BNP Paribas joins IBM Cloud as European anchor client
BNP Paribas has become a European anchor client for IBM’s Financial Services Cloud platform.
IBM has expanded its financial cloud platform to more than 30 partners
The French bank will be a European focus for the development of IBM Cloud for Financial Services. The IBM deployment is the bank’s first to be compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
BNP Paribas will utilise a dedicated cloud, developed and managed by IBM. It uses IBM public cloud technologies, including keep your own key (KYOK) encryption.
According to Big Blue, BNP Paribas could onboard further banking partners onto the cloud platform over the coming months.
“We’re driving innovation in the financial services industry,” says Bernard Gavgani, chief innovation officer at BNP Paribas.
“IBM Cloud for Financial Services helps us to further our transformation journey to the cloud and migrate mission critical workloads with confidence knowing that we can meet the regulatory standards established for the industry.”
Looking east
MUFG Bank, the largest bank in Japan, is also looking to deploy IBM Cloud for Financial Services.
Hiroki Kameda, group chief innovation officer at MUFG, says it has been aiming to shift its IT workload for “years.”
He adds: “We believe IBM Cloud for Financial Services will be suited to help Japanese financial institutions […] maintain legacy systems toward digital reinvention.”
MUFG and BNP Paribas join a group of 30 technology providers and financial institutions using the IBM platform.
“With major financial institutions and technology partners joining our Financial Services Cloud, IBM is establishing confidence within the industry and around the globe,” says Howard Boville, senior vice president for IBM Cloud.
New policies
The BNP Paribas news arrives in parallel with a series of policy and advisory announcements from IBM.
In collaboration with Bank of America, the technology firm has launched its IBM Cloud Policy Framework and Financial Services Cloud Advisory Council.
Both will work towards establishing “a new generation of cloud for enterprises with common operational criteria”.
Boville will lead this new council, with representation from major banks, including Bank of America chief technology officer, Tony Kerrison.
Boville himself is a former Bank of America executive, having worked at the bank as chief technology officer for some years.
The council is focused on helping banks “drive the strategic evolution of cloud security in this highly regulated sector”.
Related: Report on cloud transformation in banking – the 2020 state of play
