Institutions approaching mergers and acquisitions must consider how to combine cultures, business models in addition to their tech stacks. 

Tech stack integration doesn’t have to be the most challenging aspect of a merger or acquisition, especially if the institutions are already using the same core provider, Tom Ruppel, vice president and business strategy manager at tech provider FIS, told Bank Automation News.  

While Capital One and Discover Financial Services both use the FIS core, they are on different platforms, according to data provided to BAN from FINavigator. Capital One, the $471 billion bank based in Mclean, Va., is on FIS Systematics core and Discover, the $143 billion institution based in Riverwoods, Ill., is on FIS MISER. 

Similarly, when JPMorgan acquired First Republic Bank in May 2023,  both banks also used FIS as their core provider. However, JPMorgan, the $3.9 trillion bank based in New York, uses FIS MISER and First Republic was on FIS’ Integrated Banking Solution, according to FINavigator.  

When two banks involved in a merger are on core systems from the same provider, “it is, in some respects, easier to accomplish that transition,” Ruppel told BAN.  

For one, if both institutions have the same digital products integrated into their systems, there won’t be much of a change on the client-facing side, he said. 

Also, the tech provider facilitating the move of data or technology knows the ins and outs of both institutions’ tech stacks, he said, noting that it’s always easier and more efficient if the move is “us-to-us.”

However, when merging companies’ tech stacks are based on competing core providers, institutions must do much more planning to determine where to start the lift, Ruppel said. Questions regarding how long the core has been running and who understands the core need to be answered. 

The tech provider knows the answers to those questions and how to facilitate the integration if it owns the relationship with both institutions in a merger, making the move relatively straightforward, he said. 

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