Financial news

Despite the emergence of challenger banks in the US in the past few years, a resounding number (42 per cent) of Americans have stated they are happy with their banking provider. Research from GFT, the digital transformation firm, has revealed that roughly one in five (22 per cent) people want to switch banking providers.

In its latest report titled GFT Banking Disruption Index, the digital transformation company unpacks the US’ response to its current banking sector compared to the rest of the world. When it comes to traditional and digital banking features, respondents in both the US (51 per cent) and globally (49 per cent) prioritised fraud protection. Following this, both the US and the world wanted easy-to-use digital banking.

In light of this demand for digital banking and digital products, GFT is collaborating with cloud-native banking tech firm, Thought Machine, to help digitise incumbent banks. In turn, these banks will be able to tend to rising consumer demands.

While traditional banks have historically moved slower than digital challengers for years, they are now beginning to introduce new financial experiences that their digital counterparts cannot offer. However, the banks that can get these experiences to market before their competitors will be those that get a head start in modernising their underlying legacy infrastructures.

“Many banks and financial institutions are confident about the benefits of modernising their core infrastructures. Until now – there has been no viable option in the market for giving banks the technology capabilities and maturity of software they need to innovate meaningfully while offering an agile solution for coexistence and migration of legacy products.,” said Brian Dempsey, partnerships director, at Thought Machine.

“Our partnership with GFT ensures that the benefits of modernisation can be fully realised with immediate impact.”

GFT and thought machine to address banks’ largest infrastructural challenges

After spending the past several years laying the groundwork for digitisation, US banks and financial institutions are now in the position to begin undergoing large-scale infrastructure transformation. GFT has 35-plus years of experience partnering with global banks on their digital journeys, with highly skilled delivery teams throughout the Americas.

Paired with Thought Machine’s cloud-native core banking technology, the two companies are positioned to build and deliver digital banking and payment solutions to US banks. They will do so in a cost-effective way – more so than alternative approaches.

Partnership offers three paths to digital transformation

GFT is a leading implementation partner of Thought Machine’s Vault Core. Built on truly cloud-native design principles, Vault Core allows banks to define their path for transformation. The technology is pivotal to launching digital-first greenfield banks. It offers new technology capabilities that coexist with their existing core system or migrate from legacy to digital architectures.

GFT and Thought Machine have achieved several initial milestones in their three-year partnership. This includes over 200 certifications, eight completed projects, and four GFT teams dedicated to delivering on joint projects with Thought Machine. In collaboration with Thought Machine and Amazon Web Services (AWS), GFT additionally built and launched BankLiteX to enable the launch of greenfield banks in as little as three months.

Traditional banks embrace their watershed moment

“Fintechs have been challenging how consumers think about banking and financial experiences for a few years. However, traditional banks have been quietly planning their next steps throughout that time,” said Marco Santos, CEO Americas at GFT. “We’re now at a watershed moment in which these banks are ready to consolidate their unrivaled financial expertise and regulatory frameworks with digitisation, cementing their positions at the top of the financial hierarchy for good.”

Through their global partnership, GFT and Thought Machine were pivotal in the build and implementation of Mox, the cloud-native, mobile-only digital banking arm of Standard Chartered in Hong Kong. The digital bank has over 400,000 customers, which is powered by AWS and Vault Core.