Victor Nwauwa, QA Engineering Lead at Kora, shares how to build reliability for systems trusted by millions.
Passion and Enlightenment in Quality Assurance Engineering
My attention to detail and understanding of how systems behave under pressure were what initially drew me to Quality Assurance Engineering. I noticed a common phenomenon: teams would focus on developing new features but overlook how the system would cope when issues arose. I quickly realized that the core of QA lies in preventing potential failures and integrating this mindset into the entire team's build process.
Early Career: Identity Systems in Practice at Seamfix
Early in my career, I worked at Seamfix. There, I was involved in a SIM card registration application project serving Nigerian telecom companies. My responsibilities covered the entire testing lifecycle, including developing test plans, executing functional, regression, and performance testing, and building automated testing frameworks. As my experience grew, I began leading teams and learned to take full responsibility for quality assurance from a project perspective.
Identity Systems Experience Reshaped Engineering and Reliability Thinking
My practical experience with identity systems completely changed my perspective on engineering and reliability. When millions of users depend on a system for critical functions like KYC (Know Your Customer) and identity verification, any failure is unacceptable. This requires us to consider the possibility of failure from the initial design phase, conduct rigorous testing beyond the 'best path,' and be fully prepared for rare edge cases that might occur in a production environment. This experience deeply instilled in me a rigorous requirement for system scale and consistency.
Complex Challenges Encountered at Seamfix
During my time at Seamfix, the biggest challenges stemmed from unpredictability. We had to deal with a wide variety of devices, unstable network environments, and real-time verification needs across different environments. A system that performs perfectly in a controlled environment often reveals issues when deployed in the real world, facing poor network conditions or high concurrent access. Therefore, we focused on simulating real-world usage scenarios through stringent performance and regression testing.
Transitioning to Fintech: The Appeal of Kora
Moving into the fintech space at Kora was a natural decision. Identity systems and payment systems share many common core requirements in terms of trust, reliability, and real-time performance. When I joined Kora, the company did not have a dedicated QA department. The opportunity to build a QA department from scratch, establish processes, set standards, and grow the team was highly appealing to me.
Within seconds, payment gateways need to process requests, banks need to verify accounts, fraud detection systems need to run checks, and ultimately, transactions are confirmed or declined. Kora's product portfolio covers collections, payments, settlements, virtual cards, virtual bank accounts, and identity verification. While each product can operate to some extent independently, there are interdependencies between some services. If one component fails, parts of the entire transaction cycle can be affected. Therefore, comprehensive testing of every service layer is crucial.
The Biggest Reliability Challenges for Fintech Companies During Expansion
Expanding into multiple markets presents a significant challenge for fintech companies, as each country has its unique regulatory environment, user habits, and technological infrastructure.