Alijah Poindexter 00:05
Good day and welcome to the Buzz, a Bank Automation News podcast. I’m Associate Editor Alijah Poindexter. Recently I spoke with the Narednra Mistry, Chief Product Officer of international digital banking, at core provider Finastra. We spoke about how cloud technology will soon become an inevitable technology for banks and financial institutions, along with best practices for choosing between public and private cloud,

Narendra Mistry 00:27
I think the pandemic has taught us a number of things that we hadn’t been privy to before, you know, forced into a situation where you have to do a lot of remote activity, that consumers are expecting a lot of digital experience. Now, it’s really important that the cause is seen as as an enabler to a lot of the technology and solutions that are out there. And of course, you know, making sure that you have the right solution. And the right capabilities to deliver the digital experience to the end user is very, very important. We’ve seen it certainly in our world, a number of our customers that are now in the pipeline for doing the upgrade as soon as possible. And of course, we also know that during the pandemic, there’s been a huge situation where a number of the banks have not been able to survive in this in this pandemic scenario, simply because they were not able to service their customers from that perspective. So again, that alongside with the fact that, you know, there is a change happening in the industry from that perspective, and looking at the cloud as a solution is going to be really, really important for, for these banks. And we also know that, you know, as as the world has grown from that perspective, you know, having solutions in a situation where you cannot apply some of the FinTech ecosystems, and the digital experiences become a real problem. And hence, now we can see that people want to make sure that they are updated and upgraded to the latest version of the solutions. And also the solutions are future proof. Absolutely. So,

Alijah Poindexter 02:12
you know, when you take a look at like a newer sort of high level core, obviously, fusion Phoenix being a perfect example, how do they, you know, sort of support banks and working with fintechs or, you know, broaden, you know, their technology options, so, maybe an open banking or an embedded finance question for you.

Narendra Mistry 02:28
Yeah, sure. I mean, I think finastra, when we look at our journey over the last three years, we realized, of course, that, you know, 90% of the innovation actually happens outside of finance through 99.9, almost, if you want to call it that, right, being a unit that has a limited number of resources, but the world has a lot more. And if you think about it from that perspective, if you open up your solutions, that that in itself, provides you with so much more capacity out there for fintechs to build and generate new solutions, new businesses, that that the consumer can take advantage of. And therefore the banks can look and think about how they can grow into some of these new markets that are available. And so for us fusion fabric, Dark Cloud, and the open API solutions that we provide, is a great influence for people to think about and the fintechs that we’ve on boarded, that gives them a variety of choices of what to do. So no longer do you have to come to the vendor and say, oh, I need this. They can go and choose what makes sense. So it’s a big change that we’ve seen from that perspective, and especially from finastra perspective, we want to be open and provide that opportunity for our customers.

Alijah Poindexter 03:44
You know, one of the key technologies that that you know, sort of underpins a lot of these new sort of FinTech and automation integrations with banks, of course, are API’s. So many again, so many integrations are handled with API’s or via API. So you know, what are some key things or some best practices that, you know, bankers should keep in mind when it applies to API’s, especially when it comes to, you know, cores and integrating with the sort of newer cores?

Narendra Mistry 04:08
Elijah, the API is not something that’s new. I mean, I think many people know that aggregations of application that happen for the decades that have come, etc. But what has changed now is more about the way in which the ease of integration, the understanding of the business service that goes alongside with it. So with these restful, open API’s, it makes it much more easier for inter applications to integrate much more seamlessly, and provide a straight through service that gives the right digital experience to the end user. And when we see that integration happening much more quicker and much more easier. It also becomes a standard between it’s easier to maintain and ensure that you can update your solutions and keep them updated as they go along. And I think that’s a really important thing. We’ve had it be analyzing the past, but then we’re not as structured as what we wanted, then they’re more of a technical nature, as opposed to a business nature. And this is where we see a real transformation in the business. When when we bring up all of these open API’s,

Alijah Poindexter 05:14
you know, when there’s a bank now, when it’s time to sort of upgrade that core, what are some of the thing and I think we know some of the more obvious things such as, you know, cost or time or level of resources needed to maintain it, but maybe what are some of the more like, underrated or overlooked, you know, reasons that a bank would upgrade a core? And you know, when did they know?

Narendra Mistry 05:33
So I mean, I think the pandemic that we briefly mentioned a little earlier also kind of hinted to the fact that if you don’t have the right core, you’re not going to be able to provide the enablement to the banks to be able to then work with their end users to provide the service that they want to be able to provide. And to be able to be flexible, and work alongside with non bank fintechs, etc, you need to ensure that you have the latest versions of the solutions, but also a solution that is open and available in the FinTech ecosystems. And of course, you know, nowadays, there’s a lot more about personalized approach to products with our customers, and being able to offer and access financial services almost anywhere. And the mobile phone has become really, really key in everything that we do today, realistically. And so having a core that is compliant, regulated, but also much more FinTech friendly, and open gives us much more of an opportunity. And of course, down outside, if you think about it, you know, in the world today 50% of the transactions that happen with non banks, basically, and that’s with embedded finance. So there’s a lot of competition out there from that perspective. So it’s important to make sure that if you want to stay in the business, if you want to be able to serve your customers, then you have to think about making sure you have the right core at the right level. And therefore, you know, investment has been low over many years. But now the pandemic has taught us that if you want to stay the game, you really got to make sure that you’re updated and upgraded.

Alijah Poindexter 07:17
So, you know, let’s let’s talk about cloud if we can for a little bit. Do you ever see a time when like a majority of cores that are widely in use? Do you ever see a time when they’ll be running on the cloud? Mainly?

Narendra Mistry 07:29
Well, it’s been an interesting question, prior to the pandemic, there’s always been some judgments here and there, etc. is cloud secure? Is it able to give me what it needs? Do I have control over things, etc. And, of course, what’s happened is that the pandemic has shown people that in reality, right, that the banks are not able to offer and deliver infrastructure or security or services, like the cloud, with the the ability of the cloud, providing that level of service and capability, and ensuring from a security perspective, that it delivers a solution, it’s almost inevitable that all of our banks are going to end up on cloud. And if you think about how our home based solutions that we’ve got, whether it’s streaming, etc, everything comes from the cloud, you don’t know where it’s coming from, from that perspective. But what you do know is that you can get your service at anywhere, anytime. And the important thing is that when you’re looking at it 24 By seven operation, you have to think about how do you scale that amongst other businesses that are running alongside that. And so from that perspective, Cloud is definitely the inevitable solution for for everyone. Now, it might be that people have different types of clouds, it might be a private cloud, or it might be a public cloud, depending on the solution and the reach that it needs to be able to go. But clearly, when you think about total cost of ownership, it’s important to think that well, actually, you know, as much as I want to keep hold of my technical capabilities within house, people are now thinking that well, actually, technicality can be looked after by a professional capabilities, such as Microsoft Visio. And of course, from that perspective, it means to say that the banks can focus on much more of their business and their capabilities on what they can do, and help serve the digital experience that customers don’t have

Alijah Poindexter 09:29
a follow up to that, you know, what makes a bank or what would make a bank choose between public and private cloud? Can you walk me through maybe what are some of the key differences there for that, you know, maybe it’d be wise for a banker to keep in mind.

Narendra Mistry 09:41
Yes, I mean, if, you know, obviously, there are lots of large corporations, certain, you know, tiers of banks that want to take advantage from a cloud infrastructure perspective, and of course can afford to have the prime With Cloud perspective, but of course, what the public cloud provides is the fact that it provides scale and lower cost of ownership, you know, from that perspective. So, given the fact that you go from the public solution, it then allows you to think much more widely. Whereas a particular private cloud may be focused around on specific individual solutions that might make more sense. But then again, it’s all about the cost.

Alijah Poindexter 10:28
You’ve been listening to the buzz, a bank automation news podcast. Thank you for your time and be sure to visit us at Bank automation news.com For more automation news, you can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Please don’t hesitate to rate this podcast on your podcast platform of choice

Alijah Poindexter 00:05
Good day and welcome to the Buzz, a Bank Automation News podcast. I’m Associate Editor Alijah Poindexter. Recently I spoke with the Narednra Mistry, Chief Product Officer of international digital banking, at core provider Finastra. We spoke about how cloud technology will soon become an inevitable technology for banks and financial institutions, along with best practices for choosing between public and private cloud,

Narendra Mistry 00:27
I think the pandemic has taught us a number of things that we hadn’t been privy to before, you know, forced into a situation where you have to do a lot of remote activity, that consumers are expecting a lot of digital experience. Now, it’s really important that the cause is seen as as an enabler to a lot of the technology and solutions that are out there. And of course, you know, making sure that you have the right solution. And the right capabilities to deliver the digital experience to the end user is very, very important. We’ve seen it certainly in our world, a number of our customers that are now in the pipeline for doing the upgrade as soon as possible. And of course, we also know that during the pandemic, there’s been a huge situation where a number of the banks have not been able to survive in this in this pandemic scenario, simply because they were not able to service their customers from that perspective. So again, that alongside with the fact that, you know, there is a change happening in the industry from that perspective, and looking at the cloud as a solution is going to be really, really important for, for these banks. And we also know that, you know, as as the world has grown from that perspective, you know, having solutions in a situation where you cannot apply some of the FinTech ecosystems, and the digital experiences become a real problem. And hence, now we can see that people want to make sure that they are updated and upgraded to the latest version of the solutions. And also the solutions are future proof. Absolutely. So,

Alijah Poindexter 02:12
you know, when you take a look at like a newer sort of high level core, obviously, fusion Phoenix being a perfect example, how do they, you know, sort of support banks and working with fintechs or, you know, broaden, you know, their technology options, so, maybe an open banking or an embedded finance question for you.

Narendra Mistry 02:28
Yeah, sure. I mean, I think finastra, when we look at our journey over the last three years, we realized, of course, that, you know, 90% of the innovation actually happens outside of finance through 99.9, almost, if you want to call it that, right, being a unit that has a limited number of resources, but the world has a lot more. And if you think about it from that perspective, if you open up your solutions, that that in itself, provides you with so much more capacity out there for fintechs to build and generate new solutions, new businesses, that that the consumer can take advantage of. And therefore the banks can look and think about how they can grow into some of these new markets that are available. And so for us fusion fabric, Dark Cloud, and the open API solutions that we provide, is a great influence for people to think about and the fintechs that we’ve on boarded, that gives them a variety of choices of what to do. So no longer do you have to come to the vendor and say, oh, I need this. They can go and choose what makes sense. So it’s a big change that we’ve seen from that perspective, and especially from finastra perspective, we want to be open and provide that opportunity for our customers.

Alijah Poindexter 03:44
You know, one of the key technologies that that you know, sort of underpins a lot of these new sort of FinTech and automation integrations with banks, of course, are API’s. So many again, so many integrations are handled with API’s or via API. So you know, what are some key things or some best practices that, you know, bankers should keep in mind when it applies to API’s, especially when it comes to, you know, cores and integrating with the sort of newer cores?

Narendra Mistry 04:08
Elijah, the API is not something that’s new. I mean, I think many people know that aggregations of application that happen for the decades that have come, etc. But what has changed now is more about the way in which the ease of integration, the understanding of the business service that goes alongside with it. So with these restful, open API’s, it makes it much more easier for inter applications to integrate much more seamlessly, and provide a straight through service that gives the right digital experience to the end user. And when we see that integration happening much more quicker and much more easier. It also becomes a standard between it’s easier to maintain and ensure that you can update your solutions and keep them updated as they go along. And I think that’s a really important thing. We’ve had it be analyzing the past, but then we’re not as structured as what we wanted, then they’re more of a technical nature, as opposed to a business nature. And this is where we see a real transformation in the business. When when we bring up all of these open API’s,

Alijah Poindexter 05:14
you know, when there’s a bank now, when it’s time to sort of upgrade that core, what are some of the thing and I think we know some of the more obvious things such as, you know, cost or time or level of resources needed to maintain it, but maybe what are some of the more like, underrated or overlooked, you know, reasons that a bank would upgrade a core? And you know, when did they know?

Narendra Mistry 05:33
So I mean, I think the pandemic that we briefly mentioned a little earlier also kind of hinted to the fact that if you don’t have the right core, you’re not going to be able to provide the enablement to the banks to be able to then work with their end users to provide the service that they want to be able to provide. And to be able to be flexible, and work alongside with non bank fintechs, etc, you need to ensure that you have the latest versions of the solutions, but also a solution that is open and available in the FinTech ecosystems. And of course, you know, nowadays, there’s a lot more about personalized approach to products with our customers, and being able to offer and access financial services almost anywhere. And the mobile phone has become really, really key in everything that we do today, realistically. And so having a core that is compliant, regulated, but also much more FinTech friendly, and open gives us much more of an opportunity. And of course, down outside, if you think about it, you know, in the world today 50% of the transactions that happen with non banks, basically, and that’s with embedded finance. So there’s a lot of competition out there from that perspective. So it’s important to make sure that if you want to stay in the business, if you want to be able to serve your customers, then you have to think about making sure you have the right core at the right level. And therefore, you know, investment has been low over many years. But now the pandemic has taught us that if you want to stay the game, you really got to make sure that you’re updated and upgraded.

Alijah Poindexter 07:17
So, you know, let’s let’s talk about cloud if we can for a little bit. Do you ever see a time when like a majority of cores that are widely in use? Do you ever see a time when they’ll be running on the cloud? Mainly?

Narendra Mistry 07:29
Well, it’s been an interesting question, prior to the pandemic, there’s always been some judgments here and there, etc. is cloud secure? Is it able to give me what it needs? Do I have control over things, etc. And, of course, what’s happened is that the pandemic has shown people that in reality, right, that the banks are not able to offer and deliver infrastructure or security or services, like the cloud, with the the ability of the cloud, providing that level of service and capability, and ensuring from a security perspective, that it delivers a solution, it’s almost inevitable that all of our banks are going to end up on cloud. And if you think about how our home based solutions that we’ve got, whether it’s streaming, etc, everything comes from the cloud, you don’t know where it’s coming from, from that perspective. But what you do know is that you can get your service at anywhere, anytime. And the important thing is that when you’re looking at it 24 By seven operation, you have to think about how do you scale that amongst other businesses that are running alongside that. And so from that perspective, Cloud is definitely the inevitable solution for for everyone. Now, it might be that people have different types of clouds, it might be a private cloud, or it might be a public cloud, depending on the solution and the reach that it needs to be able to go. But clearly, when you think about total cost of ownership, it’s important to think that well, actually, you know, as much as I want to keep hold of my technical capabilities within house, people are now thinking that well, actually, technicality can be looked after by a professional capabilities, such as Microsoft Visio. And of course, from that perspective, it means to say that the banks can focus on much more of their business and their capabilities on what they can do, and help serve the digital experience that customers don’t have

Alijah Poindexter 09:29
a follow up to that, you know, what makes a bank or what would make a bank choose between public and private cloud? Can you walk me through maybe what are some of the key differences there for that, you know, maybe it’d be wise for a banker to keep in mind.

Narendra Mistry 09:41
Yes, I mean, if, you know, obviously, there are lots of large corporations, certain, you know, tiers of banks that want to take advantage from a cloud infrastructure perspective, and of course can afford to have the prime With Cloud perspective, but of course, what the public cloud provides is the fact that it provides scale and lower cost of ownership, you know, from that perspective. So, given the fact that you go from the public solution, it then allows you to think much more widely. Whereas a particular private cloud may be focused around on specific individual solutions that might make more sense. But then again, it’s all about the cost.

Alijah Poindexter 10:28
You’ve been listening to the buzz, a bank automation news podcast. Thank you for your time and be sure to visit us at Bank automation news.com For more automation news, you can also follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn. Please don’t hesitate to rate this podcast on your podcast platform of choice