Canara Bank has entered into a partnership with Kyndryl, IBM's managed infrastructure services spin-off, as part of its initiative to upgrade technological capabilities. The collaboration aims to modernize the bank's IT infrastructure and improve business services and operations. Although the specific details of the deal, such as its size and duration, have not been disclosed, earlier reports suggested that it could be around Rs 3,000 crore. Under the agreement, Kyndryl will revamp Canara Bank's entire IT operations, including the optimization of service delivery in core banking sectors, IT infrastructure, applications, and network operations.

The partnership will also focus on providing bank with a comprehensive view of its business services, implementing risk mitigation strategies using advanced tools, and ensuring high service availability. These efforts are aimed at significantly enhancing customer service experiences, said IT service provider. “Our goal is to enhance operational excellence, profitability, and scalability. Investing in our technology core, service processes, and delivery capabilities is crucial for providing top-notch banking services”, said K Satyanarayana Raju, MD & CEO of Canara Bank.

As part of the collaboration, the company highlighted the introduction of a unified digital IT services dashboard as a key feature. This dashboard is intended to provide the bank's employees with a consolidated view of essential key performance indicators, tools, and knowledge repositories. The aim is to enhance efficient management and decision-making within the organization. Furthermore, Kyndryl outlined its intention to implement advanced preventive and predictive intelligence tools. These tools are specifically designed to minimize incidents through automated remediation, reduce maintenance durations, and enhance the availability of applications.

The system will be optimised to detect and rectify IT failures and anomalies within the bank's infrastructure, providing valuable data-driven insights, such as outage predictions, to strengthen the bank's control over its critical operations, said the company. “Kyndryl brings decades of expertise in managing mission-critical IT systems for global banking and financial services customers. Our strategic approach to transformation and focus on delivery and innovation make us an ideal partner for Canara Bank as it embarks on its digital transformation journey", said Lingraju Sawkar, President of Kyndryl India.

In the past three years, Canara Bank has dedicated substantial investments to technological advancements, with the current year's expenditure reaching Rs 1,200 crore. The bank's strategic focus is on achieving digitalization in 90% of its transactions within the Retail, Agriculture, and MSME (RAM) sectors by March 2024. This highlights the bank's proactive approach and sustained dedication to fortifying its technological infrastructure.