In the digital era, financial institutions face a dual imperative: deliver always-on, seamless customer experiences while continuously innovating to stay ahead of digital challengers. Yet, many banks and insurers remain tethered to legacy systems that limit agility, slow product development, and hinder real-time data access. The answer lies in modernizing data platforms—specifically, leveraging cloud-powered solutions like Speed Layer and real-time data streaming to unlock new levels of resilience, speed, and business value.
Legacy mainframes and siloed data architectures have long been the backbone of financial services. However, as customer expectations for 24/7 access and personalized experiences rise, these systems become a barrier to growth. They struggle to support real-time analytics, rapid product launches, and the integration of emerging technologies such as AI and advanced fraud detection. The result? Slower growth, missed opportunities, and increased operational risk.
Modern data platforms, built on cloud-native principles, are transforming how financial institutions operate. At the heart of this transformation is Speed Layer—a resilient, scalable data streaming platform designed to unlock data trapped in legacy systems and enable real-time engagement across digital channels.
Speed Layer acts as a near real-time cache, collecting changes from core systems of record using change data capture and streaming technologies. This data is then made instantly available to digital applications via microservices and APIs, allowing for:
By offloading read workloads from core systems and standardizing data access, Speed Layer not only boosts resilience but also drives significant cost savings and operational efficiency.
Nationwide Building Society, the world’s largest building society, exemplifies the transformative power of Speed Layer. Facing the challenge of scaling digital services while maintaining resilience, Nationwide partnered with Publicis Sapient to implement Speed Layer as a foundational data platform. The results were remarkable:
This new data layer enabled Nationwide to decouple customer-facing digital capabilities from slower-moving legacy systems, standardize data access, and launch more customer-focused products. The platform’s resilience and scalability empowered Nationwide to innovate rapidly, delivering richer experiences to members and supporting future use cases such as real-time notifications and fraud monitoring.
The success of Speed Layer and similar platforms is rooted in a set of engineering best practices:
Speed Layer’s real-time data streaming capabilities open the door to a host of innovative use cases:
By making data instantly accessible and actionable, financial institutions can respond to market demands, regulatory changes, and customer needs with unprecedented speed and precision.
The benefits of cloud-powered data platforms extend across the financial sector. For example, Lloyds Banking Group leveraged Speed Layer and agile engineering to reduce time-to-market for new products by up to 30%, improve quality, and enhance employee satisfaction. Global investment firms and insurers have similarly modernized their platforms, achieving 99% uptime, 20%+ cost optimization, and the ability to scale digital services across dozens of countries.
Modernization is not a one-time event—it’s a journey of continuous improvement. By embedding engineering excellence, cloud-native platforms, and data-driven strategies at the core, financial institutions can adapt, innovate, and create value continuously. Speed Layer is the catalyst that accelerates this journey, enabling organizations to unlock their data potential, future-proof their operations, and deliver on the promise of digital financial services.
Ready to accelerate your data modernization journey? Connect with Publicis Sapient to discover how Speed Layer and real-time data streaming can help your organization thrive in the digital age.