CATCH

Available for use by:
Fintech, Utilities

Version:

Overview

CATCH is a solution targeted at financial institutions (e.g. Banks) willing to exploit the value of transactional data (e.g. current account data or credit card data) on their own customer base.

Starting from current account data of the Bank, CATCH enriches Bank customer base with:

  • List of categorized transactions
  • Risk KPIs allowing to monitor customer credit worthiness
  • Cross-Up Selling KPIs to analyze behaviors and preferences to run appropriate commercial actions

The main inputs of CATCH are current/credit cards account data provided via batch by the Bank.
Transactions are classified by CRIF Categorization engine and the Score Engine allows the execution of algorithms to calculate the KPIs.
The output is a set of predefined Risk and Cross-Up Selling KPIs (to select the eligible customers for proactive upselling), as well as the list of categorized transactions. CATCH allows also to deploy and execute Custom KPIs according to Client’s business priorities.

The bank feeds CATCH mainly via batch, transferring input CSV files via sFTP protocol.
Current account data are mandatory, credit cards one are optional, and shared through two input files (accounts.csv, transactions.csv) with a fixed record structure.
It is also possible to submit an optional input file with a set of data related to the Subjects (subject.csv).
The frequency of the data submission is not fixed, but based on the needs of the bank.
On top the bulk batch feeding a single-transaction input via API is supported, to enable specific near real-time use cases.

CATCH classifies every input transaction using the CRIF categorization tool. With this operation a specific category is assigned to each transaction.
Data are saved in the proprietary Database, together with the related category, building the suitable historical depth of transactions of each account that enables the Bank to retrieve two different types of output:

  • List of categorized transactions
  • KPIs and Scores calculated on the full or partial bank Portfolio

Categorized transactions can be retrieved through a batch process triggered by two JSON/REST APIs (GTD-GTF). Result is provided as csv file returned into the sFTP folder; with such two JSON/REST APIs Bank can filter and configure the output.

KPIs and Scores can be retrieved through different mechanisms:

  • a batch process triggered by a JSON/REST API that performs the KPIs calculation and returns the file, in the sFTP folder, with the KPIs for each subject (GKP-GKU)
  • the JSON/REST API that returns the single subject’s KPIs directly in the API response (GKS)
  • the BATCH process called GKL, that calculates and returns the KPIs for the list of subjects provided in a specific .csv input file. This function will not be detailed here, for further information please check the User Manual chapter 3.3 (download available in Quick start paragraph)
  • the KPIs Calculation at the Date (KCD), a function exposed into CATCH web-site, that enables the Bank to calculate KPIs using historical data saved in the DB. The output is a visual set of tables with both KPIs and the data used for the calculation

Moreover, Catch exposes two APIs to check the status of the functions in the system, giving the Bank full control of the system.

Glossary
  • Financial institutions: The target of CATCH system, all the institutions that own accounts and or cards transactional data, in this page we will use Bank as a synonym
  • Subject: A Bank account holder
  • Account: A current account or a credit account
  • Transaction: Each account transaction composed by amount, description, date and sign
  • Classifier: CRIF proprietary categorization algorithm, which allows to classify current account transactions assigning to them a category
  • Category: Information assigned to each saving/spending transaction that classifies it
  • KPIs and scores: All the calculated variables, indicators and predictive score that can be calculated upon CATCH input data
  • Package: KPIs and score are collected in packages. Banks can activate one or more KPIs and score packages to be applied to his Portfolio
  • User: Application User that interacts with Batch and API protocols

Download sdk and swagger filedownload

Quick Start

Catch is a modular solution that supports two main configurations, to answer to the needs of the Bank:

  • CATCH full-mode: the user is enabled to use both the categorization engine, and retrieve categorized transactions, and the KPIs calculation engine to receive KPIs on subjects’ data. With Catch full license it is also possible to exploit the KCD (calculation at the date) function through the web admin portal. The CATCH full license is the perfect solution to exploit at 360° the potential of the Portfolio data both by using categorized transactions and KPIs.

  • CATCH categorization-only mode, the end user is enabled to categorize transactions and retrieve them. This is the perfect solution for the costumers that already have in-house account based KPIs models and are looking for categorized transactions data to feed their algorithms and data models.

Further in the chapter you can find a first description of the various functions that can be found in CATCH. For details on the full solution, especially for the batch part, please check the User Manual.

Versioning

CATCH API uses X.Y.Z as version numbering, where:

  • X stands for a major version - new features that break the existing API
  • Y stands for a minor version - new features in a backward-compatible way
  • Z stands for a patch - fixing bugs

The following changes are considered as backward incompatible:

  • If any path is removed or the HTTP verb is changed
  • If any request parameter is removed
  • If any new request parameter is required or an existing one set as required
  • If any request attribute is removed
  • If any response attribute is removed
  • If any enumeration value is removed

New fields can be added to the current API version, at any time without preliminary warning with subsequent documentation added afterward. However, already documented fields cannot be modified or removed. Please rely solely on them.

Submission

The submission is the process needed to upload the Subjects Portfolio data, and populate the Database, without this first step the other functions are useless.
Follows a description of the two different types of submission processes; every submission mode is available for both CATCH full and categorization-only configuration.

Batch Method

The Submission, called LAT (Load Accounts Transactions), is the process by which relevant data is sent, checked and loaded in the CATCH Database. The process is mainly handled by the periodical bulk transmission of accounts and transactions data of the Institute portfolio with .csv files loaded into the sFTP folder.
The main advantages of this method are:

  • the possibility to submit a huge amount of data in the same submission
  • the possibility to initially load historical data to enable CATCH in building the view of the subject with the right historical depth of transactions that is required for KPIs calculation
  • the possibility to keep updated CATCH sending only new transactions

PAT REST API (Put Account and Transaction)

POST/transaction/contribute (PAT), CATCH exposes an API to submit a single transaction for a specified subject’s account, a new one or already uploaded. Typically, this API is the best way to update the subject view that has been built via batch, with a new transaction when it happens. In a few seconds the data will be in the DB and could be used to calculate fresh KPIs upon the updated Subject.

Enquiry APIs

CATCH exposes a set of JSON/REST APIs for enquiry purposes, to retrieve both categorized transactions and KPIs & scores.
All the APIs trigger a specific batch process that creates an output file that is delivered through the sFTP folder, except for one process (GKS) that gives the output directly in the API response.

Categorized transactions retrieve

  • Get Transactions Detailed (GTD)
    • POST/enquiries/GTD/initialize: API which triggers the BATCH process which allows to extract the categorized transactions sent with a specific flow, or whose dates are within the date range specified in input (DateFrom-DateTo). The BATCH process retrieves in an asynchronous modality the list of transactions in an output file. For each transaction only the identification code is retrieved.
  • Get Transactions Full (GTF)
    • POST/enquiries/GTF/initialize: API which triggers the BATCH process which allows to extract the categorized transactions sent with a specific flow, or whose dates are within the date range specified in input (DateFrom-DateTo). The BATCH process retrieves in an asynchronous modality the list of transactions in an output file. For each transaction the detail of each record field stored in DB is retrieved.

KPIs retrieve

  • Get KPIs for SubjectId (GKS)
    • POST/kpis/extract: the REST API triggers the KPIs calculation for the declared Package (PackageId) and Subject (SubjectId). The KPIs are returned in the API response.
  • Get KPIs for Updated subjects (GKU)
    • POST/enquiries/GKU/initialize: the REST API triggers the KPIs for the declared package (PackageId). The KPIs are calculated for all the subjects that have at least one transaction whose transaction date (TransactionDate) is equal or subsequent to the date provided in input (FromDate). The list is returned in CSV file via batch channel.
  • Get KPIs for PackageId (GKP)
    • POST/enquiries/GKP/initialize: the REST API triggers the KPIs calculation for the declared Package (PackageId). The KPIs are calculated for all the subjects of the User portfolio. The list is returned in CSV file via batch channel.

In CATCH system it is also possible to start a KPIs enquiry in a BATCH way by sending via SFTP a structured .csv file with a set of subjects. The system extracts the subjects and triggers the KPIs calculation engine, creating an output that is stored in the sFTP folder. For further information please check the User Manual chapter 3.3 (download available in Quick start paragraph).

CATCH is natively integrated with the KPIs suite provided by CRIF NEOS service (the CRIF Open Banking solution). Click here to download a detailed list of them with a brief explanation of the standard packages that can be found in CATCH system.

KPIs retrieve with historical data (KCD)

This feature is exposed on the CATCH solution website, and targeted to the bank administrative team who needs to investigate the reason of KPIs values, moving back and forth in the time. In an easy way the User can see both the KPIs calculated on a set of data at a specific time in the past, and the data used for the calculation.
To execute the calculation the user needs to fill a set of variables in a specific setting box (e.g. calculation date, subjectId) and after the execution all the data is shown in a set of tables. After the calculation, a form with three different filters becomes available to help the user navigate through the data.

Flow check APIs

Solution exposes two more APIs to facilitate Bank’s interaction with CATCH solution. The Banks is enabled to check the status of the ongoing processes in CATCH, to allow the management of their in-house flows.

  • Enquiry process status
    • GET/enquiries/{requestId}: with this function, Bank can check and control the progress status of those batch processes that have been triggered by enquiries APIs. The REST API requires the Request identifier (RequestId) that identifies the flow to monitor.
  • SYSOUT and process info retrieve
    • POST/sysouts/execution/status: with this function, Bank can receive in real time counters, progress status and statistics (e.g. sysout) about the batch process that is running. The REST API requires the Request identifier (RequestId) that identifies the flow to monitor.

Changelog

2.12.2

  • PAT submission, added check for pipe presence in ID fields
  • Credit card submission, changed warning when partial data is updated
  • New NEOS KPIs integration
Grant Types
  • Password
Any Doubts?
FAQ

CATCH is available both, SaaS and On Prem.

Yes. CATCH is a modular product and the categorization only module can be activated

The frequency to feed CATCH it is not fixed, but depends on

  • Bank requirements: how often it needs Portfolio updated with categories and KPIs
  • Bank characteristic: the volume of data to transmit

Starting from current account data of the Bank, CATCH provides 2 kinds of output:

  • List of categorized transactions. In this case, for each transaction is provided the expense/saving category.
  • KPIs calculated at level of account and/or at level of Customer. In this case, for each Customer/Accounts, the KPIs that the Bank has bought, are returned.

Domain of possible returned categories and sub-categories is proprietary of CRIF:

  • Approximately 180 sub-categories are managed in case of transactions belonging to a Business account.
  • Approximately 200 sub-categories are managed in case of transactions belonging to a Consumer account.

The number of KPIs and score that CATCH can calculate and return depends on Bank requirements. Out of the box or custom KPIs can be activated to the Bank. Out of the box KPIs package is borrowed from the Open Banking experience and the list of interesting KPIs for the Bank to be activated in CATCH is usually chosen after a POC on its data and requirements.

Yes, CATCH stores the data to build the suitable historical depth to perform KPI calculation. In this way the Bank can keep updated the system, just with the new transactions

No. CATCH receives just transactions of the Bank.

Yes, CRIF can analyze Bank’s data and requirements in order to develop custom KPIs to be deployed in CATCH.