Customers today expect banking to feel simple. One app. One journey. One outcome
What they do not see is how many systems sit behind that simplicity. And how often those systems were never designed to work together.
This gap is becoming more visible.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Banks have spent years improving digital channels. Mobile apps are better. Online journeys are faster. Interfaces are cleaner. Yet the experience can still break at certain points. A delay in onboarding. A payment that takes longer than expected. A service request that needs manual follow-up.
These are not always failures of technology. More often, they reflect how different parts of the system are stitched together.
There was a time when most banking products were built within a single environment. The structure was contained. The boundaries were clear. Changes were slower, but the system was easier to understand.
That model has gradually shifted.
Today, a single product may draw on several layers. Core banking systems. Payments infrastructure. Identity services. Risk engines. In some cases, external partners. Each layer performs a specific role. Each has its own logic.
From the outside, it still appears as one product
But internally, it is not.
This is where the idea of composable product design starts to take shape.
Instead of building a product as one unit, banks are increasingly assembling it. Different components are brought together to create a single customer offering. The structure becomes more flexible. New capabilities can be added without rebuilding everything.
In some cases, this flexibility allows banks to respond to customer needs more quickly. In others, it allows them to introduce new services without waiting for large system changes. The benefit is clear. The model is more adaptable than before.
At the same time, it introduces a different kind of challenge.
When multiple systems are involved, the question is no longer just about functionality. It becomes a question of flow. How does a process move from one system to another? What happens when something changes mid-journey? Where does accountability sit if an outcome is not as expected?
These questions are not always visible at the product level. They sit underneath.
And this is where orchestration begins to matter.
In simple terms, orchestration is about how these different parts work together. Not just whether they are connected, but how they interact over time. Which step comes first. What triggers the next action. How decisions are applied across the journey.
It is less about building systems. More about managing the movement between them
Consider something as routine as onboarding. It may involve identity verification, credit checks, account creation, and service activation. Each step may be handled in a different place. The overall experience depends on how these steps are aligned.
If the flow is clear, the experience feels seamless. If not, the customer notices.
The same can be seen in payments. A transaction may pass through multiple checks before completion. Fraud monitoring, risk evaluation, routing decisions, and settlement processes may all be involved. Each step is necessary. The challenge lies in ensuring that the journey remains smooth.
This is where the complexity of modern banking sits. Not in any single system, but in how systems come together.
It also raises a broader point.
As products become more composable, banks are moving away from tightly controlled environments towards more distributed structures. This brings flexibility but also requires a different kind of discipline. Visibility becomes important. So does consistency. So does the ability to trace decisions across systems.
These are not new concerns. But they take on a different form when products are built across multiple layers.
For institutions, this may lead to a shift in how product design is understood. The focus may move from what a product includes to how it is assembled. From features to flow. From components to coordination.
That shift is already underway, even if it is not always described in these terms.
Customers will continue to expect simplicity. That expectation will not change.
What will change is what sits behind it.
Composable banking is one way of responding to that expectation. It allows banks to bring together different capabilities in a flexible way. But it also depends on how well those capabilities are aligned.
And that alignment, increasingly, is where the real work happens.
Dr. Gulzar Singh, Senior Fellow – Banking and Technology; Director, Phoenix Empire Ltd
