Banking transformation in action: Novobanco

As part of the Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2026, we selected a few of the banks whose projects impressed us the most. Among them, Novobanco in Portugal presented the incredible transformation work they have accomplished.


What transformation strategy has your organization led in recent years?

novobanco led an enterprise-wide transformation to become a customer-centric, digitally enabled bank, anchored on a Journey-Led Organisation (JLO) operating model.

The transformation integrates:
• Operating model redesign, transitioning from functional silos to end-to-end customer journeys
• Customer experience transformation, embedding Voice of Customer into decision-making
• Technology and data enablement, including omnichannel orchestration and AI capabilities
• Cultural change, scaling agile ways of working across 600+ employees

This is not a set of isolated initiatives, but an integrated transformation connecting strategy, execution and value creation, ensuring sustainable performance and adaptability in a rapidly evolving market.


What prompted this strategic transformation?

The transformation was driven by both external market pressures and internal structural limitations:
• Rising customer expectations for seamless, digital-first experiences
• Increasing competition from digital-native players and upgraded incumbents
• Internal constraints including siloed processes, slow decision cycles and fragmented ownership

These challenges were negatively impacting customer experience, time-to-market and productivity.

novobanco recognised that incremental improvements were insufficient. Sustained competitiveness required a fundamental redesign of the operating model, embedding customer-centricity and execution speed at scale enabling continuous innovation and cultural change at scale.