As part of its strategic efforts to reduce the number of core banking systems, Deutsche Bank’s private banking unit has chosen a cloud-based platform developed by fintech company Thought Machine.
Deutsche Bank’s private bank has selected Vault Core as the cloud-native core banking platform of choice, according to a statement. The platform is developed by London-based cloud banking technology company Thought Machine.
For implementation of the platform, GFT technologies has been chosen as the transformation and system integration partner. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, GFT specializes in AI-centric transformation and it has extensive experience as a delivery partner for Thought Machine implementations worldwide.
Vault Core will serve as the core banking engine for all banking and lending products in Germany across personal banking and wealth management. According to Deutsche Bank, the new platform will replace fragmented legacy systems, reduce complexity, and accelerate time-to-market for new products. It will also support the private bank’s strategic objectives of “driving operating leverage in personal banking while providing a scalable platform to support continued growth in wealth management”.
Efforts on development are underway with plans for testing towards the end of 2026 and progressive migration of products from 2027 onwards. Existing systems and the new platform will operate simultaneously to ensure resilience and continuity.
Multi-year transformation
At the end of 2025, Deutsche Bank announced that it would undergo a multi-year transformation of its technology infrastructure until 2028. The plans involve investments of around EUR 600 million (USD 699 million) in IT, operations, and artificial intelligence. The German lender also said it would simplify the private banking business by reducing the number of core banking systems from 15 to two modern, cloud-based platforms, with Vault Core being the first selected.
“With the selection of our future core banking platform, we are now turning strategy into execution. Modernising our core banking infrastructure will help us simplify our technology landscape, reduce complexity and create a more scalable foundation for future growth. Ultimately, this transformation is about delivering a better experience for clients and employees while strengthening the foundations of our business for the years ahead,” said Yiping Li, chief operating officer of Deutsche Bank’s Private Bank.
“Vault Core provides a modern, cloud-native foundation that enhances resilience, scalability and flexibility. By separating product logic from underlying infrastructure, we will be able to develop, adapt and deploy products more efficiently over time, while progressively reducing reliance on fragmented legacy systems,” added Christian Rhino, chief information officer of Deutsche Bank’s Private Bank.
