Mokka: a no-code risk-scoring system built on Directual

Sometimes, all you need to make a complex project work is just a bit of backend magic. That is precisely the case for fintech brand Mokka.

Built with by a single citizen developer (Risk Technology Manager), this is a perfect example of how Directual is a great fit for companies looking to build internal tools faster, cheaper, and better than via traditional means 

Client

Mokka — is the leading Buy Now Pay Later company operating in the Central Eastern European markets of Poland, Romania, Bulgaria. With Mokka you can buy now and pay later with 0% at thousands of your favorite stores.

Since Mokka is an international company, the decision-making workflow has to be different for each country. Every client is unique, and the decision to approve or deny the request for a loan must be made nearly instantly, all the while pulling data from external sources to confirm eligibility. 

What Mokka needed is an easy way to build a custom system capable of performing risk scoring, integrating with external services, customizing rules, monitoring the status of crucial third-party systems, and adjusting the system on the go. That’s where Directual came in. 

Challenge

At first, the risk scoring system in place was a specialized software for credit organizations. As Mokka expanded to new markets, the decision has been made to try building its own risk scoring system that could be tailored to particular needs. 

The risk strategy at the time was still in active development, so transferring present rules and requirements wasn’t challenging at all. Preparing for new markets—that’s where the complexity has shown itself. 

There are many SaaS services on the market that handle risk scoring and credit management, but most of them cater to banks, and less so to modern Fintech solutions looking to offer more and do more. 

What was needed is a turnkey solution, capable of system monitoring, alerts, flexible workflow management, and easy maintenance. 

How did you discover Directual

Directual was referred from within the company by a member of another department, who was already familiar with the platform. A little bit of the know-how also helped, as diving into a no-code platform with a tremendous task at hand requires time to do properly.

Technology

• Directual for the backend and frontend of the decision-making system
• JSON integration with database services

What did you build with Directual?

A risk-scoring and management system based on JSON data exchange. External databases are used to pull available information on the client to aid with the risk score, which is then used to either approve or deny the request for a loan.

A dashboard also helps to monitor incoming requests, and there is a separate system for monitoring the availability of external systems, as their data is crucial in the decision-making process. Directual transfers the information between the external systems and handles the entirety of the risk scoring. 

Why was Directual chosen as a base technology?

Speed, flexibility, and a vote of confidence from an experienced team member. The project began at the beginning of 2022—somewhere between March and April and was launched into a live environment in May. 

So far, the model has been active for almost a year (at the moment of publishing this case study), and a lot of revisions have been made to adapt and improve the workflow. 

It takes a single person to manage, improve, and refine the system, which is fantastic cost and time-wise. The analytics team simply provides new requirements the model must have, and the Risk Technology Manager introduces them as they come. 

The testing environment is another area worth mentioning, as pushing out changes to the model must be done very carefully. A single mistake can uproot the entirety of the risk-scoring system and slow down the business to a halt. In Directual, every step can be thoroughly tested on historical and real-time data before a version update is made. 

Finally, the interface is comfortable to use and understand. Setting up scenarios and conditions doesn’t present any problem, especially since having learned the system over a few months. That’s something other platforms do not have—the entire workflow wasn’t visible at a glance, whereas in Directual every function is presented in a visually readable sequence. 

What could be improved?

Since testing is crucial to the success of the business, making changes fast is important. That is just as important when a new strategy or market is being prepared. Transferring features is done via version control, and new functionality is moved to the live environment after testing is complete. 

At the moment, transferring parts of scenarios take a bit more time than desired. It would be great to outline the changes ready to be carried over to the live version before moving them all in one go. We spoke to Pavel about it already, and he has made plans to introduce that—which is an incredible level of support coming from the platform CEO himself. 

Lastly, we have one little pesky bug that is also a work in progress based on Pavel’s feedback: time stamps on the cards upon transfers are reset. There is a workaround in place that helps to deal with that, but it would be nice to have that fixed. 

Otherwise, Directual hits the mark on everything else Mokka needs. 

Plans ahead

Business is booming, and thus new models, strategies, and markets are introduced at a growing pace. The same can be said about new rules and the reiteration of previous models in place. We continue to improve our workflows with Directual, and look forward to expanding our risk-scoring model to greater capabilities. 

Afterword

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