About the Company
ABK Capital is the investment banking arm of Al Ahli Bank of Kuwait (ABK), one of Kuwait's leading banks. As ABK Capital expanded its investor base, the team set out to build a modern digital platform - a mobile and web experience that lets new and existing customers create accounts, browse products, and make investments through a single, polished surface.
ABK Capital partnered with Tequity to design and engineer the full platform, working closely with the bank's internal teams in Kuwait throughout the build.
The Challenge
Investment-banking software in a regulated regional market has to clear a stack of specific constraints, all at once:
- Bilingual experience: A first-class English and Arabic experience across mobile and web - including layout, typography, and right-to-left interactions.
- Multiple integrations with regulated infrastructure: KNET (Kuwait's national payment gateway), VESTIO, GTN, and PACI (national civil ID middleware) all had to be wired in cleanly.
- Bank-controlled cloud environment: The platform had to run in ABK's Azure tenant, with the bank's security, networking, and access controls.
- Multiple user surfaces: A retail mobile app for end investors, a web app for the same audience, and an admin console for bank operators - all sharing a backend.
- Iterative UAT cycles: As is typical with banks, the platform had to move through many UAT releases with tight back-and-forth on findings, security, and linting.
Solution Implemented by Tequity
Tequity owns design and engineering for the ABK Capital platform, structured around tight UAT release cycles with the ABK team.
Discovery and Design:
- Requirements gathering and wireframes with ABK Capital stakeholders.
- Onboarding UX signed off as the foundation flow.
- ~95% UX closure across the broader platform.
- UI and prototypes for onboarding, dashboard, and subscription flows.
Mobile App:
- Mobile UI completed.
- Bilingual experience (English and Arabic) implemented across screens.
- API integrations for explore, subscription, redemption, and profile flows.
Web App:
- Web screen completion in both English and Arabic.
- Onboarding screens for web (in close lockstep with the mobile build).
Admin and Backend:
- Admin UI design and build.
- Backend setup for funds and portfolios.
- HV Portfolio and Brokerage testing.
Integrations:
- KNET payment integration setup.
- VESTIO integration.
- GTN setup.
- PACI middleware sign-off.
- ABK's internal API integration upgrades.
Infrastructure and Security:
- UAT setup at the ABK Azure instance.
- Client Azure unblocking and environment setup (in progress).
- Security and linting fixes.
- E2E integration and testing.
Release Cadence:
- 23 intermittent releases shipped to date.
- Currently in the run-up to UAT release 9 with continuous bug fixes and improvements.
Process and Approach
The ABK Capital engagement is a strong example of Tequity executing a regulated banking-grade build alongside an enterprise client team. Bilingual mobile and web experiences, deep integrations with national payment and identity infrastructure, and a release cadence that fits the bank's UAT process - all delivered inside a single Tequity team.
The platform is in active UAT at the bank, moving toward production rollout.
