BT today announced that it has won a six-year contract with Nationwide, the world’s largest building society, to continue to provide the network infrastructure underpinning its digital transformation strategy. 

The new infrastructure will allow the building society to introduce the latest customer-facing and back office technologies, boosting efficiency and affirming its position as a market leader in customer experience.

Digital technologies and changing customer behaviour are transforming the retail financial services sector. Having rolled out their online and mobile banking apps, banks and building societies now need IT infrastructures that enable them to exploit digital technologies in the branch, benefitting both customers and staff.

Nationwide’s new network, which builds on the existing network delivered by BT, will connect its entire UK retail banking operations, spanning around 700 branches as well its head office, regional administration centres and contact centres. It will support applications and services delivered to over 15 million Nationwide customers and 17,000 employees reliably and around the clock.

Debra Bailey, Nationwide’s chief information officer, said: “Run for the benefit of our members, Nationwide continually invests to improve the products and services we offer. For our customers, that means innovation not only in compelling new offers but also in the way that we deliver them.  Our latest investment with BT provides us with a great network platform to support our digital banking strategy. It gives us the agility to innovate as well as the reliability and security to confidently deliver our digital services. A reliable network infrastructure with ‘always on’ service levels is a core component of our digital transformation strategy and will help ensure that we continue to offer market leading customer satisfaction.”

The contract builds on BT’s long-standing relationship with Nationwide. BT has been providing IT and communication services to the building society for several decades. The new agreement takes this relationship into the next decade and expands the scope of services BT delivers to Nationwide.

Ashish Gupta, president, UK corporate and global banking & financial markets, BT Global Services, said: “Today, every business is a digital business. Because of this, organisations like Nationwide are looking for network providers with the skills, in-depth financial sector expertise and resources to create cost-effective IT ecosystems on which to build their future business growth strategies.

“The renewal and growth of our relationship with Nationwide shows the strength and depth of BT’s expertise and builds on our recent successes in the financial markets and insurance sectors. We look forward to working with Nationwide, helping it to implement its digital transformation strategy.”