BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT, has recognized Discover® Financial Services with its highest accreditation based on the Discover skills development program. Discover is now a BCS Platinum Approved Organisation and an Organisational Member. The accreditation follows a review of the Discover engineering practices, making it the first financial services organization in the United Kingdom to achieve this recognition.
The announcement follows a rigorous assessment of the effectiveness of the Discover learning environment and career paths, overall approach, focus and the culture of its UK engineering practices, as well as meeting a comprehensive set of criteria.
In its mission, BCS aims to “promote and support the growing and diverse community of IT and digital professionals committed to making IT good for society.” In a letter to Discover, BCS Director for External Affairs Adam Thilthorpe said that Discover “demonstrated the highest level of dedication to our mission.” He also called out the support that Discover has given to its staff in their careers and to the industry as a whole.
The Platinum Approved Organisation designation provides independent professional recognition and differentiation of the Discover Engineering career, learning and growth opportunities as well as demonstrated excellence in the maturity of systems, processes and culture of UK Engineering.
"BCS is the professional body for the IT Industry in the UK and is very well regarded when it comes to software engineering,” Mark Edwards, a UK-based Discover Director for Application Development, said. “It’s understood that you can’t just buy accreditation with them, but you have to earn it. We know how great we are as an engineering group in Discover, but this partnership gives us a well-recognized, credible way of telling the engineering companies of the UK just how good.”
Edwards said the accreditation will help Discover further its brand recognition in the UK while boosting recruitment and retention. "It also gives us access to resources and communities within BCS where our talent can learn and grow further and, as importantly, allow those communities to learn from us,” he said.
The partnership program and membership with BCS will offer further opportunities for the Discover engineering organization to continue professional development for its employees while building expert networks and providing thought leadership.
"I'm very excited about everything this new partnership represents," said software engineering leader and BCS Fellow Seόs Ní Ríada. "Achieving this respected industry recognition for the professionalism and performance of our engineering practice demonstrates Discover’s commitment to developing our people and delivery to our customers.”
Ní Ríada, who instigated the partnership between Discover and BCS, said that the collaboration will provide Discover with new opportunities to deepen the company's engineering maturity while growing its future capabilities whilst maintaining a competitive edge. "As an engineer myself," she said, "I value the scope that BCS will bring to my career at Discover, to develop my craft further and serve our technical communities."
In 2021, Discover launched the internal Discover Technology Academy, a dedicated skill-building approach that comprises digital and in-person upskilling opportunities. The digital version of the Discover Technology Academy is a platform built by Discover employees, for Discover employees. It serves as a hub where Discover technical talent can build communities and define how teams work, how they bring in new technologies and ideas, and how the company delivers its products. DTA offers learning and training modules, original content, and continued learning.
Discover CIO Amir Arooni, whose Runway initiative led to the creation of the DTA, also lauded the BCS partnership.
"This is an important milestone for Discover to partner with BCS," Discover CIO Amir Arooni said. "This partnership further solidifies our commitment to driving innovation, advancing technology, and pushing toward digital transformation within the financial services industry. By aligning our expertise and resources with BCS, we hope to become a more active collaborator in the UK tech community. We have an opportunity to shape the future of fintech in the UK and beyond, and this partnership will help to foster that.”
