IBM is working with Bank of America to develop what it claims is the world’s first financial services-ready public cloud.

Named «the financial services-ready public cloud», IBM said it could enable independent software vendors and Software as a Service (SaaS) providers to focus on deploying their core services to financial institutions with the controls for the platform already put in place.

The aim is to give financial institutions an opportunity to efficiently assess the security, resiliency and compliance of technology vendors, through the platform’s security validation. Only independent software vendors or SaaS providers that demonstrate compliance with the platform’s policies will be eligible to deliver services through it.

Financial services-ready public cloud is expected to run on the tech giant’s public cloud and will be built with Red Hat‘s Open Shift. It will include more than 190 API driven, cloud-native platforms as a service where users will be able to create applications.

The company said the project has been developed with the aid of financial services experts in IBM’s networks, including some of the largest financial institutions in the world.

According to Bank of America’s CTO Cathy Bessant, it’s one of the most important collaborations in the financial services industry cloud space.

«This industry-first platform will allow Bank of America to use the public cloud, putting data security, resiliency, privacy and customer information safety needs at the forefront of decision making,» said Bessant. «By setting a standard that addresses the concern of hosting highly-confidential information, we aim to drive the public cloud to a safety level that is unmatched.»