Hibis as Unified Platform of the New OTP Bank
The Central Banking System Hibis Becomes the Unified Platform of the New OTP Bank
The merger into a single OTP Bank represents one of the largest banking mergers in the history of Slovenia. Following the acquisition of SKB Bank in 2019 and Nova KBM in 2021, the OTP Group began the process of merging both banks to create a unified and stronger financial institution in Slovenia. Such mergers are rare and typically require several years of planning and implementation.
Challenges and Opportunities in Creating the New OTP Bank
The merger presented a significant challenge, particularly in the area of unifying information technology systems. The main challenge in such merger projects is to successfully migrate data to a new platform, keeping in mind that both entities have their own distinct IT systems, databases, products, software and processes.
A key advantage for the successful execution of the migration project was that Nova KBM had already been using Hibis for several years, meaning at least one side was familiar with the system and aware of its advantages. Furthermore, Nova KBM’s team had prior experience with Hibis migration, as they implemented it in 2019, marking the largest transition to a new information system in the bank’s long history (read more about the project in the Hibis Implementation at Nova KBM). In 2021, the bank successfully connected the acquired Abanka to the new system as well.
From Project Preparations to 100+ Million Transferred Records
The first activities leading to the merging of the IT systems of SKB d.d. and Nova KBM into the Hibis platform began shortly after OTP acquired Nova KBM. During the initial familiarization phase, Hibis was recognized by the new owners as a potential solution and platform on which the entire newly merged OTP Bank could operate.
Through detailed presentations of Hibis functionality, including system performance and reliability, the OTP Group decided that our platform was the right solution for executing the complex migration and unification of both banks’ IT systems.
All key project activities were completed in approximately 12 months.
Key Challenges
The main challenges of the project did not significantly differ from the typical tasks involved in an information system migration. These included:
• organizing and preparing data,
• finding a common framework for consolidating information across various internal applications, and
• customization and parameterization.
All with the shared goal of ensuring that the Hibis platform optimally supports the bank’s processes and operations.
Results
Hibis, with its wide range of users, long-term experience, and understanding of the needs of financial institutions, provides not only a reliable platform but also a wealth of knowledge and guidance in setting up efficient processes for the smooth operation of the bank. As a result, we successfully brought the project to completion, or rather, to a new beginning.
The unification of the IT system onto the Hibis platform brings the merged OTP Bank:
• A clean architecture, as Hibis ensures a centralized entry point for all master data and parameters, real-time (online) posting and general ledger, and standard APIs.
• Ongoing compliance with local regulations and fulfilment of all EU requirements.
• A tested and reliable solution tailored to the market.
• Continuous software updates with automated installation of new versions.
All of this results in cost efficiency, transparency, clarity in processes, and a reliable solution for the bank’s operations.
Looking Ahead
Following the successful go-live and migration, the stabilization phase begins. However, this is certainly not the end of the story. Our partnership with clients motivates us to constantly improve and consider optimizations for the solutions we offer.
The rapidly changing financial market always presents new opportunities for those ready to seize them. An efficient platform that ensures seamless operation for system users is the foundation for further growth and innovation in the banking world. We believe that we can offer our clients everything they need for their growth and outlook on the innovations in the banking sector.
Thanks to the great efforts of the employees of both banks and experts from the HRC company, we achieved exceptional success with the operational merger of the banks and OTP banka formation. The migration of information systems was carried out within the expected period, and the integration was successfully completed without major technical problems. This important step is the result of careful planning and cooperation between the banks and the outsourcer, and in accordance with all regulatory requirements. During the preparation for the data migration, several tests and rehearsals were carried out, which revealed some errors and shortcomings. Therefore, a lot of change requests were opened on both sides to set up and clean up data before the official migration and technical merger.
The numbers testifying to the scope of the project are also impressive. More than 200 experts from various fields took part in the project, and in the last phase of unification, i.e. during the migration weekend, more than 450 colleagues actively participated, 100 of them were on standby and a total of 42,000 hours were spent. With the migration of more than 240,000 customers of the former SKB Bank, we also transferred almost 200,000 bank accounts and around 80 million transactions on them
In such large and strategic projects, as the largest merger in the banking sector in Slovenia and the migration to a unified information and operational system, it is extremely important that we had the comprehensive support of an expert and experienced partner in the process.
The key to success was the persistence, innovation and teamwork of many participants - employees of both banks, external partners and contractors, and last but not least, the support of our owner, the OTP Group. We have proven that we can achieve great things if we work as a team. Together we overcame many challenges and achieved outstanding results. Our success is impressive as the migration took 18 months, which is extremely fast for such a large project. Together we overcame many challenges and achieved outstanding results.
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