CaixaBank has joined forces with IBM Services to advance its transformation to hybrid cloud and improve its capability to develop advanced solutions to enhance client experiences.
Under the partnership, the bank will tap on IBM Cloud Pak for applications running on Red Hat OpenShift to manage workloads and applications across its overall cloud infrastructure.
The IBM Cloud Pak for Applications will enable CaixaBank to modernise and create applications with increased agility and security while addressing compliance requirements within a hybrid cloud environment.
CaixaBank CEO Gonzalo Gortázar said: “Our company, the leader in digital customers in Spain, has renewed our relationship with IBM to allow us to continue innovating and transforming the way we interact with our customers.
“By strengthening and expanding the collaboration with a company that is a global model in innovation for the finance industry, we will accelerate, even further, our digital capabilities to continue developing innovative projects and services.”
CaixaBank has also agreed to work together with IBM at the joint innovation centre to apply advanced technologies including AI, and explore additional quantum computing and block-chain solutions.
The companies are expected to jointly develop new solutions for the banking industry with an aim to rapidly process a large volume of transactions in an open, secure and scalable environment.
The Spanish digital financial services provider has applied artificial intelligence for financial services, and developed the virtual banking assistant, through IBM Watson.
The AI-based virtual assistant is said to manage more than 1.5 million client conversations per month, and handles various tasks including obtaining relevant detailed information about new client offerings to help bank employees and quickly assisting mobile customers through chat.
Global Technology Services senior vice president Juan Zufiria said: “We are pleased to be on this digital transformation journey with CaixaBank, an innovation leader in the banking industry. With this collaboration, we are laying the foundation to build a model, not just for CaixaBank and its millions of customers, but also for the future of the industry.
“The open cloud environment can allow the bank to accelerate its innovation and offer a more agile way to bring new digital services to its customers with added flexibility and security.”