Metro Bank was founded in 2010 and has already launched more than 45 stores, provides banking services for both personal and business customers. With ambitions to reach 100 stores by 2020, Metro Bank stands out from traditional financial organisations, with its highly customer-driven approach that includes services such as being open seven days a week and the capability to open an account in under 20 minutes -- without having to book an appointment.
Unlike its high street competitors, Metro Bank is not tied to legacy IT systems, which means it has the freedom to incorporate the latest technologies that offer unparalleled scalability and agility. This has enabled the business to disrupt the banking sector and break away from industry norms with its modern services that are focused entirely on providing high levels of customer service and convenience. These capabilities became a reality when seamlessly migrating Metro Bank's entire infrastructure, including its core banking operations, digital offerings and even ATMs, to a managed cloud solution architected by Rackspace.
Metro Bank chose Rackspace to help support its rapid growth, roll-out new services and streamline existing processes, starting with an initial 12-month migration project. This was delivered on time, on budget and without any costly downtime, with applications starting to go online within six weeks. The day after the first migration, close of business processing on core banking systems were 50 percent quicker and vital reports that were taking an hour to produce could now be completed in just 20 minutes.
Aisling Kane, Chief Operating Officer at Metro Bank, says: "We're growing exponentially so it's essential that we partner with organisations that can scale alongside us, which Rackspace has clearly shown it can."
Growing a customer-focused culture
Both businesses share the same customer focused culture and ethos of delivering exceptional customer service. Kane explains: "Rackspace just gets us - they understand our culture and share our values. You can't underestimate the power of people. They have exceeded our expectations, and provide us with superior levels of support and guidance day in, day out."
Darren Norfolk, MD of Rackspace UK, added: "We're proud to be supporting Metro Bank's impressive growth, and as an organisation with a customer service orientated culture ourselves, its mission to deliver truly outstanding experiences for customers. Metro Bank has used this approach to pose a serious challenge to the industry status quo during a period that has seen technology change the face of banking. These days, finance companies have to focus on connecting people to their money quickly, processing transactions accurately and presenting customers with access to their information at all times. We have enjoyed helping the bank achieve this, by providing the leading technology platforms that power these compelling customer offerings."
Metro Bank uses a Rackspace Dedicated Server Solution for its high performance and enhanced security. The company is also using DevOps to roll out new services quickly in a controlled environment as it moves towards automated management. The infrastructure includes DR (Disaster Recovery) capabilities.
