The Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN) today welcomes three new members to its rapidly growing network – taking the not-for-profit to a total of 64 leading banks, software vendors, service providers and academic partners across the world.

The new members will now work with existing BIAN members to drive forward the development of an agile technology framework for banks.

Market leading financial software provider Misys is joining with the aim of helping the industry transform its architecture and lower the cost of technology integration – a saving that can ultimately be passed on to consumers. The addition of First Horizon and Saudi-Arabian Al Rajhi Bank indicates the momentum towards industry-wide international collaboration in the financial services industry. As the largest Islamic bank in the world, Al Rajhi Bank will bring valuable knowledge of best practices in Islamic banking to the global membership base.

The BIAN model is based on a service-oriented architecture that defines the standard business capabilities that make up a bank – such as payments, loan offerings or trading facilities. By identifying the common information dependencies between these standard business capabilities, BIAN is building a simplified yet comprehensive solution to overcome legacy banking technology issues. Together with existing members of the BIAN ecosystem, including PNC Bank, FIS and CGI, these three new members are committing to working together to future-proof traditional banks and foster industry collaboration. 

Hans Tesselaar, Executive Director BIAN, commented: “BIAN’s working model is focused on solving a critical issue in the financial services industry: 65% of banking IT budgets are currently being spent on integration – budget that could be spent on providing a better service for customers.

 “Welcoming Misys, Al Rajhi Bank, and First Horizon into our ecosystem will further enhance the network’s expertise across the banking landscape.

“As the FinTech industry continues to advance, customers are expecting their banks to provide services that cater to their “always on” mentality. Banks now find the challenge of having to provide these solutions on outdated legacy systems, which has meant that many of them have struggled to meet their customers’ changing expectations.

“We have a fantastic collaborative network of banks, tech providers, challenger companies, consultants and academic institutions from all corners of the globe and we are extremely proud to see it continue to grow.”