Banking tech execs share progress on BIAN framework

Top technology execs at TSB, Citi Bank and Wells Fargo have shared details about the progress they have made on implementing the Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN) framework.

At the BIAN Banking Summit on Tuesday, TSB chief technology officer Sailesh Panchal said that in 2024, the bank’s transformation journey has focused on defining domains, starting to get the business engaged, and identifying architecture “building blocks”, all whilst mapping these areas into investments for next year.

He said that he hopes that “at least 25 per cent” of the organisation will be completely transformed by the end of 2025, explaining that when he first joined the bank, he was faced with legacy infrastructure, limited channel capability, monolithic platforms, and old data centres.

Panchal joined TSB at the beginning of 2023 after having previously introduced BIAN to Lloyds Banking Group and Metro.

BIAN, which was established in 2008, is a collaborative not-for-profit global network made up of banks, tech providers, consultants, and academics. The organisation aims to establish and promote a common framework for banking interoperability issues.

The TSB CTO said that by the middle of 2026, the bank hopes to only be working from the BIAN model.

He went on to say that payments and economic crime will also be fully aligned, with fraud management operating through those processes, shifting the dial from a consumer impact perspective.

“They’ll all have implanted to the new microservice model,” continued Panchal. “It will create a massive accelerator for us.”

The tech executive said there is still a lot to do, with BIAN an “evolving model”, adding that maintaining data across geographies is a focus the bank is keen to progress.

Panchal also explained that TSB is eager to collaborate on the next concrete activities, including mapping the model to technology, apps, and an end-to-end view so that it can be applied to areas such as resilience.

At the event, Tracy Strong, head of deposits, cards and tax, wealth technology at Citi Bank, said that as a large organisation, the transition to BIAN has been difficult.

“It’s not easy and that’s normal – it’s a journey,” said Strong, who flew over from the US for the summit.

She added that the organisation’s BIAN journey is a “grassroots strategy”.

“We are still on that journey, but we haven’t let up,” continued the tech executive. “Look for the problems to be solved and demonstrate your success and you’ll win the right to continue.”

She praised the BIAN framework as an “accelerator”, giving the bank’s teams the opportunity to spend more time building business solutions.

Strong revealed that the network has so far provided real cost savings for the organisation, including for its US credit card digital platform, where the organisation has millions of accounts.

She said that BIAN has been able to reduce mainframe calls by 30 per cent.

“It’s significant,” she said. “The dollars are real.”

Alan Varrasso, chief information officer at Wells Fargo said that while BIAN isn’t yet driving conversations, he believes in the future when all products purchased have adopted the BIAN model, it will “create experiences we have never seen”.

“Once all of those companies are talking a common language, what we can bring to life is going to be amazing,” continued the CIO.

Varrasso explained that Wells Fargo is trying to modernise businesses capabilities and understand how to use BIAN to accelerate this process and create “next-generation” microservices.

“As we modernise, let’s leverage it as our standard,” he continued, adding that AI also presents the opportunity to reduce a 10-year transformation journey to a much shorter one.