02 Dec 2020
Avaloq launches the Avaloq Data Synthesizer, a cutting-edge solution for using production-like data in software development

Global fintech leader Avaloq has launched the Avaloq Data Synthesizer, a cutting-edge solution that allows financial institutions to simulate real client data in the development of software products. The innovative application can be deployed in the Avaloq.one ecosystem’s sandbox, ensuring a controlled and cloud-based setting.

The new solution derives information from real data, but it is free of any client-identifying data. The result is a production-like, authentic environment that looks and behaves the same as the original database but with a superior quality when compared to alternatives such as anonymization or artificial databases.

Synthesized data, which can be accessed internally or externally without any compliance constraints by institutions and third parties, accelerates innovation, speeds up internal proofs of concept, and leads to far greater security and accuracy levels.

The Avaloq Data Synthesizer has been launched as a result of demand from Avaloq’s wealth management and private banking clients for a simple, efficient and compliant means to use production-like data when developing and testing services. The launch comes at a time when the digitalization of the financial services sector is accelerating the shift to cloud-based infrastructures such as software as a service (SaaS) and business process as a service (BPaaS).

Financial institutions can use synthesized data to enhance their software development and testing, reduce compliance and reputational damage from possible data leaks, and benefit from cost savings. Allowing third-party developers, fintechs and partners as well as staff working remotely in cross-border jurisdictions to use synthesized data in a secure and compliant way also delivers significantly greater levels of flexibility.

The Avaloq Data Synthesizer is an Avaloq Core add-on module that can be licensed to the company’s banking and wealth management clients. The application can be deployed in the Avaloq.one ecosystem’s sandbox where clients can test using synthesized data. The sandbox enables institutions to easily create and deploy solutions in a controlled and cloud-based setting. Once onboarded, banks and wealth managers can swiftly develop new solutions. Avaloq.one’s REST API technology enables seamless integration into the Avaloq Banking Suite and provides comprehensive test functions for users.

A number of Avaloq’s clients have been using the solution prior to its formal launch, while Avaloq itself has been running automated test suites on synthesized images since 2019. One of the company’s Swiss-based clients, Luzerner Kantonalbank (LUKB), has been using synthesized data, through the Avaloq.one sandbox, to grant external partners and an independent developer access to their APIs to develop and test a specific banking application.

Stefan Lüthy, Head Digitalization and Multichannel Management, at LUKB said: “We have been successfully testing products and services with the Data Synthesizer through the Avaloq.one sandbox. This solution has enabled LUKB to run tests very quickly and efficiently. Importantly, using synthesized data has allowed us and our partner companies – all working remotely – to test in a much more realistic way, resulting in better, more practical and actionable outputs.”

Thomas Beck, Chief Technology Officer at Avaloq, said: “A synthesized database speeds up the development process, prevents system failures and offers the freedom to involve partners at will – an increasingly necessary capability in an open banking ecosystem. Developing similar solutions in-house is highly complex and very often too expensive for financial institutions. This latest launch, which has been extensively tested and is already in use, is a direct result of a strong demand for a cost-effective, straightforward solution. It truly illustrates the deep innovation inherent in Avaloq and our ability to meet the changing needs of our clients.”