Independent not-for-profit standards association, The Banking Industry Architecture Network (BIAN), today announces the appointment of Michael Lewis of Citi to its Executive Board.
Michael currently serves as Chief Technology Officer of Citi’s Global Consumer Technology organization, where he is responsible for building and driving Citi’s architecture and technology roadmap. His expertise in banking innovation, as well as deep knowledge of architecture development, will further support BIAN in its push to create and promote service-oriented innovation in retail banking.
Michael’s appointment comes following a significant period of momentum for BIAN. In October 2018, the organisation launched its API Exchange, a free-to-use digital library of 89 standardised API definitions that aims to help traditional banks adopt modern services on top of legacy infrastructure much faster. The API Exchange currently has over 1400 globally registered users from within 290 banks and 170 software providers. The volume and speed of user registrations serves as an important indicator of the industries appetite for solutions to improve banking services.
With customers increasingly favouring digital first experiences, and challenger bank growth picking up pace, speed of adoption for more modern services has become more critical than ever before to remain relevant.
Commenting on these developments, Hans Tesselaar, Executive Director of BIAN said: “The widespread introduction of open banking last year served as rocket fuel for our services. Banks have prioritised banking modernisation for many years now. But now they are starting to understand that there are more effective ways to deliver it. With this in mind, I am pleased to have senior figures like Michael take note of our work and join our board. Michael’s expertise will contribute greatly towards our mission to deliver quality banking solutions at a global scale.”
Talking of his appointment to the BIAN Executive Board, Michael Lewis, CTO of Citi Global Consumer Technology said: “I am very excited to join the BIAN Executive Board, one of the most established organisations dedicated to creating modern and standardised banking architecture. As more banks around the world focus on modernisation as a top priority, its work will become increasingly relevant. I look forward to contributing to the organisation’s efforts in driving higher quality, innovative services across the industry.”