Kyndryl & IBM Japan Secure Deal to Unify Yamaguchi FG’s Regional Banking Systems by 2029
Kyndryl and IBM Japan have been selected to lead a major modernization of Yamaguchi Financial Group’s (Yamaguchi FG) core banking systems, a move designed to consolidate the regional lender’s IT operations into a single, unified platform.
The modernization effort is targeted for completion by January 2029. According to the agreement, Kyndryl Japan will be responsible for the IT infrastructure domain and foundational management, leveraging artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to drive the transformation. IBM Japan has been retained to support the business application side of the overhaul. Kyndryl, formerly IBM’s managed IT services business, was spun off by in late 2021.
Under the initiative, which began in January 2026, Kyndryl will overhaul the infrastructure supporting Yamaguchi FG’s three subsidiary banks: Yamaguchi Bank, Momiji Bank, and Kitakyushu Bank. The project aims to migrate these separate entities onto a shared IT foundation, thereby eliminating operational redundancy and streamlining application management across the group.
For Yamaguchi FG, the transition to a multi-bank platform represents a significant shift toward operational efficiency. By integrating operating systems, middleware, and common infrastructure, the group expects to reduce ongoing maintenance costs and improve development productivity. Furthermore, the new architecture is designed with scalability in mind, creating a framework that will allow the group to easily integrate additional financial institutions in the future.
This partnership highlights Kyndryl’s continued entrenchment in the financial services sector, where the IT services provider focuses on managing mission-critical systems for regional and global institutions. Yamaguchi FG serves a client base primarily located in Japan’s Yamaguchi, Hiroshima, and Fukuoka prefectures.
In other news, Kyndryl disclosed that its audit committee is reviewing the company’s accounting following voluntary document requests from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Enforcement. The stock was down approximately 50% for the week.
According to a Monday SEC filing, the company’s audit committee is examining its cash management practices, related disclosures (including how it presents adjusted free cash flow), the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, and related matters in response to the SEC’s voluntary information requests. This review is delaying completion of the quarterly report and the company’s internal control assessment, but at this time, the company does not expect any impact on its consolidated financial statements.
Norbert Gehrke
