DXC and Thought Machine Team Up to Fast-Track Digital Banking for Smaller Institutions
DXC and Thought Machine Join Forces to Bring Big-Bank Tech to Smaller Institutions
Modern core banking isn’t just for giants anymore.
DXC Technology and Thought Machine have announced a strategic collaboration aimed at accelerating digital transformation for small and midsize banks. The new joint solution brings together DXC’s global scale and managed services muscle with Thought Machine’s Vault Core and Vault Payments—two cloud-native platforms that have been gaining traction among forward-thinking banks.
For regional and community banks that have long lagged behind the innovation curve, this partnership offers something rare: a simplified, managed route to full-stack modernization. The offering is designed to help smaller financial institutions replace aging core systems, build and launch digital products faster, and compete more directly with large global banks—without spending years on custom development or navigating a jungle of siloed vendors.
Core Banking Modernization Without the Headache
Legacy banking infrastructure is notoriously hard to rip out and replace. Many institutions limp along with outdated COBOL-based cores and bolted-on systems—patchwork setups that slow product launches and inhibit innovation.
DXC and Thought Machine aim to change that. The duo’s joint solution includes:
- Vault Core, Thought Machine’s cloud-native core banking platform, known for its configurability and code-free product design
- Vault Payments, a modern payment processing system compatible with global payment schemes
- DXC’s managed service delivery, covering everything from infrastructure to business process automation
In plain terms, banks get next-gen capabilities without having to build or manage them in-house.
“This collaboration underscores our dedication to leveraging next-generation technology to enable banks to modernise faster,” said Randy McFarlane, Global Head of Partnerships at Thought Machine. “Modern core systems empower banks to develop more innovative, customer-centric services with speed and ease.”
From Months to Hours: Speed Is the Real Differentiator
Perhaps the most striking promise: banks using the platform can launch new products—savings accounts, mortgages, loans—in hours rather than weeks or months. That kind of agility is rare in banking, especially among smaller players that don’t have Goldman Sachs-level tech budgets.
Thanks to Vault Core’s “no-code” configuration and DXC’s automation-first delivery approach, the typical friction points in digital product development—legacy bottlenecks, manual workflows, integration headaches—are dramatically reduced.
The combination could be especially powerful for mid-market banks aiming to compete in niche segments or offer differentiated customer experiences.
The Strategic Context
This partnership lands at a time when banks of all sizes are facing existential pressure to modernize. Challenger banks and fintechs are nibbling at market share, while Big Tech continues its cautious creep into financial services. Small and mid-tier institutions, already battling thin margins and regulatory overhead, often lack the in-house tech talent or resources to overhaul legacy infrastructure.
By bundling Thought Machine’s tech with DXC’s global services infrastructure, the two companies are offering a sort of digital transformation-in-a-box—an attractive proposition for banks that want to stay relevant without undergoing a multi-year, high-risk overhaul.
“With over 45 years of experience in banking operations, DXC is deeply committed to delivering best-in-class digital solutions,” said Chris Drumgoole, President of Global Infrastructure Services at DXC. “Our joint solution provides a comprehensive, future-ready path to modernization.”
A Play for Global Scale
While Thought Machine has already made inroads with Tier 1 institutions—its client list includes Lloyds, Standard Chartered, and JPMorgan Chase—this partnership marks a deeper move into the underserved mid-market. For DXC, which already manages 250 million deposit accounts and processes 275 million cards daily for 475 banks, this solution fits neatly into its strategy of end-to-end managed services at global scale.
As more regional and midsize banks look to leapfrog the legacy era, this alliance could prove to be a blueprint for how modernization gets done in a world where speed, compliance, and customer experience are non-negotiable.
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