BNP Paribas has renewed its partnership with IBM Cloud, extending their collaboration for an additional ten years.

This agreement aims to accelerate the bank’s cloud-native strategy and support the advancement of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).

The partnership is part of BNP Paribas’ technology investment and multicloud strategy.

Since 2019, BNP Paribas has hosted IBM Cloud within its data centres, a move that has contributed to the establishment of a technological infrastructure essential for the bank’s digital transformation.

As part of the renewed agreement, BNP Paribas plans to allocate a new area in its data centres for IBM Cloud, with completion expected by 2028.

This investment is intended to bolster the bank’s resilience and ensure the continuity of critical banking services, such as payments, while safeguarding customer data and the integrity of the bank’s information systems.

The renewed partnership will enable BNP Paribas to enhance its capabilities by utilising GPUs on IBM Cloud, integrated with the bank’s existing cloud infrastructure.

This integration is designed to support various business units in exploring and implementing generative AI applications.

BNP Paribas chief information officer Marc Camus said: “By combining GPUs as a service, a dedicated, state-of-the-art environment within our data centers, and a cloud-native infrastructure, we are strengthening our technological foundation, as well as the security and the compliance of our information systems.”

Furthermore, BNP Paribas is advancing its application modernisation efforts through a cloud-native approach, utilising containers via Red Hat OpenShift, IBM’s Kubernetes container management platform.

This strategy aims to facilitate the development of modular, scalable, and portable applications, thereby increasing flexibility and responsiveness in managing banking services, particularly in the realm of payment systems.

The initiative aligns with the European DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) regulation, which aims to enhance the operational resilience of financial institutions, particularly in business continuity and IT risk management.

IBM Cloud general manager Alan Peacock said: “For decades, IBM and BNP Paribas have worked together to build the banking infrastructure of the future, underpinned by the necessary resilience.”

In July 2024, BNP Paribas and Ant International partnered to improve cross-border payment solutions for European merchants and consumers.