ACI Connetic Accelerates Global Adoption as UK Banks Can Now Unite SWIFT, CHAPS and Faster Payments on One Cloud-Native Platform

WHY THIS MATTERS: The selection of ACI’s unified platform by a major UK retail bank signals a strategic inflection point in the country’s payments evolution. For too long, financial institutions have struggled with a costly patchwork of siloed systems managing everything from high-value CHAPS transfers to domestic Faster Payments. This fragmentation has been a significant drag on innovation, compliance, and resilience. This deployment demonstrates that large incumbents are now making a decisive leap toward cloud modernization. Moving core processing to a single, next-generation Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) environment shifts the operational burden and drastically reduces the complexity associated with meeting new regulatory mandates. The true value here is the enablement of true payments orchestration—combining all payment rails, including SWIFT and account-to-account (A2A) transactions, with integrated AI-driven fraud management. This is not just a technology upgrade; it is a fundamental repositioning of the bank’s operating model for the speed and scale required in a digital-first economy.

ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW), an original innovator in global payments technology, today announced a major step forward in the UK’s payments modernization journey as a leading UK retail bank chooses ACI Connetic — the industry’s first unified, cloud-native platform — for deployment. Powered by Microsoft’s cloud capabilities, this milestone demonstrates strong industry confidence in ACI’s next-generation platform and its ability to empower financial institutions to modernize, innovate and unlock new growth. 

Landmark UK Deployment as Government and Regulators Push for Payments Modernization  

The first ACI Connetic deployment in the UK is a pivotal milestone as the country prepares for the next wave of payments transformation. For the first time, UK banks can bring SWIFT, CHAPS, and Faster Payments together on one cloud-native SaaS platform, eliminating the fragmentation that has long driven operational cost, risk, and complexity. 

Designed to meet the demands of modern banking, ACI Connetic, the industry’s first unified, cloud-native platform enables banks and financial institutions of all sizes to: 

•       Consolidate siloed systems and embrace a centralized approach to processing all payment types
•       Reduce operational complexity, increase resiliency across all schemes and speed up the adoption of regulatory mandates
•       Accelerate innovation, increase agility and position themselves for future real-time and cross-border modernization

One Cloud Platform for All Payments — A Clear Industry First

ACI Connetic is the industry’s first platform to bring together account-to-account (A2A) payments, card payments, and AI-driven fraud prevention within one cloud-native SaaS environment. Its modular design, cloud-native architecture, and open APIs streamline integration, shorten implementation timelines, and deliver faster time to value. Designed for institutions of all sizes, ACI Connetic enables rapid modernization without compromising enterprise-grade resilience or regulatory readiness.

“ACI Connetic is gaining real global traction — and the UK deployment is a major milestone,” said Richard Albery, head of banking, UK and Ireland, ACI Worldwide. “Banks are facing unprecedented pressure to modernize quickly as payments grow more complex. ACI Connetic is more than a new payments product — it’s an operating model built for the digital economy, giving institutions the agility and scale they need to grow.”

“Microsoft Azure is increasingly becoming a foundational platform for high‑performance enterprise payments,” said Christian Sarafidis, Chief Executive EMEA Financial Services. “Our collaboration with ACI Worldwide helps banks access a cloud‑native approach that supports security, compliance, resilience and scalability, while enabling continuous innovation. As payments continue to evolve, cloud technology is playing an important role in helping institutions respond to digital commerce, regulatory change and rising customer expectations.” 

Global Demand Builds Across Europe and the U.S. 

Beyond the UK, banks across Europe and the U.S. are adopting ACI Connetic as they rethink how to operate amid regulatory change, heightened competition, and rapid shifts in customer expectations. Cloud modernization is no longer a technology decision — it is a strategic requirement. ACI Connetic on Microsoft Azure gives banks the platform, scale, and resilience required to compete in a digital-first, real-time world.

FF NEWS TAKE: This deployment moves the needle as it serves as a powerful proof point for a multi-scheme, cloud-native architecture in a market that has historically been cautious about shifting core payment infrastructure off-premise. The ability to centralize traditional wire, immediate, and card transactions on a single platform radically simplifies business scaling and future readiness. Going forward, the industry must monitor how quickly this model is replicated across other Tier 1 banks and the subsequent pressure it puts on legacy payments processors. The strategic partnership with Microsoft further validates the public cloud as the foundation for enterprise-grade payments.