Debasis Mohapatra
Bengaluru, 10 November 2024
Financial services companies are increasingly adopting technology-powered solutions to stay ahead in the market place. More offerings in the BFSI (banking, financial services & insurance) sector are tech-enabled to reduce cost and improve profitability. Digital banking is the norm of the day and all financial institutions including banks, mutual funds, insurance companies are adopting tech solutions to attract new age customers. That is the reason that multi-billion dollar IT contracts are outsourced by financial institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, & HDFC Bank among others to IT services companies like Accenture, IBM, TCS, Infosys, HCLTech, Wipro, LTIMindtree, Mphasis and many others.
However, most of these financial institutions have stayed away from acquiring IT services or BPM (Business Process Management) companies all together. Rather, they have partnered with these companies for technology services or have managed the core technology operations through insourcing. But Bandhan Group– the promoter entity of Bandhan Bank- has recently acquired IT/BPM firm- Genisys. This has formally enabled them to enter into IT services space.
Let’s delve deep into the reasons for such an acquisition and evaluate whether this trend will be followed by other financial institutions of India in the future.
What are the reasons behind Bandhan Group’s acquisition of Genisys?
- Acquisition of Genisys now enables Bandhan Groupto enter into IT services space globally. Genisys Group consists of three companies- Genisys Information Systems India (Genisys India), based in Bengaluru, Genisys Software, USA (Genisys USA) and Genisys Software, UK (Genisys UK). The company has a BPM delivery centre in Bengaluru. It has four business segments- software services, BPM, Digital Media Operations & Professional Services. Its customers include ESPN, Symantec, IBM, HP, Dow Jones, Oracle, RBS, and Lombard among others. With such specialised offering for the BFSI vertical and marquee client list, Bandhan Group can now serve global clients in the BFSI, healthcare, hitech, and media & digital marketing verticals. This creates another revenue stream for Bandhan Group.
- Genisys with its expertise in AI-enabled services will enhance Bandhan’s capabilities. At a time when all banks are betting big on AI-enabled services for improving productivity, Bandhan Bank can definitely provide better offerings to customers.
- With Bandhan Group as its promoter, Genisys can expand faster and explore new opportunities in the coming quarters.
- Bandhan Group has been aggressively diversifying addition of several new segments. Acquisition of Genisys Group will further strengthen its offerings across the financial services spectrum.
Will other Indian banks follow suit?
Bandhan Group has set a new trend in the Indian financial services industry by acquiring Genisys. This has enabled it direct entry into the IT services/BPM space. It has to be seen whether other Indian banks follow suit. So far, most Indian banks have partnered with technology firms to provide tech-enabled solutions apart from maintenance of their IT infrastructure. Some have even created a good technology talent base inhouse for maintaining their core technology operations. While acquisition of an IT/BPM firm is one thing, understanding the business model and managing it within the group’s umbrella is another. Therefore, Bandhan Group’s future performance with regard to Genisys will create a new path for Indian financial services institutions for the future.
