Case Study: Accedia & Castle Trust Bank Reshaping Digital Lending

Who is Castle Trust Bank?

Castle Trust Bank has been a key player in the UK’s financial sector since its establishment in 2012. Initially focused on investment products and specialist mortgage finance, the bank expanded its operations with the acquisition of Omni Capital Retail Finance in 2017, adding point-of-sale finance to its suite of services.

The bank’s total lending assets grew to £878 million in 2024, up from £775 million in 2023 (up £13.3%), further demonstrating its steady growth and expanding market presence. With continued growth, Castle Trust introduced online notice accounts in 2024, serving nearly 165,000 customers across its savings, specialist mortgage finance, and retail finance divisions.

The Challenge: Scaling Operations While Maintaining Efficiency and Security

As Castle Trust expanded its financial offerings, it faced challenges that needed to be addressed to ensure operational efficiency, regulatory compliance, as well as expand their core offering and provide a seamless user experience throughout. With a growing network of more than 2,000 retailers, the bank required a robust, scalable solution to streamline its lending processes and fraud prevention measures while maintaining high customer satisfaction.

The Solution: OmniPort – A Comprehensive Lending Platform

To address these challenges, Accedia engineered and continuously optimizes OmniPort – a personal loan origination system that underpins the bank’s retail finance operations. Over the past ten years, the partnership between Accedia and Castle Trust has resulted in a solution that meets evolving business needs, security threats, and customer needs while integrating seamlessly with existing processes. Throughout the years, our work has spread through various aspects of the solution – from automation and cyber security to customer management, third-party system integrations, and yet, there is so much more to come.

Automated Credit Decisioning

OmniPort automates credit decision-making, leveraging data-rich algorithms and seamless integrations with third parties (e.g. credit bureaus). Thе enhancement allows Castle Trust to process loan applications in minutes, handling over 200,000 lending decisions per year while maintaining low fraud and arrears rates. The system ensures that loan approvals are both rapid and reliable, offering customers a frictionless borrowing experience.

Fraud Prevention and Identity Verification

Recognizing the importance of security in financial transactions, Accedia worked on the integration with an AI-powered Identity Verification solution to improve OmniPort’s fraud prevention and KYC compliance capabilities. The system seamlessly verifies customer identities using computer vision technology, introducing rigorous checks to prevent fraudulent activities. Additionally, we created a Proof of Concept (PoC) for an advanced AI-driven fraud detection system, utilizing predictive analytics to identify and mitigate fraudulent transactions in real time.

Retailer Integrations

With Castle Trust working with a vast network of retailers, Accedia ensured that OmniPort provided multiple integration options tailored to different business needs. Whether through API-based integrations for full customization or out-of-the-box interfaces and widgets for quick deployment, Accedia guaranteed seamless onboarding and operational efficiency. This flexibility allowed Castle Trust’s retail partners to effortlessly incorporate digital financing solutions into their sales processes, enhancing both merchant and customer satisfaction.

Customer Satisfaction Management

To improve both customer and retailer experience, Accedia developed a fully automated solution for validating order fulfilment and customer satisfaction, increasing accuracy and reliability, and significantly streamlining the previous manual process. The system provides configurable communications and detailed Management Information (MI) reporting, replacing previously manual processes with an efficient, reliable solution.

New Load Product Offerings

As market trends shifted, Castle Trust sought to introduce Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) financial products. Accedia played a crucial role in crafting a new customer journey, featuring an intuitive interface, detailed communications, and advanced credit calculations tailored to the complexity of BNPL financing. This innovation positioned Castle Trust at the forefront of flexible payment solutions.

Regulatory Compliance

Our partnership also involved several regulation-driven transformations, ensuring that OmniPort remained fully aligned with evolving financial regulations. This included the implementation of the Consumer Duty standards mandated by the FCA, requiring significant updates to customer journeys and communication touchpoints. By embedding compliance into the core of OmniPort’s operations, Accedia helped Castle Trust meet legal requirements while also reinforcing its commitment to ethical and transparent lending practices.

Technology

The technical solution was developed using the .NET framework (ASP.NET, .NET Core) with C# for backend development, MySQL for efficient database management, and ASP.NET MVC for a dynamic frontend. Hosted on Azure, the project utilizes Azure Virtual Machines, Azure App Service, Azure Functions, Azure Active Directory, and Azure DevOps/Visual Studio Online for streamlined CI/CD. Automated testing was implemented with Selenium, ensuring consistent performance and a seamless user experience.

Business Impact

OmniPort’s automation capabilities have significantly improved operational efficiency, enabling Castle Trust to offer swift and secure digital credit approvals. Today, approximately 80% of customers receive a fully automated loan decision within minutes, a testament to the platform’s advanced technology.

According to Castle Trust’s latest report, by 2024, its Omni (Castle Trust’s consumer credit business) assets were estimated at £210 million, through a network of more than 2,000 retailers.