Deutsche Bank is inviting bids from tech giants Amazon, Google and Microsoft to fix its outmoded technology estate, according to a report from Reuters.
Citing people familiar with the plans, the wire service says the three US tech groups set up shop on site at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt last week to come up with proposals, kicking off a three month pitch and bidding process.
The effort, part of the bank's EUR13 billion tech overhaul plan, follows talks earlier this year between newly-appointed Deutsche Bank CTO Berndt Leukert and tech executives in the United States and in Davos.
Leukert was recruited earlier this year with a mandate to build a central technology division that will oversee tech security, data and innovation functions.
The German lender's management have previously complained about "lousy" and complex IT systems. The new unit is designed to help simplify processes while enabling the bank to innovate.
In a statement to Reuters, Deutsche Bank said: “To help us evaluate our options, we have started a tender process with several cloud providers ... we expect to be able to complete the process in the coming months.”
In addition to helping to streamline and update technology, one idea under consideration is to set up a corporate credit marketplace that Deutsche and the technology company would own. It would be open to companies and other banks as a brokerage for loans.