CIBC partners with Thought Machine for retail banking operations

By Divya Shah

Today

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Why it matters: The partnership highlights the growing shift toward cloud-native core banking, enabling faster product innovation, real-time payments capabilities and improved customer experiences while reducing dependence on legacy systems.

CIBC, a North American financial institution, has partnered with Thought Machine, a cloud-native core banking technology provider, in a multi-year agreement aimed at modernising its retail banking infrastructure across Canada.

Under the partnership, CIBC adopted Thought Machine’s Vault Core platform as the foundation for its retail banking transformation strategy. The move is expected to help the bank develop and launch simpler, faster and more personalised banking experiences for customers while improving operational agility.

Hratch Panossian, Senior Executive Vice-President, Personal and Business Banking, CIBC, said, “This technology will enable CIBC to do more than just build modern banking solutions. It reflects our commitment to becoming a leader in technology, radically shifting how we innovate and raising the bar for banking in Canada.”

The announcement follows CIBC’s participation in Thought Machine’s Series E funding round earlier this year, where the bank co-led the investment with a £30 million commitment. The investment aligned with CIBC’s broader technology strategy and digital transformation goals.

By implementing Vault Core, CIBC enabled its product and engineering teams to build, test and launch banking products directly on a scalable cloud-native platform. The approach replaces traditional batch-based legacy systems, giving the bank greater flexibility and control over product development and deployment.

One of the first innovations launched under the initiative is The Simplii Account™, which introduces features such as customisable folders and automated savings goals. The capabilities allow customers to organise spending, bills and savings within the bank’s mobile application, making money management more intuitive.

“CIBC is proving that the world’s largest banks can move at speed when equipped with the right technology and ways of working,” said Paul Taylor, founder and CEO of Thought Machine.

With the live deployment, CIBC joined more than 20 global and national banks, including Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Chartered, that use Thought Machine’s Vault Core platform to replace legacy systems and support next-generation banking capabilities.

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