Philippines — IBM and Bank of Commerce (BankCom), an affiliate of San Miguel Corporation, are working together to accelerate the modernisation of the bank’s core banking system in the Philippines.
The initiative involves the deployment of Infosys’ Finacle suite on IBM LinuxONE with Red Hat OpenShift, aimed at supporting the delivery of enhanced financial solutions and services for customers across the country.
IBM LinuxONE provides a secure, scalable and resilient platform designed to run multiple mission-critical workloads on a single system. For BankCom, this enables greater operational efficiency and the ability to deliver innovative banking products and services more effectively.
“These enhancements are a significant part of our digital transformation, as we continue to innovate to help ensure we’re delivering better banking experiences for our customers,” Michelangelo R. Aguilar, president and CEO of Bank of Commerce, explained.
He added how this partnership allows the bank to deliver more efficient, reliable and, secure banking experiences for customers.
The collaboration comes at a critical juncture for the financial services sector, with digital payment transactions in the Philippines rising from a 20.1% share of total monthly retail payments in 2020 to 57.4% in 2024, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
This rapid growth highlights the increasing reliance of Filipino consumers on digital payments and the corresponding need for banks to strengthen their digital platforms.
Aileen Judan-Jiao, president and technology leader of IBM Philippines, explained that IBM LinuxONE and Red Hat OpenShift modernise BankCom’s core banking system, allowing for more personalised digital banking experiences, streamlined operations, and sustainable growth.
“IBM LinuxOne is an open platform that enables organisations to scale innovation, thus enabling BankCom to drive a more holistic business transformation strategy and prepare for the ever-changing market dynamics,” Aileen commented.
By integrating Infosys Finacle Suite, Enterprise DB and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on IBM LinuxONE, BankCom can develop and launch new applications within a secure and open hybrid cloud environment.
This is expected to support more seamless customer experiences through personalised banking services and reduced processing times.