TCS expands its long-term UK BFSI platform deal with Phoenix Group

The firm will also expand its presence in Scotland following this deal with an operations service hub in Edinburgh

IT services behemoth Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced an expansion of its long-term partnership with Phoenix Group, Europe’s largest life and pension consolidator, to drive the growth and transformation of the Standard Life business and meet the future needs of its customers, workplace clients, and their advisers.

While the company did not disclose the deal financial or duration except that it is a long term multi-year deal, it is estimated to be in the range of $2 billion in line with the Transamerica deal announced last year, according to industry sources.

TCS will also expand its presence in Scotland following this deal, with an operations service hub in Edinburgh.

The expanded partnership will result in the digital transformation of Standard Life’s pensions and savings operations onto the TCS BFSI Digital Platform, powered by TCS BaNCS. This will expand the overall scope by a further 4.2 million policies, taking the total number of policies managed by Diligenta, TCS’ regulated subsidiary in the UK, on behalf of Phoenix Group, to nearly 10 million.  

“We will be servicing active as well as new products, yet be introduced to the market, all of them centered around our flagship product TCS BaNCS,” said Suresh Muthuswami, President, BFSI Platforms, TCS. “The partnership will significantly expand our Open Book capabilities, and adds further to our already extensive experience in complex migrations.”

The company did not disclose the deal financial or duration except that it is a long term multi-year deal. This deal will further add capacity to TCS’ regional markets portfolio which is where TCS platforms performance is reported. The company has recently introduced the BaNCS platform to US markets and is in the process of localizing the solution.

Last year, TCS had expanded its then 12-year old partnership with Phoenix Group to add 5.5 million policies to the table. The deal will focus on transforming customer experience as well as enterprise transformation. TCS already services around 35 million policies globally through the platform business and this partnership will take their portfolio up to 4o million policies with a strong presence in open book deals said Muthuswami told Business Standard. The company now services over 7.5 million open book policies, which are more profitable than closed book policies.

A key element of the partnership is TCS’ commitment to expand its Scottish presence and establish a TCS technology and operations service hub in Edinburgh, with a skilled team of experts from Standard Life and TCS to support the partnership and deliver excellence in customer service. Additionally, the hub will provide opportunities for Standard Life’s and TCS’ product experts to collaborate with end-users to envision new offerings. The transformation is expected to take approximately three years to complete, with a number of Standard Life employees transferring to TCS by the end of that period.

Outside of India, BaNCS has done quite well for the company in Europe, and the UK in particular, with customers like Phoenix Group, Community Savings Bank Association (CSBA) and Scottish Windows to mention a few. According to industry analysts, TCS' investments around products and platform, as well as its aggressive patenting initiatives will be a key differentiators for the company going ahead even while BFSI as a vertical took a hit.

“We believe a partnership model is absolutely the right approach. It enables us to work with a leading global organisation with great expertise and to respond to the dynamic environment that we’re operating in. Working in partnership with TCS will support our growth strategy in the workplace market and bring benefits to workplace clients and scheme members,” said Susan McInnes, CEO of Standard Life.