Permanent TSB Bank (Euronext: PTSB) has engaged Kyndryl (NYSE: KD), IBM's infrastructure services spin-out, to deliver a seamless, integrated hybrid cloud management solution across its technology estate. Kyndryl will transition the Irish bank's critical workloads to the cloud and manage data across its infrastructure using cloud services.

Permanent TSB is a leading Irish personal and small business bank offering mortgages, savings, investments, current accounts, personal loans and small business banking products through 76 branches across Ireland, with community roots dating back over 200 years. The partnership was advised on by DLA Piper, which supported the bank on the transaction. Kyndryl is the world's largest IT infrastructure services provider, spun out from IBM in November 2021, employing nearly 90,000 people and serving over 4,000 customers in more than 60 countries.

The partnership builds on Permanent TSB's recent €150 million investment in enhancing its IT systems and digital capability, alongside a major IT skills recruitment programme the bank launched the previous year. The bank has also announced plans to expand significantly through the acquisition of certain personal and SME banking businesses from Ulster Bank, including 25 additional branches.

Tom Hayes, Chief Technology Officer, Permanent TSB, said: "Permanent TSB is investing heavily in the digital capability needed to make it Ireland's best personal and small business bank." Karen Forbes, Managing Director, Kyndryl Ireland, added: "We are excited to design, create and manage a flexible, innovative and agile cloud infrastructure to enable the bank's digital transformation."

The structural driver is rising cybersecurity threat exposure combined with customer demand for more personalised digital banking, pushing regulated financial institutions to modernise legacy infrastructure through specialist managed services rather than in-house builds.

For the sector, this reflects growing reliance among Irish retail banks on global infrastructure providers to underpin branch expansion and digital service delivery simultaneously, as competitive pressure in personal and SME banking increasingly hinges on platform resilience.

Source: fintechfutures.com / dlapiper.com / marketscreener.com