How we built Banque Zitouna's digital counter for honor loans, from online application to disbursement in T24, and took it from request to production in one month
Zitouna Bank: An Honor Loan Platform Delivered in One Month
Zitouna Bank
Zitouna Bank is Tunisia’s leading Islamic financial institution, owned by Qatari Majda Group.
With 189 branches nationwide, it ranks third among Tunisian banks .
The bank offers Sharia-compliant services to a broad retail and corporate clientele, emphasizing digital innovation.
Its strong Qatari backing and expansive network position it as a key player in Tunisia’s financial sector.
Highlights
Working demo two days after the request
From request to production in one month, in 3 sprints
Automatic eligibility checks on T24 and the central bank register
Financing without collateral for individuals and small businesses
Services
End-to-End Project Delivery
UX/UI Design & Optimization
Systems & Product Integration
Data Security & Compliance
Industry
Bank
2 days
from the request to a validated working demo
1 month
from the request to production
3
sprints to deliver the full platform
+7
workstreams added mid-project, still delivered on time
About the program
A national honor loan program: financing without collateral for individuals, professionals and small companies, distributed by Banque Zitouna.
Up to 5,000 TNDFor individuals, repaid over up to 24 months.
Up to 25,000 TNDFor professionals and companies, with a grace period available.
A fixed campaign budgetShared between individuals and companies, and allocated first come, first served.
The Challenge
A national program, a fixed budget and a launch date that could not move
A launch date that could not move
The bank wanted its customers to apply online from the start of the program. It needed a complete digital counter in weeks, not months.
Regulated eligibility
Every applicant must pass the bank's rules and the central bank's credit register before any human review.
A budget that must never be exceeded
The campaign envelope is fixed and split between individuals and companies. Every reserved and disbursed dinar has to be tracked in real time.
Branches in the loop
Applications are filed online, but decisions belong to the branch: agents review, branch managers validate, and originals are checked in branch.
Our approach:
a working demo first, then weekly deliveries
Show a working product in two days, and validate the journey with the bank
Automate everything a rule can decide, and leave the judgment to the branch
Plug into the bank's existing systems instead of building around them
Absorb scope changes sprint by sprint without moving the launch date
From Request to Production in One Month
A delivery rhythm the bank could follow week by week
Request
The bank shares the application forms and asks for a first version within two days.
Demo validated
A working demo in French and Arabic is presented and validated in a workshop.
Acceptance testing
The platform runs in the bank's test environment, connected to T24 identification.
Scope extended
Seven new workstreams are added after review: branch manager validation, envelope rules, reminders.
Sprints 2 and 3
Front office, agency back office, background jobs and security audit fixes.
In production
The digital counter opens to the bank's customers.
The Platform
One digital journey, from the online application to the unlocked loan
An eligibility engine and a live campaign budget
Each application is checked on submission against the core banking system and the central bank credit register. Admissible applications reserve their amount in the campaign envelope; the rest wait in line or are refused automatically.
Two independent pockets: individuals, and professionals and companies
Amounts reserved, released or disbursed in real time
First come, first served waiting list
Automatic retry when the central bank service is unavailable
An eligibility engine and a live campaign budget
Each application is checked on submission against the core banking system and the central bank credit register. Admissible applications reserve their amount in the campaign envelope; the rest wait in line or are refused automatically.
Two independent pockets: individuals, and professionals and companies
Amounts reserved, released or disbursed in real time
First come, first served waiting list
Automatic retry when the central bank service is unavailable
A clear lifecycle for every application
Applicants follow their file online, upload documents once pre-approved, and receive an SMS at every status change. Branches work from queues, with a timer on every file.
Agent proposes, branch manager validates
Bulk validation and bulk download of documents
Automatic reminder after eight working days without a decision
Files archived in the bank's document management system
A clear lifecycle for every application
Applicants follow their file online, upload documents once pre-approved, and receive an SMS at every status change. Branches work from queues, with a timer on every file.
Agent proposes, branch manager validates
Bulk validation and bulk download of documents
Automatic reminder after eight working days without a decision
Files archived in the bank's document management system
Built into the bank, secured like the bank
The platform plugs into the bank's core banking system and its Tawassol back office, and went through a security audit before going live.
Customer identification by bank account and phone, with a one-time SMS code
Disbursement written directly into T24
Bank account key verification, rate limiting and secure sessions
French and Arabic, with a right-to-left layout
Built into the bank, secured like the bank
The platform plugs into the bank's core banking system and its Tawassol back office, and went through a security audit before going live.
Customer identification by bank account and phone, with a one-time SMS code
Disbursement written directly into T24
Bank account key verification, rate limiting and secure sessions
French and Arabic, with a right-to-left layout
Key decisions
The choices that made a one-month delivery possible.
Instead of starting with a long specification, we built a working demo in two days and validated the journey in a workshop with the bank's teams. Every later decision was taken on a real product.
Eligibility, budget reservation, refusals on blocking checks and reminders are automatic. Accepting or refusing a file stays with the branch agent and the branch manager.
Reserved, disbursed and available amounts are tracked per pocket. The campaign closes itself when disbursed amounts reach the envelope, so the budget can never be exceeded.
The branch side lives in the bank's existing Tawassol back office, customer data comes from T24, and disbursement is written back to T24. No parallel system to maintain.
An independent security audit ran during the project. Every finding was fixed and verified in successive iterations before production.
The Impact
A national program, live at Banque Zitouna in one month
Launched on time
From the first request to production in one month, despite seven workstreams added along the way.
Financing within reach
Individuals, professionals and small companies apply online for financing without collateral, in French or Arabic.
A budget under control
Every application checked automatically, every dinar of the envelope tracked, every decision traced.
A new banking product with a deadline that cannot move?
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