IBM signs $260mn deal with Bank of the Philippine Islands to drive digital transformation

IBM has signed a $260mn deal with the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) to accelerate it’s digital transformation.

Under the deal, IBM will provide IT infrastructure services to support an agile IT and hybrid cloud, as well as digital development capabilities.

With more than 9mn customers, BPI is the third-largest bank in the Philippines in terms of assets.

Through this renewed IT services agreement, BPI says it “aims to maintain an agile and compliant IT environment to maintain leadership in the Philippine banking industry”.

SEE ALSO:

• Read the latest issue of Gigabit magazine 
• Opinion piece: Fintech partnerships - the golden opportunity for traditional banks
• Five things you need to know about fintech unicorn Monzo
• Payment service Toss becomes South Korea's newest tech unicorn after raising $80mn in funding round

"The rapidly changing business environment requires us to accelerate the pace of our digital transformation. We need to continue to be responsive to an ever-changing market," said Cezar P. Consing, BPI President and CEO.

"Our extended agreement with IBM will help us become more agile in introducing innovations and transforming how we do things in BPI."

Through the partnership, IBM and BPI have also designed an IT environment that supports an open API economy strategy.

The agreement will help to achieve some of the bank’s digital transformations goals, which include the continual upgrades for bank branches with new technology, as well as other financial services apps for customers.

“Banks like BPI are going through a major shift and embracing a complete transformation of their business with advanced services to respond to the needs of today's connected consumer," said Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President, IBM Global Technology Services.

"We are excited about helping one of the leading banks in South East Asia power its core IT infrastructure and bring new digital experiences with IBM Cloud in a secure and open environment to help prepare BPI for the future of banking."