IBM Services will be the global preferred implementation partner for UK-based software company Thought Machine’s cloud-native core banking platform, Vault.

Thought Machine created Vault to give traditional banks with legacy systems a solution to be able to fight back not only against new players, but to also adapt to meet the new demands of customers and regulators.

The cloud native core banking system allows banks to fully realise the benefits of IBM Cloud, connecting to both customer and internal applications.

IBM and Thought Machine are already in advanced discussions with a number of major banking institutions around the world.

In the UK, Lloyds Banking Group took an £11 million, 10 per cent stake in Thought Machine, and has been working with both parties to explore Vault’s ability to deliver value, as well as the options available for further development and roll-out of the platform.

Zak Mian, group director for transformation at Lloyds Banking Group, said that a key part of the three-year strategic plan is applying technology innovation to meet customers’ evolving needs.

Late last month, mobile challenger Atom Bank also signed a multi-year partnership with Thought Machine for the next stage of its business banking and mortgage lending services.

Paul Taylor, chief executive at Thought Machine, said: “Banks have built interface layers with more modern technology, but there is only so far you can go before the foundations themselves have to be replaced.

“This specially designed cloud native new platform has been written to bring a modern alternative to current platforms that many banks around the world are struggling to maintain,” he added.

Jesus Mantas, managing partner of IBM Global Business Services, commented that most banks are constrained by their legacy core banking systems. “Vault offers the first core banking platform built in the cloud from the ground up, massively scalable and with the flexibility to create and launch new products and services in days versus months, at unprecedented levels of cost and speed.”

IBM Services will also create a global practice headquartered out of London, bringing together banking transformation and implementation expertise from existing consultants, along with new hires to support the demand from banks for transformation of core infrastructure.

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