CONDUSEF implements app to administer household budget with GeneXus
The National Committee for Protection and Defense of Users of Financial Services (“Comisión Nacional para la Protección y Defensa de los Usuarios de Servicios Financieros” - CONDUSEF) was meant to promote financial education among the population. To such effects, an application called “Family Budget” was created with the purpose of facilitating families the control of their income, expenses and savings. As of this date, the application has had 2,800 downloads in en App Store and Google Play.
CONDUSEF is a State body reporting to the Treasury and Public Credit Department, whose main functions include the promotion of financial education among the population and the solution of claims made by the users of financial products and services.
In early 2009, the Systems Development and Maintenance Division of the Computer Systems and Telecommunications Department came up with an initiative to create web applications for the entity’s users, with the objective of providing them with elements to facilitate their financial management and administration.
The platform they had was Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 6 (both local or in a Client-Server scheme), and they did not have the functionality necessary to create web applications. This led them to search for tools available in the market, in what turned out to be an important challenge for the Development Division, given its magnitude and the significant demand of its User Areas.
“We play a supporting role for citizens to be duly oriented in regards to their knowledge of the financial sector’s public policies and the proper management of their money. In that sense, we consider central any tool or platform allowing us to facilitate things for users in this environment”, said Systems and Telecommunications Director Aurelio Alamán Villarreal.
In order to quickly implement a series of tools in a practical way, they started working on web proposals using the solution provided by GeneXus X Evolution 2. At the light of the massive arrival of smart phones, the next step towards mobility was simply a natural thing to expect. This occurred pursuant to service concepts based on query follow-up, proximity and easiness for users.
One initiative consisted of the creation of a mobile application to allow users the possibility of controlling their income and monthly expenses (on aspects such as food, housing, credits, taxes, personal expenses, miscellaneous items, recreation, insurance, etc.) and calculate their saving capacity based on salaries, incentives or other provisions.
“A prevailing reality in our country is that numerous Mexican families set their assets at risk by not applying a basic care of their income and expenses. According to figures published by INEGI, only 20% of the population administers their numbers. Given this situation, and based on the concept of mobility, we decided to create an application called ‘Family Budget’ meant for promoting, among our citizens, the proper management of their income”, the executive explained.
This application was fully developed with GeneXus X Evolution 2, in a period of two months going from August to October 2013. The team in charge was made up of four people from the development area who received the support and assistance of a consultant from BIS Soluciones, an authorized GeneXus distributor.
Alamán expressed that the implementation of this application will help promote financial education and a better management of the monies of the citizens of Mexico. “Mobilizing the support we offer users is of the essence, particularly through mobile platforms. And this is something we could do with GeneXus in a quick, practical manner that yielded very satisfactory results”, he said.
In addition to the possibility of creating applications for mobile devices, the outcome showed important and tangible benefits like the increased speed in the development of applications, with the possibility of generating code in different languages, fully compatible with CONDUSEF’s institutional database.
Another aspect to point out is the possibility of reusing components and functions for accelerating the creation of applications that share functionalities with other previously developed applications, all of which also allows end users a better experience with CONDUSEF’s systems.
Alamán explained that “approximately, the development of a project that would take from six to eight months under usual conditions can now be done in an average time of six to eight weeks.”
The “Family Budget” application is available at the App Store and Google Play, from where it has been downloaded 2,800 times to this date.
In early 2009, the Systems Development and Maintenance Division of the Computer Systems and Telecommunications Department came up with an initiative to create web applications for the entity’s users, with the objective of providing them with elements to facilitate their financial management and administration.
The platform they had was Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 6 (both local or in a Client-Server scheme), and they did not have the functionality necessary to create web applications. This led them to search for tools available in the market, in what turned out to be an important challenge for the Development Division, given its magnitude and the significant demand of its User Areas.
“We play a supporting role for citizens to be duly oriented in regards to their knowledge of the financial sector’s public policies and the proper management of their money. In that sense, we consider central any tool or platform allowing us to facilitate things for users in this environment”, said Systems and Telecommunications Director Aurelio Alamán Villarreal.
In order to quickly implement a series of tools in a practical way, they started working on web proposals using the solution provided by GeneXus X Evolution 2. At the light of the massive arrival of smart phones, the next step towards mobility was simply a natural thing to expect. This occurred pursuant to service concepts based on query follow-up, proximity and easiness for users.
One initiative consisted of the creation of a mobile application to allow users the possibility of controlling their income and monthly expenses (on aspects such as food, housing, credits, taxes, personal expenses, miscellaneous items, recreation, insurance, etc.) and calculate their saving capacity based on salaries, incentives or other provisions.
“A prevailing reality in our country is that numerous Mexican families set their assets at risk by not applying a basic care of their income and expenses. According to figures published by INEGI, only 20% of the population administers their numbers. Given this situation, and based on the concept of mobility, we decided to create an application called ‘Family Budget’ meant for promoting, among our citizens, the proper management of their income”, the executive explained.
This application was fully developed with GeneXus X Evolution 2, in a period of two months going from August to October 2013. The team in charge was made up of four people from the development area who received the support and assistance of a consultant from BIS Soluciones, an authorized GeneXus distributor.
Alamán expressed that the implementation of this application will help promote financial education and a better management of the monies of the citizens of Mexico. “Mobilizing the support we offer users is of the essence, particularly through mobile platforms. And this is something we could do with GeneXus in a quick, practical manner that yielded very satisfactory results”, he said.
In addition to the possibility of creating applications for mobile devices, the outcome showed important and tangible benefits like the increased speed in the development of applications, with the possibility of generating code in different languages, fully compatible with CONDUSEF’s institutional database.
Another aspect to point out is the possibility of reusing components and functions for accelerating the creation of applications that share functionalities with other previously developed applications, all of which also allows end users a better experience with CONDUSEF’s systems.
Alamán explained that “approximately, the development of a project that would take from six to eight months under usual conditions can now be done in an average time of six to eight weeks.”
The “Family Budget” application is available at the App Store and Google Play, from where it has been downloaded 2,800 times to this date.