Cognizant to Digitally Transform Operations for Three Finnish Financial Institutions

Cognizant announced that it has been selected by three Finnish financial institutions, Savings Banks Group, Oma Savings Bank Plc and POP Bank Group, as their strategic partner to build and operate a shared core banking platform to enable their digital transformation plans. More than 10 percent of Finnish banking deposits and loans will be managed by the new platform.

Under a multi-year agreement, Cognizant will transform and operate the banks common core banking systems and support each individual bank’s enterprise digital strategy. The new core banking platform, based on Temenos T24 and Temenos Payment Hub (TPH), will enable the banks to streamline processes and have greater agility and scalability while helping reduce overall costs of systems and business operations. The banks will be able to launch new products and services more quickly and cost-effectively, and their customers will benefit from improved experiences across mobile, internet and in-branch banking.

As part of the agreement, and subject to satisfaction of certain regulatory closing conditions, Cognizant will acquire Oy Samlink Ab, the current technology services provider owned by Savings Banks Group (42%), Aktia Bank PLC (22.56%), Oma Savings Bank Plc (15.45%), Handelsbanken (7.53%), Posti Group PLC (5.88%), POP Bank Group (5.24%) and several other minority shareholders. Oy Samlink Ab associates have deep expertise in the Finnish banking market, and the company has two delivery centers in Finland. The addition of Oy Samlink Ab will further strengthen Cognizant’s banking capabilities, and expand its network of delivery centers in the Nordics.

“We needed a strategic partner with global scale, and proven success in modernizing banking IT systems and delivering the type of robust capabilities required to foster our collective digital transformation goals -- a key part of which is the core banking platform renewal.  This is the most significant digital transformation project to date in the banks’ histories,” said Tomi Närhinen, Oy Samlink Ab’s Chairman of the Board. “This is part of a bold initiative that will allow us to automate processing and offer our customers a wider range of products. With Cognizant’s deep expertise in business process operations and developing and implementing complex banking systems and technologies, we are confident we have chosen the ideal partner.”

“We are pleased to be working with Savings Banks Group, Oma Savings Bank Plc and POP Bank Group to advance their digital strategies,” said Santosh Thomas, President, Global Growth Markets, Cognizant. “A secure, cloud-enabled core banking system supports faster roll-out of new features and provides superior customer experiences, while reducing operational lag, providing each bank with new future-ready capabilities.”

Thomas added, “We look forward to welcoming Oy Samlink Ab employees to Cognizant. Oy Samlink Ab is well-known in Finland for its deep technical expertise, collaborative culture and strong reputation for excellent delivery. We plan to establish banking and financial services’ centers of excellence at their facilities which will enhance Cognizant’s ability to serve clients across the Nordics, specifically, and in Europe as a whole.”