This past week, Finastra, a global provider of financial services software applications, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) unveiled their collaboration on an enhanced cloud-based lending managed services offering. Finastra’s Lending Cloud Service (LCS) offers options for its Corporate Lending solutions — Loan IQ, Trade Innovation and Corporate Channels – and is supported by IBM for Finastra clients in North America and Europe.
“Part of our approach champions collaboration and tapping into partner core capabilities, and that’s what we are doing here,” Finastra head of technology for lending Steve Moe said. “Working with industry giants like IBM gives us huge scale, credible skills and a reliable and quick path to implement offerings that deliver value at speed for our customers.”
IBM is providing design and implementation for LCS, leveraging its generative AI for enterprise platform, watsonx, as part of operationally focused IBM Consulting assets, to manage the new platform. IBM will also provide ongoing services to Finastra’s LCS clients in North America and Europe to help Finastra continue to grow its business.
“The global banking community is increasingly recognizing the imperative of leveraging exponential technologies, such as generative AI, the flexibility, resilience and security of hybrid cloud, and the exceptional access a robust ecosystem can deliver,” added Shanker Ramamurthy, global managing partner, banking and financial Markets at IBM Consulting. “The combination of these elements is a truly powerful competitive advantage. IBM is pleased to collaborate with Finastra on its modernized Lending Cloud Service, leveraging Microsoft Azure, which delivers a valuable offering, that provides greater value, automation, resiliency and generative AI-powered insights and actions to its corporate clients.”
Part of the new LCS is Service Value Management (SVM), a customer-first, continuous improvement, value-based approach to managing customers’ cloud transformation journey. Combined with IBM’s established and reliable scalability, availability, and deep application management knowledge, users can benefit from:
- Quick deployment via a most valuable scope and pre-configured standing service
- Simplified and standardized system and business processes via service automation and tooling
- Enhanced value through the economics of cloud and additional features of the application
- Ongoing conformance with market protocols and applicable financial services industry standards
- Deep knowledge and expertise in application management for infrastructure management and resiliency delivered by IBM Consulting