UK state-owned financial institution goes cloud-native

The UK’s Nationwide Financial savings and Investments (NS&I) financial institution is changing its legacy core banking system as a part of a wider digital transformation undertaking.

The legacy platform, which has been offered via an outsourcing contract with Atos since 1999, can be changed with a cloud-native platform from software program provider SBS, previously Sopra Banking Software program.

SBS’s SBP Digital Core platform can be launched in 2028 as the ultimate a part of a wider digital transformation, which incorporates extending its work with Atos. IBM and Sopra Steria are additionally concerned within the undertaking to remodel the financial institution’s operations.

NS&I, which is 160 years outdated and has about 24 million clients, outsourced its back-office operations to Siemens IT Options and Providers, now Atos, in 1999.

Atos efficiently gained a aggressive re-procurement train in 2012/13, and the UK state-owned financial savings financial institution prolonged its IT companies contract with the French IT companies firm in 2019, via a £300m, three-year contract.

Till just lately, Atos offered NS&I’s core companies, which included IT and infrastructure. However in keeping with Matt Smith, chief working officer at NS&I, “all through a lot of that point, SBS has been a key companion to Atos, offering the present core banking engine and related applied sciences”.

Smith stated the tip of the legacy Atos contract and a statutory requirement to re-tender introduced NS&I, which was beforehand often called the Publish Workplace Financial savings Financial institution, with a possibility “to remodel the way in which it delivers its companies to maintain tempo with market adjustments and buyer expectations”.

Key to the transformation undertaking is a transfer away from one service supplier to a number of suppliers. “Our transformation programme will assist to ship the digital experiences that our clients count on, whereas nonetheless guaranteeing there may be assist and help for many who want it,” stated Smith. “Changing our core system is a essential step on this evolution,” he added.

“The enterprise transformation programme will modernise our working mannequin, enabled by a swap from a single outsourced supplier to a multi-provider mannequin. It is going to guarantee we have now fashionable, scalable and versatile techniques that may ship for presidency, clients and taxpayers.”

NS&I checked out quite a few suppliers via 2022-2023 earlier than deciding on the SBS platform.

Banks needed to undertake cloud methods shortly within the face of heightened competitors from challenger banks, which had been typically constructed on cloud-native companies. In consequence, there was a increase in contracts with cloud suppliers within the monetary companies sector. NS&I has used a contract renewal to start its cloud banking journey.

Cloud and software-as-a-service transformation within the monetary trade is just not a matter of when, however how,” stated SBS CEO Eric Bierry. “NS&I’s transformation programme is proof that it’s potential for banks to execute this transformation – and doing so units them as much as drive in any other case unattainable efficiencies and experiences.”

NS&I has about 260 employees and makes use of IT professionals from suppliers reminiscent of IBM, Sopra Steria and Atos.