow, protect, and transfer their wealth across generations while embracing cutting-edge digital innovation to improve service and user experience.[.infobox]
The Challenge: From Complex Setup to a Clearer Path Forward
While pursuing a modern integration strategy, J&T Bank’s original setup—designed to move data from core systems into a centralized Customer Data Management (CDM) layer and then into local replicas—ran into operational hurdles. It caused delays, data inconsistencies, duplicate events, and ineffective error handling.
Despite ongoing effort over 2.5 years, the desired production outcomes remained out of reach, leading to a growing need for a different approach. What the bank truly needed was real-time access to high-quality, reliable data across all digital channels—mobile, desktop, and web—without overwhelming its core systems.
The turning point came when J&T brought in Trask to redesign the integration using a radically different strategy.
A Smarter Integration Approach: Real-Time, Resilient, and Future-Proof
Trask built the platform using Confluent Kafka for real-time data streaming and REST APIs for transactional operations. Events such as balance changes or trades are streamed in real time from core systems into Operational Data Stores (ODS), ensuring availability without overloading backend infrastructure.
The solution combines secure architecture, smart API management, and automation to deliver speed, resilience, and full scalability—while maintaining strict control over data quality and risk across environments.
Impact in Action: A Single App for All Services
Thanks to the new integration architecture, J&T Bank was able to build a next-generation mobile application that brings all key services into one place.
— Michal Komár, Head of Digital Experience
The app combines everyday banking, investments, and trading into a seamless user experience. It consolidates data from 17 backend suppliers and processes over a billion events—while reflecting regional specifics for both Czech and Slovak markets.
Upcoming features include dark mode, voice-driven advisory services, and automated document preparation—enhancing not just the look and feel, but also the overall efficiency of client interactions.
Before vs. After: A Technical Leap
The new platform dramatically improved performance across the board. Latency dropped from 350 ms to 80 ms. The new solution runs 24/7 without interruption. Feature deployments that once took weeks can now be delivered in days—and the architecture can handle peak loads with ease.
What’s Next: Building on a Scalable Foundation
The digital platform is now the foundation for upcoming innovations. Plans include extending the integration with CDM as an auxiliary service, refining error-handling workflows, and reducing the burden of responsibility on core systems. With the new architecture in place, J&T can now focus on rapid product evolution—turning technical agility into business advantage.
— Michal Komár, Head of Digital Experience
5 Lessons from J&T's Digital Transformation
- Speed wins – Months of delay can be replaced by agile, event-driven delivery.
- Event streaming is powerful but demanding – Kafka requires high adaptation costs, but the benefits outweigh the effort.
- Ownership and data quality are crucial – No integration works without clear responsibility for data integrity.
- Open tech beats vendor lock-in – Kafka + REST APIs delivered flexibility and high availability.
- Setbacks can spark growth – Initial challenges with integration laid the foundation for building a modern platform.
Other Client Testimonial
The integration at J&T Bank became an accelerator for change including opening, retrieving and accessing data. As a result, the bank now has a functional integration platform that correlates with the latest trends and enables the bank to grow further.
— Tomáš Klimíček, Chief Risk Officer, Board Member
Looking to modernize your bank’s digital core?
Let’s talk. We’ll show you how Kafka-based streaming and smart API architecture can future-proof your digital channels.
