PARIS, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- BNP Paribas and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a six year agreement for management, support and maintenance services of BNP Paribas infrastructure through their joint venture BNP Paribas Partners for Innovation (BP2I) created in 2004.

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BNP Paribas Partners for Innovation (BP2I) is a joint venture equally owned by BNP Paribas and IBM for managing IT infrastructures.

Since 2004, BNP Paribas has grown from 95,000 to 200,000 employees, including 150,000 in Europe, and now works with over 22 million customers. The partnership provides BNP Paribas with the innovations needed to respond to their rapid growth and globalization of the banking industry.

"Through this new agreement, IBM will continue to support the growth of the BNP Paribas thanks to the excellence of its services and to the high performance of its technologies," stated Jean-Laurent Bonnafe, CEO of BNP Paribas.

For six more years, BP2I will continue to provide IT infrastructure management and monitoring with the highest standards of quality, safety and availability. For example, BNP Paribas can manage up to 40 million transactions per day for retail banking in France alone.

"The signing of this contract demonstrates the confidence BNP Paribas has in the expertise of IBM and reflects the intimacy and the involvement in this collaboration," said Alain Benichou, General Manager IBM France.

About BNP Paribas:

BNP Paribas is a European leader in global banking and financial services. They have a presence in over 80 countries and more than 200,000 employees, including over 160,000 in Europe. BNP Paribas has key positions in three core businesses: Retail Banking, Investment Solutions and Corporate & Investment Banking.

Press Contact:

Darcy Hansen
IBM Media Relations
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M: 415-806-4139
hansenda@us.ibm.com

SOURCE IBM