Cloud technology in the banking sector

MBank, famous for its innovation, recently shared an interesting innovation. An institution known for its modern approach to modern banking has announced the implementation of a communication system based on cloud technology. The solution has already been accessed by more than 8 thousand. employees, who will be able to work from anywhere in the world, and the bank gained the ability to implement new proprietary tools.

The bank’s website states that it started its operations 35 years ago. At that time it was Bank Rozwoju Eksportu, or BRE Bank. Following the text, we will learn that for all these years it has been systematically building competences in the field of servicing various groups of customers, taking care of constant enrichment of the offer. In 2013, BRE and Multibank merged, resulting in a unification of brands under the banner of mBank.

Rebranding resulted in creating a universal bank, specializing in serving all groups of customers. MBank says its group strategy for the period to 2023 has been developed in response to current changes in the environment and expected trends in the future. They have been informed by economic, technological, behavioral and consumer perspectives.

Cloud in banking

As reported by News.microsoft.com mBank had already created projects based on cloud technology. One such example is the payment gateway PayNow, and now it will change the way you work inside your organization. This will be possible through the use of the public cloud. The services offered by Microsoft’s computing power meant that all mBank employees (8.3 thousand. The company’s employees (i.e. the employees of the company’s subsidiaries and partners) can now work remotely, using modern and secure access to data. The service that is implemented and at the same time meets the regulatory, legal and administrative requirements for the company is the Microsoft 365 cloud.

– We try to meet the expectations of our customers, and even exceed them. In the past, a customer could come to the bank at certain times, but today we are open 24 hours a day. And this is a sign of digital transformation. Further future is the cloud. From the point of view of building systems, availability, flexibility, cost – there is no turning back from the cloud – said Cezary Stypułkowski, President of the Management Board of mBank.

Secure cloud for bankers

mBank’s expectations referred to a platform that would have the ability to support employees in their daily operations. The greatest requirements were in the area of communication, which will be able to use mobile solutions, and in the area of processing and working on large amounts of operational data. We are talking about creating, searching, sharing data and increasing the level of cooperation in extended teams.

Such technology is designed to speed up communication and support business processes to work faster. The most important thing is that it is one of the few forms of storing information which does not conflict with the letter of the law – it complies with restrictive safety and security regulations.

– We decided to go for Microsoft 365, because it is a leading enterprise solution, which allowed us to integrate with the IT tools used so far in the bank. The scope of implementation covered all employees of the bank, and concerned m.in. Exchange online, OneDrive, Teams, Planner, WhiteBoard, To Do and Forms. For example, Exchange online means a very capacious mailbox that can store incomparably more data than before. OneDrive allows you to store and share data, and Teams is a central tool for communication and teamwork. WhiteBoard supports mBank teams with creative work, while simpler Planner and To Do apps help them better organize work and track progress on projects – said Adam Ksit, deputy director of IT at mBank.

Representatives of mBank also inform that in the future Microsoft technology is to be used to create their own internal applications that will meet the complex support of business needs of the financial institution. We are currently working on FeedbackApp, which will use information from conference participants to better moderate future meetings. The second application is MeetingApp, which, by taking cloud solutions to the next level, will make it possible for employees to meet regulatory requirements during meetings with customers.

mBank in the cloud for 4 years!

In 2017, mBank was the first in Poland to embark on a cloud adventure. At the time, it was trying to work out a compromise between adapting to then-current legal regulations and technological capabilities and the level of data security. – We are the first bank to decide to use the public cloud. We have some first major implementations behind us. An example of this is the Paynow solution, offering payments for e-commerce, which uses the cloud. Key in the transformation to the public cloud in banking is first and foremost the security and protection of data and compliance with regulations – commented Michał Plechawski, Managing Director for. IT and technology at mBank.

– mBank is an example of a financial institution which for many years has been setting standards for the whole banking sector in Poland and in the region. An innovative business model tailored to the needs of the modern client, as well as effective use of state-of-the-art technological solutions make mBank a leader in digitization, changing and modernizing the Polish economy. It is thanks to such companies that the Polish Digital Valley becomes a reality. We are proud to be a partner in the development of the leader in cloud banking – said Tomasz Wilecki, director of sales to the financial sector at the Polish branch of Microsoft.

The bank is also the mother of the mElements company, which brings together technological solutions that work in favor of e-commerce and digitalization of internal processes and services. The company aims to meet the improvement of the banking User Experience and improve the efficiency of the very integration of data and companies, which works thanks to the API Banking. All this is aimed at improving the quality of client service and providing effective tools to bank employees, as mBank claims that its most important resource and mission in itself is people and their welfare.

– The most important assets in mBank are clients and employees who support them every day. It is crucial for us to be able to work uninterruptedly and for technology to improve our work. This is why we chose Office 365. Our employees gained the ability to create, share and search files within the organization. And it’s all done in a secure and accountable way. Office 365 tools impact employees’ personal effectiveness, which in turn impacts the effectiveness of the entire organization. Implementation of Office 365 was a big challenge, especially in the financial sector. We managed to do it and we did it in accordance with sector regulations – noticed mBank’s cloud center of excellence.