Arvest Bank Partners with Thought Machine and Accenture For Digital Strategy

Arvest Bank is the latest community bank to overhaul its back-office technology and enhance its online service provision.

The Arkansas-headquartered bank has partnered with working with UK-based tech company Thought Machine to help it build a new banking platform and support its digital transformation strategy, it announced this week.

Thought Machine’s cloud-based banking ‘engine’, Vault, will allow Arvest to provide personalized, real-time banking services to its individual and business clients, the bank said.

Kevin Sabin, Arvest president and CEO, said: “Since our founding nearly 60 years ago, Arvest has been committed to serving our customers and communities by helping them find financial solutions for life.

“As modern consumers’ lifestyles and digital banking expectations change, we want to ensure we deliver a banking experience that makes their lives easier today and well into the future. A next-generation core engine powering Arvest will allow us to do just that.”

Alongside Thought Machine, Arvest is also working with Accenture, an IT services and consulting specialist, to develop its technology infrastructure and create a long-term tech strategy.

In addition to the core banking platform, Arvest said it also planned to launch new products and services to meet its customers’ digital banking needs.

Arvest currently operates over 230 bank branches spanning Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas through a group of 14 locally managed banks.

As more community banks have partnered with fintech platforms in the last year, US regulators have renewed its efforts to keep up with developments.

In January, agencies including the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency published a set of guidelines for fintech partnerships.

While the guidance is not mandatory, it was recommended as the regulators said third-party relationships with fintech firms can introduce new risks that need to be managed.

In August, the Federal Reserve published a further community bank-focused document to highlight the risks and opportunities involved in establishing formal relationships with fintechs.