TechRadiant ranks the top core banking modernization and legacy migration companies in 2026, evaluated on banking domain depth, security and risk control, core platform expertise, delivery scale and measured outcomes from named bank migrations.
Core banking projects are the biggest and riskiest in financial technology. Every account, balance and loan has to move without a single error, while the bank keeps running. AI is now changing the economics of COBOL migration, and cloud cores such as Temenos, Mambu and Thought Machine are replacing decades-old systems. The firms below have completed 70+ core transformations, moved banks onto new cores in as little as 13 months, and cut COBOL migration effort by more than 80% in AI pilots.
How TechRadiant ranks core banking modernization companies: Each company is scored on five criteria, banking domain depth, security and risk control, core platform expertise, delivery scale and client outcomes, using named bank migrations and go-lives, core vendor partnerships, published results and public announcements. Facts are taken from each company's own pages, case studies and announcements, verified in October 2026. Scores are TechRadiant's editorial assessment. Rankings reviewed quarterly.
How you move matters as much as where you move to. The migration strategy sets the risk, the timeline and how early the bank sees any benefit.
Few partners lead in all six. Use them to see where each company's strength really sits, and where you may need a second partner.
GFT covers both halves of core modernization: launching banks on new cores and migrating legacy code. It led delivery of Salt Bank in Romania on Engine by Starling, integrating 30+ services and reaching 500,000+ customers within a year, and has partnered with Thought Machine since 2020. For an international bank with millions of lines of interconnected COBOL, it combined deterministic COBOL-to-Java conversion with its Wynxx AI platform, which generated documentation, test scenarios and more maintainable code. It also modernized Deutsche Bank's global credit risk platform, saving €10 million. GFT suits banks that need core replacement and legacy migration from one partner.
Thoughtworks is best known for breaking monolithic cores into evolvable platforms without big-bang risk. With DKatalis, the technology company behind Bank Jago, it built a transaction orchestration layer between the bank's services and its core banking system, delivering 300% faster performance. The rollout ran in parallel on live traffic, then moved from a 1% canary release to full traffic, a textbook example of progressive migration. For TBC Bank, Georgia's leading financial institution, it helped cut time-to-market by 60%. Its banking clients also include ING, Standard Chartered, Judo Bank and Bancolombia. It suits banks that want modernization done with strong engineering practice and capability transfer.
Systems Limited is one of the most experienced Temenos implementers in the world, with 25+ years of partnership, 70+ core banking transformations and 1,200+ banking technology consultants. It is a certified Temenos Transact and Payments delivery partner across the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. In February 2026 it took ila Bank, Bank ABC's mobile-only digital bank, live on Temenos Core Banking on AWS with Temenos Payments and Data Hub, the first phase of a plan to consolidate back-end systems from 15 countries. It has also taken HBL in Pakistan live on Temenos, delivered one of Vietnam's largest Temenos upgrades for VPBank, and upgraded Bank Syariah Indonesia from R10 to R24.
EPAM brings very large engineering capacity and a strong financial services practice to legacy modernization. It reports an AI-led mainframe modernization for a capital markets client that delivered 312 features in four months, one of the clearest public examples of AI speeding up legacy migration. Seven of the ten largest investment banks rely on EPAM, three of its five largest clients are in financial services, and UBS's Group CIO has described it as a key supplier over nine years. It also delivered cloud infrastructure and applications for EuroCTP, Europe's first consolidated tape. EPAM suits large banks running several modernization programmes in parallel across regions.
Kyndryl is the strongest mainframe and infrastructure partner in this report, focused on keeping core banking running while it is modernized. In September 2026 Thailand's Krungsri renewed a five-year agreement covering core banking transformation, application modernization, mainframe-as-a-service and its Agentic AI Framework, supporting a bank with 542 branches, 4,800+ ATMs and 10.6 million card and loan accounts. In Japan it is building a single core banking infrastructure for Yamaguchi Financial Group's three banks, started in January 2026 for a January 2029 launch, with IBM Japan handling applications. It has also completed a core system migration to private cloud for Banco Credibom.
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Globant has one of the most detailed public cases of AI-assisted COBOL migration. For the Argentine subsidiary of an international bank, whose mainframe core held around 60 million lines of COBOL and DB2 code, the bank had estimated a decade-long migration with traditional methods and aimed to cut it to three years. In a four-week pilot, Globant used AI agents to convert 11,600+ lines of COBOL into 4,921 lines of Java microservices, cutting estimated effort from 560 hours to 105, with 77% faster code documentation, 86% faster unit testing and 80% faster Java coding. It also helped Openbank by Santander become a fully digital bank.
Praxent works only in financial services and focuses on modernizing the legacy systems under lenders, banks and processors. Its PraxentDecode method maps an existing system before anything is rebuilt, and its PraxentGuard framework adds 29 AI security checks. For DCI it modernized a digital banking platform, delivering twice the planned scope with engineering four times faster. For a top-five global processor it modernized a payment reconciliation system that handles $2 billion a day, analysing 14,170 lines of legacy code. Praxent offers outcome-based pricing tied to client KPIs, which suits mid-size banks and credit unions that want delivery risk shared.
#8✓ VERIFIEDSyncordis specialises in Temenos implementation and has delivered some of its most closely watched phased replacements. It was implementation partner when Czech bank Komerční banka went live on Temenos Transact with customer onboarding and deposit products in its first phase, connected to front-end and payment systems through APIs and events, with old and new cores running in parallel before full portfolio migration. For Standard Chartered it delivered a strategic Temenos Transact and WealthSuite engagement in Asia Pacific, described as one of the largest WealthSuite programmes in the region. Syncordis suits banks committed to Temenos that want a specialist rather than a generalist integrator.
Innovance is a strategic technology partner to Mambu and has led two of the most notable cloud core migrations in German banking. As exclusive technology partner to OYAK ANKER Bank, it replaced all legacy systems with Mambu's cloud-native, API-first core, a new mobile banking platform and a reengineered data warehouse, completed in 2025 without business disruption. In April 2026 Akbank AG completed the first phase of its move to Mambu, covering retail and private banking on Azure, with Innovance building Core+, a custom layer for orchestration, validation and limit management. It earlier enabled a digital corporate credit approval process at Akbank AG in four months.
Avenga, now merged with Qinshift, is a technology and consulting partner for banks, insurers and fintechs, with a clear recent core migration. For Sweden's Marginalen Bank it led the move to Mambu's cloud core, overseeing full data migration and integration across the core banking system, data warehouse, microservices and local third-party providers, then shutting down the legacy core. The migration took 13 months, and Marginalen's CIO describes Avenga as its long-term technology partner. Avenga also works on digital banking platforms, data and AI, and cybersecurity, which suits banks that want one partner across migration and the digital layer.
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Answers to the questions bank CIOs and CTOs ask most often when planning a core replacement or COBOL migration in 2026.
Core banking modernization means replacing or upgrading the central system that holds a bank's accounts, balances, loans and transactions, often a decades-old mainframe running COBOL.
It can mean moving to a new core platform such as Temenos, Mambu, Thought Machine or Engine by Starling, migrating legacy code to modern languages and cloud, or progressively wrapping the old core with APIs and moving functions out piece by piece.
The goal is faster product launches, lower running costs, better resilience and the ability to use modern data and AI.
Most banks now choose phased modernization. Komerční banka went live on Temenos with onboarding and deposits first, running old and new cores in parallel, and Akbank AG moved retail and private banking to Mambu before corporate and lending.
A single big-bang cut-over shortens the period of running two systems but concentrates risk on one weekend and delays benefits to the end.
Ask any partner for a phased plan showing what goes live first and how balances stay reconciled between systems.
It varies with the bank's size, products and approach. Avenga moved Marginalen Bank to Mambu in 13 months. Larger programmes take years: Kyndryl's project to unify Yamaguchi Financial Group's three banks started in January 2026 and is scheduled to launch in January 2029.
Phased programmes deliver value earlier. GFT launched Salt Bank on a new core about a year after kick-off.
Data migration, testing, parallel running and regulatory sign-off usually take as long as the core configuration itself.
Yes. AI is now one of the clearest accelerators in legacy migration. In Globant's pilot for a bank with about 60 million lines of COBOL, AI agents cut estimated effort for one module from 560 hours to 105, with 80% faster Java coding and 86% faster unit testing. EPAM reports an AI-led mainframe modernization that delivered 312 features in four months.
GFT combines deterministic code conversion with AI that generates documentation and test scenarios, which keeps converted logic traceable.
AI output still needs expert review, strong testing and traceability back to business rules before it reaches production.
Common modern options include Temenos, Mambu, Thought Machine and Engine by Starling, alongside established cores such as FIS, Oracle FLEXCUBE and Finacle.
The right choice depends on your products, markets, regulatory requirements, in-house skills and running cost. Configurability, the vendor's track record in your country and its partner ecosystem all matter.
Choose an implementation partner with live go-lives on the core you are considering: Systems Limited and Syncordis for Temenos, Innovance and Avenga for Mambu, and GFT for Thought Machine and Engine by Starling.
The most effective measures are:
Choose a partner who can show how these steps worked on a previous migration.
The EU's Digital Operational Resilience Act has applied since 17 January 2025. It requires banks to manage ICT risk, test resilience and oversee critical ICT third-party providers, which includes cloud providers and migration partners.
For a core migration, that means documented resilience testing, incident processes, exit strategies and contract terms with each provider.
Partners that already work with EU banks should be able to support your register of ICT providers and DORA contract requirements.
These six questions separate experienced core migration partners from general IT firms:
The answers usually narrow a long list to two or three serious candidates.
Human-verified rankings across AI, development, and marketing — updated quarterly.
