Karnataka Bank Limited (KBL), one of India’s leading ‘A’ Class Scheduled Commercial Banks, collaborated with IBM to modernize its digital banking infrastructure using IBM Cloud Pak for Integration on Red Hat OpenShift. Implemented by IBM ecosystem partner, Fyrii, along with IBM Customer Success Team, the transformation enabled Karnataka Bank to establish a secure, scalable, and agile Application Programming Interface (API) platform while reducing total cost of ownership and reinforcing its digital foundation.
Through this collaborative innovation, Karnataka Bank developed a modern, secure, and scalable API platform that reinforces the bank’s digital infrastructure while reducing operational costs. This platform enables quicker rollout of services such as digital payments, loan processing, and third-party integrations, while maintaining secure connections with multiple systems both internally and externally.
“This marks a major milestone in our digital journey,” said Venkat Krishnan, Chief Information Officer, Karnataka Bank Limited. “With IBM Cloud Pak for Integration on Red Hat OpenShift, we now have an agile and secure platform that allows us to scale operations across India, simplify system management, and reduce costs—all while improving the overall customer experience,” he added.
The upgraded API infrastructure strengthens security while boosting scalability by 50% and cutting operational costs by 30%. These gains come from migrating to an optimized container‑based platform purpose‑built for efficient microservices. The framework enables the bank to implement digital gateways to manage all API traffic. It also allows external partners to access the bank’s AI foundation models as APIs via AI Gateway. This facilitates seamless communication between internal, external and cloud systems while ensuring smooth integration with UIDAI, CERSAI, GST, Reg-Tech and CBDT services. The streamlined implementation process supports rapid adaptation to evolving market conditions and regulatory requirements.
“Today’s banking sector is more complex than ever, comprising many systems and data sources in constant use. To stay ahead, banks require intelligent automation that not only streamlines operations but also anticipates issues before they arise. Karnataka Bank’s modernization showcases how intelligent automation and integrated systems can reduce complexity, boost efficiency and accelerate the delivery of secure, reliable digital services at scale,” said Viswanath Ramaswamy, Vice President, Technology, IBM India & South Asia.
The implementation was led by Fyrii, with IBM’s Expert Labs supporting the critical phases of the rollout. The project is a key pillar of Karnataka Bank’s broader digital transformation strategy, Startup@100, which emphasizes agility and innovation as the bank celebrates 100 years of service.
Commenting on the collaboration Padma Subramanian, Co-founder and CEO, Fyrii said, “As IBM’s implementation partner, we at Fyrii are proud to support Karnataka Bank’s modernization journey by leveraging our Unified Fintech Platform alongside IBM Cloud Pak for Integration. This collaboration with IBM and Karnataka Bank demonstrates how we at Fyrii use our platform to accelerate digital transformation with greater agility and secure API enablement, helping form a foundation for the bank to innovate and serve customers seamlessly.”
