How cloud infrastructure and microservices are shaping the future of banking

In previous years, financial institutions have struggled to maintain and evolve their legacy systems. While these systems were reliable in their time, they are no longer equipped to meet the modern demands of customers, regulators, and the fast-paced tech environment.

To meet said demands, banks will need to embrace the adoption of cloud infrastructure and microservices architecture, which are central to helping banks modernise and stay competitive.

So, what exactly can cloud infrastructure and microservices do for banks?

Cloud infrastructure enables banks to move their data and services to the cloud, by providing access to more versatile, and cost-effective computing resources. This shift reduces on-premises IT costs, accelerates operational efficiency, and allows financial institutions to adapt quickly to changes. Microservices, on the other hand, breaks down large monolithic systems into smaller, independent services. This modular approach makes it easier for banks to innovate and scale, as each service can be maintained independently, without impacting the entire system.
 

Revisiting legacy systems

Legacy systems are often expensive to maintain and struggle to scale with growing business demands. These platforms lack the agility needed to compete in today’s landscape. For banks looking to modernise, adopting cloud technology is an important first step.

What makes cloud infrastructure special?

Cloud infrastructure empowers financial institutions to scale their operations quickly and affordably. Instead of investing in permanent hardware, banks can rent computing resources as needed, scaling up or down based on demand. This reduces operational costs and provides financial institutions with the ability to adapt to market changes faster.

The real power of the cloud is fully realised when combined with technologies like containerisation and orchestration. The technologies allow automated scaling, ensuring that a system can grow or shrink in response to changing conditions without manual intervention. Financial institutions can easily manage clusters of containers, ensuring seamless communication between services, rapid recovery from failures, continuous updates and improvements with minimal downtime.

The container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes are critical to modern cloud-native architectures. They facilitate automated scaling and management of containerized applications, ensuring that the system is both consistently up and running, and able to recover smoothly from any issues to maintain continuous service.

The role of BPC in the transformation

BPC, with its modern SmartVista suite of solutions, is at the forefront of this transformation. Designed to be cloud-native from the start, SmartVista incorporates cloud infrastructure and microservices into its product development, creating a highly adaptable platform. By being modular, it fits well with cloud environments like AWS, OCI, and Google Cloud, as each part can be independently managed and adjusted based on the needs of the system.

Our product development teams work closely with cloud providers to optimise our offerings and ensure that our customers stay at the forefront of emerging cloud technologies. This collaboration has allowed us to embed advanced cloud services like Docker containers and Kubernetes/OpenShift orchestration into our platform.

Cloud’s potential beyond cost savings

The cloud isn't just about scaling up operations or cutting costs; it's really about opening doors to new opportunities for innovation.

According to Accenture's Catching the Open Banking Wave study, a significant number of banks, around 76%, are expect to see a major jump in the use of customer adoption and Open Banking APIs in the next three to five years. This shift will drastically change how banks interact with customers and integrate new services.

With SmartVista's Open API, banks can easily plug in third-party services and fintech solutions, expanding what their systems can do without needing long, drawn-out development cycles or customizations. This open approach makes it much easier for banks to create smooth, connected experiences for their customers, whether they’re interacting through mobile apps, websites, or in-person at branches.

Looking ahead, cloud computing in banking is moving beyond the old models. The new wave is serverless computing, which takes things even further by simplifying the way things work. It not only boosts the scalability and performance of operations but also reduces complexity and the costs involved. BPC is actively exploring this exciting shift to ensure we stay ahead of the game and continue offering cutting-edge solutions to our clients.

BPC’s SmartVista modernisation journey

The success of BPC's SmartVista modernisation journey is not just about technology—it’s about aligning our products with the evolving needs of the financial services industry.

We have continuously adapted our solutions to meet the demands of a digital-first world, empowering our customers to stay competitive and deliver superior services.

As the financial services industry moves towards a more digital, cloud-based future, the benefits of modernisation are clear. By embracing the power of cloud computing and microservices, financial institutions will be able to innovate and grow. With the right technology partner, like BPC, banks can unlock new opportunities, ensuring long-term success.

Would you like to learn more about how banks can modernise their infrastructure and avoid falling into the “legacy trap”? Check our on-demand webinar.