As banks expand beyond their domestic markets, internationalization has become a strategic priority. However, growth across borders is about more than simply entering new markets. Financial institutions must navigate increasingly complex regulations, harmonize technology environments, attract specialized talent, and deliver a consistent customer experience across multiple countries.
According to Gaétan Garcin, Business Director dedicated to the Banking & Insurance sector at Axians France, these challenges also create new opportunities for banks that can successfully combine innovation, operational efficiency, and cybersecurity.
With its outsourcing expertise, Axians supports this growing need for agility by helping organizations transform and develop the IT skills required while managing transitions during major organizational changes.
One of the greatest challenges remains regulatory complexity. Every country has its own requirements regarding data protection, cybersecurity, and governance. At the same time, customers expect the same level of service wherever they operate. Maintaining this consistency can be difficult, particularly for organizations managing heterogeneous infrastructures resulting from acquisitions or legacy local developments. Axians supports financial institutions in modernizing their IT tools and solutions to address these challenges.
Internationalization also brings significant benefits. Exposure to different markets accelerates innovation by enabling banks to replicate successful initiatives across regions. It also provides access to broader talent pools, allowing financial institutions to better serve their customers with new services. By standardizing platforms, security frameworks, and operating models, banks can improve their agility while optimizing costs.
Talent, however, remains a critical challenge. Expertise in cloud computing, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and data management is in high demand across the IT industry. In response, Axians combines local proximity with an international organization, giving its clients access to highly specialized expertise across 36 countries.
As Gaétan Garcin explains:
Banks need access to highly specialized skills that are becoming increasingly difficult to recruit and retain locally. By combining local teams with international expertise, we help our clients accelerate their transformation while implementing the regulatory and security standards that are essential to the financial sector, such as DORA, NIS2, and sovereign cloud solutions.
Beyond project delivery, Axians also supports knowledge transfer through Leonard, our training institute, as well as through Allyans, which provides coaching and collaborative governance models designed to strengthen long-term capabilities within client organizations. This approach is particularly valuable for large-scale transformation programs involving cloud modernization, cybersecurity, and managed services. By bringing together local teams and specialized experts from across its internal network, Axians helps financial institutions build sustainable capabilities while meeting the sector’s stringent requirements.
Looking ahead, Gaétan Garcin believes that banking internationalization will be shaped by three key forces: cloud adoption, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. Financial institutions are increasingly seeking to standardize platforms on a global scale while remaining sufficiently flexible to comply with local regulations. At the same time, AI will transform customer interactions, operational processes, and risk management, while cybersecurity will become even more critical as digital ecosystems continue to expand.
Banking internationalization is about building secure, digital, and scalable operating models capable of supporting customers around the world. Axians is committed to helping banks successfully achieve this transformation.
Concludes Gaétan Garcin.