Open-Source Software: The Strategic Key to Your Company’s Success

Many people tend to think of traditional software versus open-source software in binary terms: zero or one, either or, conventional or unconventional. However, the reality is that the leading software brands, giants like Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon, are all extensively utilizing open-source projects to build their products and drive growth and innovation at high speed every day. 

The misconceptions around open-source software (OSS) are preventing many companies from leveraging OSS to keep up with market demands and to stay relevant. In this article we aim to bring to light the common misconceptions surrounding OSS and to highlight how companies, both great and small, can harness the benefits of OSS to get an edge in the financial market.

First, the misconceptions 

Despite open-source software’s pivotal role in accelerating innovation, new products and solutions within the financial services industry, there are still several misconceptions about it in the financial sector, the main ones being:

It’s insecure. Perhaps the leading misconception about open-source software is that it is insecure. Nothing could be further from the truth. You may be surprised to learn that when you compare Linux to Windows, Linux comes equipped with far more antivirus. OSS has a thriving community committed to identifying security breaches and generating improvements and security patches around the clock.  There are mature, established processes in place to upgrade and maintain the software and ensure companies are up to speed on security solutions. Of course, working with a professional vendor from the community is key for maintaining security protocols, maximizing the benefits of OSS and reducing risk. 

It’s free. OSS is not free. In fact, it takes a great deal of effort around the world to maintain and build OSS, although most of that work is carried out by individual contributors who are, indeed, volunteers. Using open-source software properly warrants getting professional support and control over the use of the software to ensure software upgrades and improvements are maintained over time. One huge benefit of open-source software though is that it does not have licensing fees. Licensing fees often block access to software for some companies, making open-source software an affordable and excellent pathway to levelling the playing field in the financial market.

OSS is here to stay

According to the 2024 FINOS State of Open Source in Financial Services Report, financial services firms are increasing consumption of open source software while also increasing their contribution back to the open source community. Participation in open-source ecosystems is on the rise and Open-Source Program Offices (OSPOs) are becoming more and more prevalent. This demonstrates the financial services industry’s understanding that open-source projects, and their respective communities are strategically important to company growth and success. 

Software is eating the world, and open source is eating software. Modern software delivery today is built on top of hundreds of open-source components. To stay ahead of the curve, big corporations are incorporating OSPOS (Open-Source Program Offices) that allow corporations to manage the multiple open-source projects they use, in ways they can control. These offices control which projects or packages are ok to use, how to contribute back to the community, and how to be a good citizen within the communities whose software they use. 

The advantages of open-source software 

Open-source software comes with many advantages. The main ones are:

Improved productivity. The support of an entire community and the global collaboration on open-source projects within that community offers the synergy of collective wisdom, thereby increasing productivity and reducing duplicative development efforts across the financial industry.

Lower cost of software ownership and IT operations. Open-source foundations and communities help reduce costs by sharing software ownership and development resources.

Better software quality. The OSS community operates through repeated review cycles until the contribution achieves consensus. This ultimately leads to better software quality.

No vendor lock-in. The OSS community offers users multiple vendor options, giving users the freedom to choose the right software provider for them backed by the strength and support of the entire community. 

Accelerated innovation. When looking to innovate, the customer needs to control the outcome. A single vendor will offer average solutions based on its current set of clients and scope. It is no wonder that industry leaders like Google, Apple, Meta and Amazon all extensively use open-source projects to build their products. The growing importance of AI and the governance needed to safely apply it, the need to manage cybersecurity risks and to lower data storage costs through cloud computing, are all steering the financial services sector in the direction of collaborative OSS-based innovation. OSS is needed more than ever before to keep up with these rapid market needs and trends.

Improved security. Collaborative workflows within the community offer more scrutiny and more sets of eyes and collective brain cells to better identify security breaches and fix them.

Faster time to market. Leading open-source foundations such as the Apache Fineract foundation have boosted collaboration to exponentially accelerate time to market. In a rapidly evolving industry, OSS is a game-changer.

Talent retention. Collaborations with the open-source community not only attract talent to the organization but make the organization a more interesting and positive work environment, thereby increasing employee engagement and loyalty.

Standardization. The software industry uses OSS to create standards. Cross-industry collaboration enables an easy and effective way to test and determine software quality and come up with industry standards.

Getting started with Open-Source Software

Open-source software is a critical component for companies opting to stay competitive and relevant. Once you realize the many benefits and potential OSS has in store for your organization, getting started correctly is key. When choosing a vendor for your project, ensure you select a partner that is well-versed in OSS and offers the support and expertise you need both before, during and after the project has been completed. Fiter is the world leader in Apache Fineract implementations and integrations. Fiter has the experience, versatility and global 24/7 support to quickly and successfully achieve your goals in minimal time. With Fiter, you not only gain a vendor you can rely on, you also gain a long-term partner who will get you to your finish line faster, better and stronger.Reach out to us here to get started.

The Future-Proofed FinTech: Introducing Apache Fineract 1.9

Apache Fineract has done it again with the release of its latest version, the 1.9. The 1.9 continues the constant evolution of the Apache Fineract open-source project, offering users better performance and solutions by leveraging the built-in support from its community of contributors. Always attuned to the needs and trends of the industry, the Apache Fineract 1.9 will prove to be a hit with FinTechs and innovators in the financial industry. Read on to find out what the 1.9 can do. 

The Apache Fineract 1.9 comes packed with functional improvements and new features as well as a total of 57 fixed functional and non-functional bugs.  The new features in this release will benefit FinTechs, specifically FinTechs who make transfers, due to the significant improvements in the way transaction details are stored and retrieved. 

But it’s not just the features that were boosted in the 1.9, it’s the visuals, too; The new UI is not only faster but displays a modern design that works well on all screen sizes. With its adoption of the latest web app technologies, customers enjoy a future proofed version that is easier to use and contains no buffering on the initial loading of the login page. 

Increased Developer Productivity

1.9 has succeeded in improving development productivity and eliminating some of the manual grunt work through increased support and automation features:

Lombok support: Developers’ lives have now been made easier by adding Lombok support to most of the modules. It is now simpler than ever to add new features, improve existing features and fix bugs. In addition, Lombok automates the generation of boilerplate code like setters and getters.

End of day processes grouping: Scheduler jobs that constitute end of day processes such as loan accrual, interest posting, etc. can now be grouped into a single process with each job priority ordered, thereby saving time, and increasing efficiency.


System admin determined business date: The 1.9 allows the system admin to determine the business date used to record end of day processes such as interest accrual. Prior to this update, the default system date was used, creating an impractical reality in large financial institutions rushing to finalize end-of-day processes by midnight. By allowing the system admin to determine the business date, this feature not only aligns Fineract with core banking standards but increases flexibility and practicality. 

Scalability and high performance in a cloud-based environment

Feedback from the industry and the community was factored in when making these much-awaited improvements to scalability and performance:

Community app deprecated: Starting with version 1.9, the community app will be deprecated, maintaining compatibility only through the web app as the back-office web application. These improvements greatly contribute to making Apache Fineract not only scalable but highly performant in a cloud-based environment.

Sell loan: Lenders are yet another beneficiary of the release. Lenders’ customers can now sell loans to investors and third parties using the “sell loan” feature.

Springboot libraries upgrades: Platform libraries will now upgrade to the latest versions. This will improve the platform’s overall performance, stability, and security. 

Security improvement:  The store tenant database password is now run in encrypted format.

Performance improvements: Process retries have been moved to application properties. This will eliminate the need to call the database and boost configuration capabilities.

Better Integration

With Kafka being used by 7 out of the 10 largest Fortune 100 banks to manage their event streaming, Apache Fineract 1.9 brings big news for Kafka users! Integrating with Kafka is now that much easier with 1.9 support out of the box. Kafka support now includes seamless capabilities that allow connecting and posting messages to Kafka, as well as better event streaming with Kafka. 

The 1.9 also offers better Postgres support. Various improvements have been made to further integrate the platform with Postgres DB.

Store & Search

Savings transaction detail storage: Savings transaction details can now be stored in data tables, allowing users to capture data that goes beyond the default field options. 

Advanced search options: Search and retrieval of savings transactions stored in saving accounts and their associated data is now more advanced than ever with the new pagination, sorting, indexing, and filtering features.

Future Proof with Fiter

Fiter continues to provide the expertise and support needed to grow your business through the integration and leveraging of customized open-source solutions. With more features and flexibility than ever before in the Apache Fineract 1.9, Fiter can take your company to the next level and get you ready for the future today.

Simply reach out to us at https://fiter.neodesigners.com.ar/contact-us to get started. 

1.4 and So Much More: ApacheConPanel Discussion on the FineractRevolution

In this ApacheCon Fineract and Fintech track, panelists Ed Cable, Javier Borkenztain, James Dailey and Michael Vorburger discuss the release of 1.4,  Fineract community’s role, its contributors, strengths, challenges, and opportunities. Read on to learn what the leading minds behind the financial industry’s revolution are thinking.  

The 1.4 release and technical debt

The 1.4 release is a major step forward in technical debt reduction. Great strides were made, thanks to stellar contributors like the Google Summer of Code contributors, and people who’ve joined the project in addition to their day jobs, spending weekends making improvements and reducing technical debt. Thanks to these efforts, the project has jumped from Java 8 to Java 11. All third-party dependencies have been upgraded, and security issues were fixed. 

With the now automated code quality checks, taking proactive measures to improve the code quality and maintaining the cleanliness of the code going forward will become much easier to resolve. 

Closer to end users

The number of successful open-source applications in the Core Banking enterprise software space is quite low. Fineract is more function oriented and closer to its end users than many of the technical projects typically found in the market, making it unique in that space.

Standardization to support rapid growth

The introduction of mobile phones has revolutionized the financial industry. Now anyone with a mobile phone can become a financial branch, use e-wallets and gain access to the financial industry. In the next 10 years, billions of people will be joining the financial industry, generating economics of scale and financial inclusion. 

The financial industry is categorized by the absence of standards. With different currencies, varying transfer systems between banks, and multiple core banking systems across financial institutions, there are no standards across the industry. 

The strength of open-source software is its standardization. Fineract setting the standard for financial inclusion through the rapid changes the financial industry is undergoing, is a huge plus for the companies using Fineract to support their mobile wallets and other banking services.  

Forking over more

There’s more to contribution within the community than just maintaining forks. People are not always clear on how to engage within the open-source community. Welcoming, educating, assisting, and communicating with the people who want to contribute is the key to ensure continued growth and innovation within the community, getting more people to come and work upstream. 

Improving communication and visibility within the community, introducing powerful use cases supported by Fineract, onboarding and recognizing contributors, all lead to creating a more cohesive roadmap to showcase what’s coming, and what people can expect, which in turn boosts contribution.

From reporting to fixing 

There are two types of Fineract users. The first type of users uses the released software as is. The second type clones the source code, builds it themselves, and makes the changes required to customize the software to their needs. The Fineract mission is to convert the first group into the second group.

One of the value propositions of an open-source project is that the users are part of the solution. Rather than reporting the problem and waiting for someone else to fix it, they are active and involved in fixing issues and making the software better for the benefit of all users. 

Testing

Fineract.dev includes a server that runs the code permanently. This makes the system easily accessible and allows users to try it out, identify gaps and problems, and conduct quality control in an always-up centralized environment. The infrastructure now there to run and measure test coverage was an important step for the Fineract community to ensure it is working with the latest and greatest code that is always up and running.

Quality

Quality is also part of the community project, and it is up to the community to uphold it. There are no QA minions at the Apache Foundation to test Fineract. The code is as stable as the investment the community makes in its quality. If any member of the community identifies a problem and has the skillset to fix it, they are encouraged to contribute. If someone knows about a problem, but cannot fix it, they should report it using Jira to encourage others to get it fixed. The project relies on people raising issues on the list, and on people contributing fixes on the upstream project.

Just a few days ago, someone posted a functional feature that wasn’t working – not being able to attach notes to savings accounts. Within a couple of days, one of the star contributors took it on and fixed it. That speed of service is phenomenal. Contributions also encourage further contributions because other people in the community are inspired to get involved. 

As James Dailey put it,” You know, it’s a lonely thing if you’re trying to build something by yourself. It’s a fun thing when you’ve actually got this community of people trying to bring things in.”

Reach out to us at https://fiter.neodesigners.com.ar/contact-us to get started on your journey with Fineract.

The Founder Perspective: Inspirational Insights from Robert Jakech

From limited access to full access

Growing up in Uganda, Robert experienced first-hand what living with limited financial access feels like for millions of people in underserved communities worldwide. This financial exclusion set the stage and provided Robert, now residing in Australia, with the vision and motivation to advocate for the adoption of open-source core banking that is accessible to all.

The vision behind Fiter

Being a member of the Fineract (ex Mifos) community since 2008, Robert was passionate about making a difference in the open-source community. The potential for creating a well-oiled machine that accelerates the adoption of OSS in core banking by financial institutions, thereby realizing Robert’s vision, was irresistible.

Vision over distance

Fiter’s co-founders, Robert Jakech and Javier Borkenztain reside on two different continents, with a 12-hour time difference between them. However, despite the physical location and the lack of capital, the vision trumped the challenges and Fiter was born. Ongoing communication between Robert and Javier strengthened the bond and sense of purpose, and eventually the one customer that Robert and Javier shared as separate consultants became Fiter’s first customer.

Fiter’s evolution

Fiter started out with 2 founders and has evolved over the years to a robust, efficient team with global coverage. Today Fiter is setting the tone and spearheading the adoption of open-source core banking solutions from a position of advocates and champions of OSS.

Why open-source technology?

Combining ease of use, seamless integrations, straightforward customizations and a robust community presence, open-source core banking is the future of FinTech. The complete freedom from vendor lock-in and enjoying the support of the entire Fineract community provides many benefits and opportunities for core banking.

Why Fiter?

Fiter is not only diverse but provides global presence in over 20 countries worldwide. Fiter’s team of professionals is comprised of Fineract experts, making Fiter a domain expert. In fact, Fiter holds the #1 spot in Fineract implementations worldwide! Being the global leaders in Fineract implementations and possessing the knowhow as to how to stretch Fineract’s capabilities to evolve businesses is serious business, but Fiter manages to achieve this while remaining lean and efficient when it comes to deployment, enhancement, and customization of Fineract.

Founder duties

With the teams at Fiter working like a well-oiled machine, Robert and Javier can now focus on strategy – optimizing the team environment, improving team performance at scale, evolving open-source core banking, educating the market on OSS and advocating open-source core banking as a growth engine for FinTechs and traditional financial institutions.

Company culture

Fiter is diverse from all aspects, possessing a rich skillset, different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs. Everyone at Fiter has a story which they are encouraged to share during Fiter’s town hall. The discussions are amazing, and people are motivated and inspired to become their best selves. Robert makes it a priority to uphold random one-on-one calls with employees to talk about anything and everything, thereby nurturing Fiter’s “We are Human” core value.

Fiter and innovation

Innovation is always at the core of everything Fiter does. Innovation allows achieving technical excellence. Fiter’s mindset always looks for more creative ways to deliver, to improve processes and leverage innovation to achieve this.

The future of FinTech and Fiter

Fintech as a domain is growing exponentially. The rise of innovation in payments, embedded finances, neo banks among others is a testament to that. Fiter is positioning itself to be at the epicenter of the action, driving the adoption of open source that creates the flexibility to leverage innovation.

Special leadership moments

Watching team members grow into their roles always leaves a fond memory when recalling their first day at work up until the present. Seeing the evolution of employees into professionals who offer value to Fiter’s clients and contribute to the community is always a heartwarming experience.

Work-life balance

When Robert wants to destress, he turns to music. Robert is collaborating with brilliant African creatives to get their music out for the entire world to appreciate. Robert enjoys spending time with family and friends outside of work, playing video games, going to the beach, and hiking.

Career insights

Robert believes we are all capable of much more than we realize and that provided with a supportive, conductive environment, anyone can thrive. Another insight is that while working hard is honourable, combining working hard with working smart goes further. 

Role models and inspirations

A huge source of inspiration for Robert is Ed Cable, the president of Mifos due to Ed’s dedication in leading the community which has evolved into a huge movement called Fineract. Robert met Ed for the first time in late 2013 after having worked remotely for a while. Outside FinTech Robert draws much inspiration from many people who built empires from scratch, the disruptors who did not conform to the normal paradigm.

Advice for aspiring FinTech entrepreneurs

Robert sums it up in one sentence: “Don’t be hung up on having to figure it all out before you start. Simply start then figure it out”.

For more information on how Fiter can help take your business to the next level, contact us at: hello@fiter.io

What to Expect at ApacheCon North America 2022 with Javier and Robert

We caught up with Javier Borkenztain and Robert Jakech during their preparations for ApacheCon North America to get the tea on everything new and exciting in this year’s convention. Here is what we found out.

How is ApacheCon set up this year?

After two years of remote sessions, ApacheCon North America is back live and in person on October 3rd through 6th 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and the Fiter team couldn’t be more excited. Sessions will be held daily on all four days of the convention, with seven tracks presented each day. Tracks will cover diverse topics including Big Data, Search, Internet of Things, Geospatial, Community, Cassandra, and Financial Tech. Each evening will include Birds of a Feather (BoF) sessions, where communities are able to participate in open discussions as well as strategize around mutual projects. ApacheCon is being sponsored by market leaders including Apple, Google, RedHat and AWS.

How is the Fiter team contributing to ApacheCon this year?

 For Javier Borkenztain, this is the third consecutive time leading the Fintech Track, and he is looking forward to bringing people up to speed on how Fineract has evolved as well as sharing updates regarding Fintech within the Apache community. Robert Jakech will be presenting a session titled “Pivoting Open-Source Fintech Solutions for Big Players: Enterprise Ready CBS based on Apache Fineract” on why more and more banks are now investing in Finlabs.    

How are session topics selected for Apachecon?

Session topics reflect a well-balanced mix of community, informative technical discussions, and vision of the future of open-source software. The track selection process is carried out by an appointed team from within the community from a selection of presentations submitted through a Request for Presentation (RFP) process, a process befitting of ApacheCon being a volunteer-led event and completely contributor-driven.

What is behind the trend of big players adopting Fineract?

As with any new technology, the adoption curve for Fineract started out with innovators and is now at the early adopter stage. What’s interesting but not surprising is that some of these early adopters are market leaders in the financial industry. Big banks, telcos, large fintechs are all dabbling in Apache Fineract. This trend is an early indicator of the mass adoption of Fineract and makes sense as the bigger players are realizing the potential for business growth and expansion that Apache Fineract offers.

What are the benefits of open banking services for central banks and governments?

Central banks and governments are realizing they can eliminate the middleman when issuing electronic money by using blockchain technology. The third parties previously required to issue electronic currency are no longer required. Central banks can now issue, control and distribute Central Banks Digital Currencies (CBDC’s) via blockchain technology. This is propelling the trend of governments and central banks implementing open banking services. It will be interesting to see how the competition with community-driven currencies such as Bitcoin plays out.

Open-source technology is now everywhere. In fact, it is actually impossible today to deliver software solutions without using some type of open-source technology whether at the operating system or the application level. Apache software can be found in nearly every end user laptop, mobile device, and tablet while Apache projects drive most of the Internet. Open-source software is a product of the community and offers community-driven solutions that are quickly becoming standards. Leveraging open-source software will help central banks catch up and stay relevant.

How are open-source solutions game-changers?

Open-source solutions offer freedom, flexibility and variety that has never been possible in the past. When using open source, you join a community, not a specific vendor. This is a big shift from being locked in to one vendor as was the case with proprietary software solutions. The community offers multiple resources and the flexibility and freedom of running these resources yourself. The community comes with power. Communities outperform individuals and single companies each and every time.

 Joining a community offers you the benefit of the improvements a community makes in the software product, based on the vast locations, resources and knowhow of different contributors within that community. Open source is the path to the software industry’s standards. It is relatively easy to prove via open source that the proposed solution works and is scalable across multiple locations, through collaboration and the freedom to test the product.

 The standardization benefit of open source is too powerful for the financial industry to disregard, since it is an industry that lacks standards. The industry is understanding the benefits of open source and is adopting these open standards to manage scalability and growth. We are therefore seeing more fintech companies in the US and Europe adopt open-source technologies.

How is the demand for innovative solutions driving change?

 The open-source community is made up of people who are also customers of banks and financial institutions. The demand and pressure from the community to see innovations that make lives easier through transactions are leading central banks to adopt an “if you can’t beat them, join them” mentality. The financial sector is incredibly competitive and fast-paced with companies heavily dependent on technological innovations, flexibility, and creativity to maintain their lead. Open source provides that sweet spot, leveraging financial institutions’ ability to innovate and make changes rapidly while enjoying the support of an entire community.

 With Blockchain being community-based innovation, it reflects a promise for the future of fintech; a future which offers decentralized processing, a high level of transparency and security. Blockchain’s global adoption generates pressure and momentum for the big players to adopt it, hence bringing them closer to Open-Source Solutions.

 What does Fiter bring to the table?

 Over the years, Fiter have accumulated a wealth of experience and insights on how the financial landscape is rapidly changing, and how Fiter’s clients are adopting core banking solutions like Apache Fineract, information Fiter can’t wait to share with ApacheCon’s audience. Reach out to us at https://fiter.neodesigners.com.ar/ to find out how Fiter can help grow your business.