TCS wins deal worth $1.1 bn to digitally transform UK's National Employment Savings Trust

IT services major Tata Consultancy Services Ltd said on Wednesday that it has expanded its partnership with UK's workplace pension scheme, National Employment Savings Trust (Nest), in a contract worth 840 million pounds ($1.1 billion) for an initial tenure of 10 years.

The maximum estimated value of the contract, if extended to the entirety of its eighteen-year tenure, would be $1.96 billion, TCS said in a statement.

TCS and Nest have been working together since 2011. Last week, TCS mutually terminated a $2 billion contract with insurance provider Transamerica, citing reasons that include a challenging macro environment.

Under the newer contract, TCS will help transform administration services and deliver better retirement outcomes for people across the UK, the statement said.

The IT services company will deploy its Bancs platform to transform the administration services for Nest and enable Nest's 12 million members and 1 million employers to access the right information at the right time, the statement said.

"As part of the partnership, TCS will help Nest transform the administration services using a future-ready, digitally enabled, omnichannel platform powered by TCS BaNCS™. Its digital-first architecture provides APIs to enable easy integration with ecosystem partners, such as payroll providers and fintechs. It will leverage the latest technologies and data analytics to deliver personalised, self-directed experiencesto members. This will enable Nest’s 12 million members and 1 million employers to access the right information at the right time, in the way that suits them best," said the IT firm in a statement.

“I’m looking forward to continuing our journey with TCS and exploring the opportunities ahead of us. We have
a strong foundation after many years of working together and they’ve proven their ability to deliver successfully for a scheme the size and complexity of Nest. This puts us in an excellent position to further advance our operations and build a truly digital offering that delivers a superior customer experience long into the future,” said Gavin Perera-Betts, Chief Customer Officer, Nest. “The interests of our members are always our top priority and drive every decision we make and we’re rightly ambitious about what we can achieve for them. I’m confident that our partnership with TCS will enable us to develop our world class service to further support millions to enjoy a better retirement.”

“The purpose-driven partnership between Nest and TCS resulted in an immensely successful pension plan for the UK workforce, that is now a global benchmark on how an innovative, user-friendly, auto enrolment pension scheme should be run,” said Vivekanand Ramgopal, President, BFSI Products & Platforms, TCS. “We are delighted to further expand this long-standing partnership with Nest and support them in pushing the boundaries in offering compelling omnichannel member experiences to the new generation of workers entering the workplace. We are looking forward to leveraging our contextual knowledge, technology expertise and proven platform to help Nest realise our shared vision for the future.”

TCS shares are up 2.1% so far this year, underperforming nearly 4% gains in broader Nifty 50 index.