UniCredit has signed a 10-year agreement with Google Cloud to “accelerate” its digital transformation by tapping into the supplier’s cloud, artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics capabilities.
UniCredit will migrate “large sections” of its “application landscape”, including legacy systems, to Google’s Cloud platform across its banking operations in 13 countries.
The bank will also use Google Cloud as its new platform for AI workloads, as well as its AI capabilities, including Vertex AI and Gemini models.
Through AI, it said it wants to develop new service offerings, as well as boost efficiency and improve customer experiences. AI could be applied to investment banking insights, enhanced customer interactions, operational process optimisation and financial crime prevention, added the bank.
Ali Khan, group digital and information officer at UniCredit, said the “partnership with Google Cloud represents a bold move for UniCredit – massively advancing our technology footprint in critical areas such as AI, data and virtualised infrastructure across 13 core markets”.
“What’s more, it does so in a way that meets our cyber posture and resiliency needs. Google Cloud will further enhance the technological innovation we are bringing to core operations and last-mile customer solutions.”
In 2021, UniCredit became a founding member of the European Cloud User Coalition (ECUC) to accelerate the adoption of off-premise services in the financial services industry. A dozen financial institutions from across Europe signed up to the ECUC back then, including the likes of Allied Irish Banks, ING Group, Deutsche Börse, Euroclear and UniCredit.
Google Cloud is building a significant customer base in the banking sector as banks rid themselves of clunky legacy systems and adopt the latest digital technologies.
The supplier recently won a contract with the UK’s Lloyds Banking Group, which announced it would build, deploy and scale AI systems using the company’s services to accelerate production while slashing CO2 emissions.
The financial services giant said it is using Google Cloud’s Vertex AI to build a machine learning (ML) and generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) development platform, which more than 300 of its data scientists will use.
Digital transformation
Commerzbank in Germany also works closely with Google Cloud as part of its digital transformation plan.
In 2021, the bank said it was expanding its work with Google Cloud through a “five-year strategic partnership”. As part of this, it plans to move 85% of applications to Google’s cloud platform by 2024.
Also in 2021, Spanish Bank BBVA enlisted the help of Google Cloud to assist with a revamp of its IT security strategy that is geared towards optimising its infrastructure to withstand large-scale threats.
A global partnership saw BBVA draw on Google Cloud’s portfolio of AI and ML tools to create models that will be used to predict and prevent cyber attacks directed at both its back-office and customer-facing systems.
Unicredit’s CEO, Andrea Orcel, said the agreement marks “a pivotal step in our strategy to be the bank for Europe’s future”.
Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer at Alphabet and Google, said: “AI is unlocking immense opportunities for business transformation and growth, offering significant economic advantages to organisations that proactively embrace its potential.”