iBANK – Minimum Viable Bank

iBANK –  Minimum Viable Bank (MVB) refers to two primary concepts in modern finance: a strategic framework for operational resilience and a development model for fintech startups to an. Old Legacy Traditional Banks.

1. MVB as Operational Resilience

In the context of risk management, an MVB is the “stripped-down” version of a bank that must remain functional during a crisis (e.g., cyberattacks or natural disasters) to prevent systemic failure or intolerable customer harm. 

Key components of this model include:

• Essential Services: Identifying core functions that cannot fail, such as viewing account balances, accessing funds, and basic payment processing.
• Critical Infrastructure: Prioritizing the recovery of “Tier 0” infrastructure, including network access, authentication systems, and core data.
• Regulatory Alignment: Meeting mandates like the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) or the Bank of England’s Resolvability Assessment Framework (RAF), which require banks to remain “resolvable” even in failure.
• Manual Workarounds: Developing non-digital processes to maintain “minimum viable services” (MVS) when primary IT systems are offline. 

2. MVB as a Product Development Strategy (Banking MVP) 

For fintechs and challenger banks, a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the first version of a banking platform launched with just enough features to satisfy early customers and collect feedback. 

• Core Feature Set: Typically includes basic account management, KYC (Know Your Customer) verification, and fund transfers.
• Development Cost: A basic banking MVP typically ranges from £50,000 to £95,000 depending on complexity and region of development.
• Scalability: Often built using Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) or cloud-based SaaS models to allow for rapid iteration after the initial launch. 

3. MVB Bank (The Institution)

MVB Bank, Inc. is also the name of a specific financial institution based in the U.S. It is a major partner for fintech companies, providing the underlying banking infrastructure for platforms like iBANK

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