In October 2024, Erste Group successfully completed the integration of Neterium’s next-generation transaction screening solution into its banking infrastructure. Now fully operational, the system safeguards and supports more than 17 million customers across Erste’s seven core markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
This case study, jointly developed by Erste Group and Neterium, highlights the key steps, challenges, and insights from the integration journey, showcasing how advanced technology and close collaboration enabled a smooth and efficient implementation at scale.
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In October 2024, Erste Group successfully completed the integration of Neterium’s next-generation transaction screening solution. Now fully operational, the system supports over 17 million customers across Erste’s seven core markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
The roll-out follows a year-long phase, during which Erste Group performed extensive testing, fine-tuning, and a full-scale parallel run. With the system now live, Erste benefits from an advanced, real-time screening solution that enhances compliance efficiency while meeting the evolving regulatory and internal risk appetite demands of the financial sector.
Erste and Neterium jointly conducted a case study, the key findings of which are presented here.
1) Driving success through human collaboration and flexibility
- A tight collaboration model, anchored by a Single Point of Contact (SPOC) structure, enabled seamless communication and fast decision-making between Erste Group and Neterium.
- Real-world workshops using Erste Group’s own data and regular Q&A sessions helped ensure rapid and effective deployment.
- This partnership-driven model set a new benchmark for speed, adaptability, and human-centered collaboration.
2) Neterium strategic differentiators driving tangible value for Erste
- Cloud-native & API-first Neterium screening engine’s modern, cloud-native architecture and API-first design ensure seamless integration into any environment, delivering real-time performance with minimal disruption.
- Fast deployment The total effort on Erste Group's side, including the transition to another external data provider was in medium range, encompassing the complete project scope from analysis, design, development, testing and tuning, go-live activities, and project management. Through structured parallel testing and a flexible rollout strategy, Erste Group successfully completed the transition from legacy systems to full production in just 16 months, including a seamless and efficient switch to an external data provider, significantly outperforming the timelines typically seen.
- Flexible list management Neterium screening engine supports dynamic list management, integrating effortlessly with Erste Group’s internal lists and data as well as third-party sources. This enables greater control, precision, and adaptability in meeting evolving regulatory demands.
- Mixed architecture Even without being fully cloud-based, Erste Group successfully integrated Neterium’s cloud-native solution, demonstrating the flexibility of the Jetflow / Neterium screening engine in hybrid environments without delays or complexity.
3) Delivering impact and performance outcomes for Erste with Neterium’s Screening Engine
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Due to increasingly complex regulations and a shifting risk landscape, Erste Group recognised the need to strengthen its current screening framework. The goal was to future-proof their transaction screening with a real-time, scalable, and API-native solution without compromising operational efficiency.
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Circa 17 million Erste Group customers are now protected with real-time, cloud-native transaction screening powered by Neterium.
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Neterium screening solution enabled Erste to further extend its list coverage, including critical geolocation data, to meet new compliance demands stemming from global conflict and sanctions, all while maintaining high performance.
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By significantly reducing false positives and unnecessary alerts, Jetflow streamlined Erste's compliance workflows and boosted operational efficiency.
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The false positive rate was reduced by 70% when transitioning from the legacy detection engine to the Neterium engine, even though the list size tripled and now includes geolocation information.
Iris Bujatti, Erste Group, Group Compliance Officer, added: “Neterium Jetflow has outperformed our expectation for a sanction screening system, delivering efficiency, and enabling smoother transaction flows. Its flexible architecture empowers us to scale and adapt over time, effectively future proofing our compliance framework.”
Luc Meurant, CEO of Neterium added: “In just 16 months, Erste Group seamlessly transitioned from its legacy systems to a new highly efficient, scalable, flexible, robust, and future proof screening solution. This collaboration demonstrates that the right technology partner not only ensures compliance but also fosters cooperation among the teams.”
