Unlocking the legacy An interview with Sarbajit Deb, Chief Business Officer, and Jignesh Jariwala, Global Head of Consulting - Banking & Financial Services at Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI). LTI is the technology arm of the industry giant Larsen & Toubro, which, over the past 20 years, has established itself as a leading global IT consultancy and integrator firm with more than 21,000 people working across offices in 27 countries. We spoke to Sarbajit Deb and Jignesh Jariwala to hear about their insights gained from working closely with banks across the globe and how a cross-industry focus can benefit the ongoing PSD2 dialogues and help prepare banks for new types of collaboration. By Kristian T. Sørensen, Norfico The customer is king When asked about the main consequences of PSD2, Sarbajit Deb brings up the old idiom ‘the customer is king’. This has applied to retail commerce for decades, but until now less so in banking, where customers historically have been referred to as ‘account holders’.
Sarbajit Deb & Jignesh Jariwala
“Sometime back, we at LTI discussed how for banks the customer is moving from being an ID in a database to being a ‘persona’, who has likes, dislikes, connections, communities and influencers. Now through PSD2, customers have become ‘owners’ of access to their own accounts and account data. It is a fantastic thing for the European financial market that the customer takes centre stage, because this will lead to competition. It will now provide a level playing field for new entrants, and that in turn will drive innovation, which will benefit everybody,” says Sarbajit Deb. He continues: 56
”It is also good news for the banks. There will, of course, be regulatory, technical, functional and business challenges for banks, but these challenges serve as a shot in the arm to drive innovation and provide a level playing field for all the relevant stakeholders. So, ultimately, the PSD2 regulations will help everybody in taking the growth-curve of innovation, data security, customisation, transformation processes and, ultimately, the future business model of banking, to a different level.” The legacy challenge Working with banks across the globe and deep within the banks’ core systems, like core banking for retail, private banking, corporate banking, cards & payment systems, wealth management and many other ancillary verticals of the banks, LTI sees challenges and transformation opportunities for legacy systems every day and has analysed how these systems are challenged by the changing dynamics in the market. ”The legacy challenge is omnipresent right now across the globe. Transactions are growing on the digital side of banking alongside the increasing