The people behind Tesco’s banking technology

 

To ensure our customers get the best experience when they bank with us, Mukesh and his team carry out the vital work that keep things ticking over behind the scenes. Learn about some of the unique projects he’s worked on, and why he thinks Tesco is the best place to build a career.

 

“I’ve had a great journey since joining Tesco back in 2013. Not only have I progressed both professionally and personally, but I’m also faced with interesting challenges every day, which is what’s kept me here so long.

 

I’m a System Engineer II in the Application Support Team, and we’re responsible for handling end-to-end functionality of the core banking app. We have to ensure that the backend applications and servers are running smoothly at all times. This includes using various monitoring tools to detect any alerts that might have an impact on the customers who bank with Tesco.

What do I mean when I say applications? Well, there are a number of backend functions that need to run seamlessly for the customer to have all their banking needs met. So if they’re setting up a new account, there’s a number of steps that need to happen so that process is successful, from them filling out forms and signing documents to us completing background checks and storing their details. All of these steps are processed by different applications that we monitor and enhance every day.

 

While customers don’t directly use the applications we work on, what we do directly impacts their experience, and what makes it so interesting is the fact that we’ve always got to be ahead of the curve. Everything is happening in real time, whether it’s a simple transaction, a new account setup or even fraud. We’re not only protecting the customer, but also the business. It’s a high-pressure environment, but so rewarding.

A challenging project we’ve worked on (we called it ‘Storm’ because it really was like a storm!) was to come up with a solution for the customer services telephone system during COVID. When we were in lockdown, it wasn’t feasible to provide equipment for everyone at home, but the service was still in high demand.

 

So we removed the physical telephone element entirely and instead enabled our colleagues to use an application. Even now we’re able to go back to the office – our colleagues continue to use this system. It was a huge undertaking, with lots of twists and turns, which involved multiple departments and it was great to be part of a project that’s still positively impacting our colleagues to this day.

 

We’re also currently moving our entire stack to the cloud, and that migration will be another really big project. Once we’ve completed that, we’ll have a much more stable and reliable infrastructure. Not only will it save money for the business, but it also ensures there’s less downtime should any of our servers stall, and this massively improves the customer experience.

Anyone who’s interested in using the latest technology will enjoy working at Tesco. We use things like Java, Python, Automation, alongside various other programming language and tools. And we’re always adapting to and implementing the newest, most secure technology, so we’re given the encouragement, time and tools to learn too about them too.

 

And as a team, we support each other with knowledge sharing, discussing new tech in the market and anything that will make our day to day easier. It’s the amazing learning culture and work-life balance that’s promoted here that makes me feel like Tesco is the best place to build a career.”

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