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Latest Results from /devops

Impact Study

Reimagining customer journeys: How can banks upscale experience and boost retention?

To stay competitive and better serve their customer base, financial institutions (FIs) must urgently reimagine their customer journeys — from onboarding to the broader lifetime experience — or risk facing a hit to their market share. Technology has significantly transformed the financial services industry, particularly over the last five years. Challenger banks and fintech firms have rapidly gained popularity thanks to their ability to offer fast, simple, digital services. According to data from Plaid, nearly nine out of 10 consumers were using a fintech application in 2023. This percentage will continue to grow.  Financial institutions (FIs) must urgently reimagine their customer journeys or risk facing a hit to their market share. Indeed, today’s customers are more likely than ever to switch primary banking relationships if they do not receive the services they are looking for. Young, digital natives continue to shape this market, with research revealing that 44% of Gen Z customers have changed their primary banking relationship in the last 12 months. The call to competition cannot be ignored.  But how can FIs innovate to meet these demands, while simultaneously running legacy systems? This Finextra impact study, in association with Hyland, explores how financial institutions can:  Reinvent onboarding and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes;  Upscale the overall customer journey;  Look to artificial intelligence (AI) for product enhancement and integration; and  Present real-world case studies for each of these objectives. 

131 downloads

Report

PaaS, cloud and instant payments: Navigating the outsourcing question

Today’s institutions are in some ways faced with far greater challenges than ever before. Be it from the demand for ever-faster services; the pressure of always-on compliance; or the need to remain agile and competitive. Is PaaS the holy grail FIs have been looking for?  Outsourcing payments is an increasingly irresistible proposition for FIs. With end-user demand constantly evolving; real-time requirements on the rise; macro-economic trends becoming ever more unpredictable; and the pressure of regulatory compliance ratcheting up, the provision of proprietary payments has become a thorny pursuit.  Enter the stage: cloud technology. By leveraging modern tools and techniques to build, deploy, run, and manage software in a cloud-computing environment, FIs of all kinds can take advantage of scalability, elasticity, and automation. But the benefits of Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) can extend beyond these practicalities – serving to revolutionise bank operations, unlock broader efficiencies, and enrich the end-user experience.  Mining this potential, however, obliges institutions to navigate some challenges. First, FIs must understand the potential of cloud-native technology as an engine for modernisation and embrace the cultural shift that is triggered by cuttingedge technologies. It may involve training, testing and concerted integration efforts.  Another key challenge is delegation: which tasks should be handed to third parties, and which should remain in-house? Indeed, when systems evolve, FIs must always keep one eye on compliance. As ever, approach and growth potential are directly impacted by the type and size of the institution in question, so approaches should be tailored.  This Finextra whitepaper, produced in association with FIS, evaluates:  The key considerations when placing client transaction data in the public cloud;  The art of delegation: Determining which tasks to offload;  The role of regulation and compliance; and  A PaaS checklist for finding the right solutions and partnerships.    Register to watch the related Finextra webinar, hosted in association with FIS – PaaS, cloud and instant payments in the spotlight: Overcoming outsourcing challenges

196 downloads

Impact Study

Surviving digital fallout: Operational resilience in 2025 and beyond

Almost every financial institution loses money each year to outages. What does an optimal resilience strategy look like in 2025?  The financial sector is increasingly dependent on technology to deliver its offering. Notwithstanding all the benefits this brings for productivity, reach, and customer satisfaction, its side effect is that the sector is increasingly vulnerable to network and software issues, third-party service slip-ups, cyberattacks, and capacity problems. If not managed correctly, a compromised IT system can spark knock-on disruptions to financial institutions, the firms they trade with, their supply chains, and even the economy-at-large.  To mitigate such risks, the global marketplace has been flooded with regulations aimed at bolstering operational resilience. Most recently, Europe’s answer has been the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – the deadline for which passed on 17 January 2025. However, these regulations are only guidelines; they mandate a minimum level for compliance, instead of an ideal strategy to holistically handle outages.  In this Finextra impact study, produced in association with Cockroach Labs, we speak with leading firms in the space to understand the best-in-class strategies they have adopted to achieve operational resilience. In the most effective cases, firms go beyond compliance, and exploit regulations as a business opportunity to stimulate productivity, increase competitiveness, and reduce costs. In today’s increasingly digital marketplaces, architectures must be operationally simple and flexible, as well as global and robust.  We explore:  The growing challenge of outages;  Regulation, DORA, and resilience requirements;  What an optimal resilience strategy should look like in 2025 and beyond;  How organisations can future proof their operations while staying agile for future regulatory requirements. 

160 downloads

Impact Study

NextGen retail banking: A roadmap to successful modernisation

Learn why retail banks must transition to modern, composable, future-ready infrastructures today – and how they can devise journeys that are tailored as well as cost-effective. A significant portion of the retail banking landscape still relies on legacy systems, some of which can be costly and hamper innovation. According to a report from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), 58% of the UK’s financial services firms use legacy infrastructure for some operations, while 33% depend on it for most of their activities. In North America, the picture is similar, with around 40% of US banks still using the Common Business-Oriented Language (COBOL) – a coding language dating back to 1959. Some surveys indicate that up to 70% of bank IT budgets are spent on maintaining these legacy systems.   Today, with rapidly evolving consumer demands, technological advancements, stiff competition, and regulatory upheaval, outdated infrastructures are no longer tenable – and risk negatively impacting banks’ efficiency, agility, and customer experiences. So, how can retail banks modernise, while controlling costs and ensuring minimal impact on day-to-day business applications?   This Finextra impact study, produced in association with Oracle, analyses:  The key challenges of legacy banking systems  How to draw up a tailored roadmap for modernisation  How to quantify progress and measure success 

319 downloads

Impact Study

Why DevSecOps is key to navigating innovation and compliance

Explore how DevSecOps enable organisations to navigate economic uncertainties while treating innovation and compliance as complementary forces rather than competing priorities. A balancing act is underway within the financial services industry. Driven by client demand and fintech competition, institutions are increasingly obliged to innovate, while at the same time, ensure every step forward is secure and compliant. Often, it feels as though these two goals sit on either side of a seesaw – when one goes up, the other must go down. Many such challenges are born from the software delivery process, where countless organisations are struggling to source the expertise and capabilities necessary to deliver secure and compliant applications, at speed.  Much of the conflict stems from fragmented DevSecOps (a software development practice that integrates security throughout the development lifecycle) strategies which are built upon outdated infrastructure. Indeed, many financial institutions (FIs) today operate with disjointed security and development workflows – sometimes patching together between five to 10 separate tools that were implemented incrementally over time. While this approach worked five years ago, better options exist today. A simplified stack is conducive to both innovation and compliance – without either being compromised.  This Finextra impact study, produced in association with GitLab, explores:  How the evolution to a unified software delivery platform can deliver on both innovation and compliance;  reduce the risk of security incidents;  supercharge operational efficiencies;  amplify business agility and scalability;  and even support talent acquisition. 

147 downloads

Event Report

AI strategies for scalable, secure and compliant banking

Delving into effective strategies and tools for secure and compliant AI integration in banking, emphasising the importance of open-source models, the role of generative AI, the advantages of synthetic data, and the influence of regulatory frameworks. Integrating AI in banking involves more than just adopting new technologies; it requires aligning these technologies with specific banking use cases to maximise benefits and mitigate risks related to data security and compliance. Open-source models facilitate this transformation by offering a collaborative platform for innovation and transparency, essential for building trust and ensuring the safe use of AI in banking.  The journey from proof of concept (POC) to production in AI and machine learning is often lengthy and complex. This extended timeline highlights the challenges organisations face in integrating AI into their operations. Embracing new tools and technologies and learning to utilise them effectively is crucial for overcoming these challenges and applying AI to day-to-day operations, leading to significant benefits in efficiency and innovation.  When looking at other markets, the United States has become a hub for tech giants, focusing on fostering innovation, while regions like Japan remain cautious, reflecting their unique regulatory landscapes and societal risk appetites. This diversity in regulatory approaches presents both opportunities and challenges for firms operating globally, necessitating a nuanced understanding of each market’s unique dynamics.  This webinar report summarises the discussion of a Finextra webinar, hosted with Red Hat, by a panel of industry experts. Discover:  How AI is enhancing innovation, efficiency, and security;  Synthetic data and regulatory impact;  What factors are holding organisations back from fully adoption AI-driven services;  Balancing innovation and regulation;  And more. 

335 downloads

Impact Study

Are you ready for CBPR+? Accelerating modernisation and efficiency through ISO 20022

Challenges and strategies for financial messaging professionals to be CBPR+ compliant by November 2025.  Financial institutions’ ISO 20022 for CBPR+ migration timelines vary enormously, yet the deadline is the same for all financial institutions – whether they have fully adopted ISO 20022 or are yet to make significant progress. By November 2025, ISO 20022 will become the sole globally recognised standard for interbank cross-border payments, and the new MX messaging format will fully replace the old MT messaging format.  Concerningly, adoption has not picked up as significantly since the co-existence period began in November 2023. In January 2024, the ISO 20022 adoption rate of the top 175 financial institutions stood at 19%. By December 2024, this number had grown to 32.9%. It’s clear that institutions need to significantly accelerate their migration efforts over the next few months – or risk the consequences of non-compliance.  ISO 20022 is not just a compliance update – the data-rich format enables organisations to enhance their analytical capabilities, improve their service offering, improve straight-through processing, strengthen anti-money laundering and compliance efforts, and more.  This impact study explores readiness for the impending ISO 20022 for CBPR+ deadline and features commentary from experts at Finastra and Visa. It answers:  What needs to happen between today and November?  What are the main challenges institutions have been facing?  How can they streamline successful strategies to hit compliance by November and beyond?  What happens in November 2025 for organisations that have not made the deadline?    Join the Finextra webinar, 'The ISO 20022 for CBPR+ deadline is looming: Are financial organisations prepared?', hosted with Finastra, to learn more.

337 downloads

Impact Study

Bank Legacy Transformation: Exploring the Solutions

Where do banks stand with legacy transformation today? What are the market factors and changing consumer demands that make transformation increasingly crucial? Legacy transformation is not a new challenge for banks. However, as technology capability continues to advance, along with it the potential for innovation and new business models serving a digital customer base, the pressure of no longer being constrained by legacy infrastructure intensifies. Despite being the central nervous system for banks’ operations for decades serving a business purpose, legacy systems have become inadequate, and those trained to use them may lack the skills needed to meet sophisticated demands for real-time and seamless experiences. Here’s how banks can decouple their systems from each other to evolve and grow, untangle technology challenges to drive digitisation, and invest in technology and employees to ensure obstacles to rapid and gradual modernisation are removed. This impact study, produced in association with Veritran, will: Consider frameworks that prioritise initiatives based on their impact; Explore specific recommendations for each of these challenges; Propose strategies on how to integrate systems that will address data silos; Highlight clear ROI examples, efficiency gains, and enhanced customer outcomes; and Emphasise that there is no need for legacy system abandonment and modernisation can be conducted gradually without disruption.

451 downloads

White Paper

UK Open Banking API Performance 2023-2024

In this fourth annual report, APIContext evaluated the performance of UK Open Banking APIs from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024. The UK’s Open Banking system is arguably the most advanced in the world, having been in place since at least 2018. The time in market for this ecosystem offers lessons and best practices to other countries that are looking to implement similar API-driven financial systems; as well as banks and financial institutions that seek to differentiate through quality customer experiences. In this updated report, APIContext evaluates the performance of Open Banking APIs provided by various types of financial institutions in the UK. These include the major “CMA9” banks (the nine largest banks required by UK law to provide Open Banking services), traditional High Street banks, credit card companies, building societies (similar to credit unions in the United States), and new digital banks, often called neobanks. All the data in this report are based on real API calls, having tested the APIs in real-world conditions using the same process that consumers would go through. These calls followed the FAPI (Financial-grade API) standards, which are specifically designed for securely sharing sensitive financial data. The report includes: Key analysis of the UK's Open Banking API performance 2023 - 2024 Availability and reliability of API endpoints Latency metrics (DNS, TCP connect, SSL handshake, processing, and total time) Performance by cloud provider (AWS, IBM, Azure, and Google) Comparative analysis between different bank types (CMA9, traditional, and neobanks) Cloud provider comparison and other detailed findings Key takeaways and recommendations for various players in the ecosystem

498 downloads

Impact Study

Mastering the Transition to ISO 20022

Strategies for Compliance and Automated Testing in Financial Services With a regulatory storm incoming, the need for testing solutions – whether they be generic or tailored – is greater than ever before. As the financial services industry undergoes a vast amount change, particularly around the introduction of new rails on the ISO 20022 framework, these tests are proving vital for international banks and other institutions in the chain.  Yet, for this sector change is not a binary phase; it is almost always underway. To tackle this challenge in a sustainable way, automation is key – giving institutions the confidence to weather the storm of regulation with ease.  With the ISO 20022 standard now a prerequisite, organisations must convince their business leaders that the migration mandated for November is not just an IT project – it is fundamental to company-wide strategy.  This impact study, produced in association with Unifits and featuring expert commentary from BearingPoint and Accenture, explores how institutions can master the transition to ISO 20022 and streamline compliance through automated testing.  Discover:  The impact and evolution of testing  The benefits of testing automation  The strategic role of technology and compliance  Trends to watch: New rails and regulations  Real-world case studies  And more. 

500 downloads

Impact Study

Microservices Architecture: Future-Proofing Payments Technology

It is high time for banks to move away from legacy thinking and embrace modernisation to remain competitive in the industry.  Financial institutions have long been threatened by innovative, tech-savvy fintech firms that do not have to maintain decades-old back-office systems. Core banking systems within banks have evolved, but with additional pressure from incoming regulation and subsequent reporting, progression and modernisation has not kept pace with industry developments.  In the US alone, the real-time payments market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 31% until 2030. An institution’s success in scaling their payment processing in response to this shift will rest heavily on how their systems are set up.  Cloud-native payments processing is the most viable option to keep pace with innovation demand and competition; enabling banks to build upon flexibility, at low cost and risk. These enablers also make cloud infrastructure – both public and private – attractive for banks that have struggled to streamline, maintain and upgrade their legacy infrastructures.  This Finextra research paper, produced in association with Diebold Nixdorf, explores the opportunities of microservices architecture. It discusses:  Then & Now: Monolithic vs. microservices architecture  Overcoming microservice challenges  The benefits of a micro-approach  Real-world examples and cases studies  And more.    Click here to join the Finextra webinar, hosted in association with Diebold Nixdorf, to watch as our panel of iindustry experts explore the benefits of microservices architecture, and what needs to be done to ensure migrations are streamlined.

435 downloads

Impact Study

AI and Cloud: The Proving Ground for Regulatory Resilience in 2024

The current macroeconomic landscape is marked by exceptional volatility and uncertainty, posing challenges to traditional models in the financial services sector. Despite this new challenging market context, some financial institutions continue to hit pause on using AI and cloud technology, falling behind the curve. Leveraging new technologies can no longer be a zero-sum game. This impact study explores: How can AI and cloud be leveraged to improve back-end processes, rather than just front-end experiences; How migrating to the cloud can fuel new use cases; The regulatory impact of PSD3, DORA and more; The benefits of data sovereignty and data governance; And more. Download this Finextra impact study, produced in association with Microsoft Azure, to learn more.

658 downloads

Event Report

Cloud innovation paves path to the future

An open banking platform has the power to transform a bank, whether the bank is looking to modernise using technology on-premise, in the cloud or as Software-asa-Service (SaaS). In turn, banks gain access to endless opportunities to engage with customers and scale for massive demand. This event report, in association with Temenos, highlights the key takeaways from Temenos Community Forum 2023 that took place in Vienna, Austria. Bringing industry experts and partners together to explore new opportunities opened up by emerging technologies and the cloud, this year’s overarching event theme was ‘Engage and Grow in a Cloud World’. In this report, we explore the different ways that the cloud is accelerating transformation in the industry, including: Why banks are being disrupted by BaaS and embedded finance services; How agility, innovation, and customer experience are gaining momentum on the cloud; How to build resilient cloud infrastructure for sustainability; And more.

183 downloads

Future of Report

The Future of Digital Banking in North America 2024

2023 was characterised by increasing amounts of uncertainty and a lack of clarity across the financial world. The collapse of banks, including Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republican Bank, in March 2023, added strain to already unsettled financial markets. While market volatility has remained relatively stable, soaring inflation and climbing interest rates slowed economic growth and this is expected to continue into 2024.  While forecasts regarding the length and severity of a possible recession are speculative, experts are even more divided about stock market predictions for 2024. Optimism is strong in many investors who expect that 2024 is the year rates will stop rising and predict bullish turns that will see markets soar to new heights. Yet with many other factors affecting North American markets, the only certainty we can expect as we look towards 2024 is more uncertainty. This Finextra report on the outlook of North American banking trends, is produced in association with Money20/20 and includes key insights and commentary from industry experts at EY and Mastercard.

741 downloads

White Paper

Build, Buy or Bust – Hybrid leapfrogging Legacy

The age-old Build Vs. Buy conundrum has never been brought into sharper focus than it is now. In light of unprecedented unpredictability and economic volatility in recent times, in light of converging pressure brought about as a result of myriad payments systems, real time rails, cross-border implications in a global village, standards development and heightened public awareness and expectation, financial institutions are leaping forwards by falling back on partners to bring systems in line with modern business expectations.  Undoubtedly, the advent and availability of open source technology has intensified and strengthened both sides of the Build Vs. Buy argument. For one thing, it has enabled banks and financial organisations to tailor and sculpt new processes and systems around their exact needs, with the availability of non-proprietary technology. For another, it has brought about a plethora of third party ‘enablers’, as well as having inspired fintech services firms by way of creating plug-and-play or pay-as-you-go offerings.  And alongside all of this, the development of cloud technology and its permeation throughout the financial services industry has oiled the wheels for the journey, facilitating the bespoke and dynamic capability that open source cloud offers, and compounding the technological know-how and prowess of both banks and fintech providers the world over.  There are other influencing factors, such as the API economy, the concepts of open finance, open data; external global, market and economic drivers and events that shape the demand for improved and instant banking services in the first place, putting pressure on operations to the point that banks need to fast-track pretty much every modernisation or product development project they have going, inevitably having to outsource some of this burden.  Download this Finextra report, produced in association with Cloudera, to learn more.

269 downloads