Temenos T24 Database Migration and Archiving: What Banks Need to Know

Legacy is history. Modernization is opportunity. Temenos has powered your core banking for years and now it’s time to extend its value by archiving historical data to a modern, compliant platform.

Put yourself in the shoes of a CTO of a leading bank still running on the legacy Temenos T24 system (now, Temenos Transact). End-of-day processing stretches for hours, sometimes running into the next morning. Storage bills consume your margins. Auditors continually request decade-old customer records, but every search slows down your system. Skilled T24 talent grew scanty. And every regulatory audit like SOX, GDPR, and AML, looked like a nightmare. Suddenly, you realize your own data isn’t powering your bank; it’s paralyzing it.

That was exactly the story of a bank in Rivergate in early 2024. They decided enough was enough. By archiving decades of historical records and migrating only what was truly needed, they modernized their core without disrupting operations.

It paid off well. Faster close-of-business times, effortless audits, reduced costs, and complete control over regulatory data.

In short, they turned data chaos into a future-ready banking foundation. And that’s exactly why Temenos T24 migration and archiving is no longer optional; it’s mission-critical.

But here’s the catch: T24’s non-relational database structure presents its own challenges. To successfully implement intelligent archiving and migration, banks require strong strategies and controls specifically designed for this unique environment.

In this blog, you’ll learn why T24 database archiving is important, what challenges you might encounter, and which strategies can help your bank succeed.

Temenos T24 Migration & Archiving: 3 Key Scenarios

There are three main business scenarios that usually lead banks to consider Temenos T24 data migration or archiving. Knowing which situation matches your bank is the first step toward making the best decision.

Get the inside scoop on how leading banks streamline legacy decommissioning after acquisitions.

Data Growth and Its Enterprise Challenges

The migration and archiving of the T24 database are now a necessity. It is driven by the increasing difficulties associated with data expansion in contemporary banking. What challenges exist, and what is their impact on various aspects? Let’s keep digging.

Operational Efficiency and System Performance

Temenos Transact (T24) database grows exponentially as the bank keeps operating. Every day, transactions pile up, and performance starts to drag. The system slows down, processes take a longer time, and efficiency dips.

A T24 Upgrade That Delivered

One bank saw a massive difference after upgrading its T24 database and consolidating data. Their end-of-day processing dropped from over 3.5 hours to under 2 hours. That’s a big win, just by keeping the database leaner and more streamlined.

System Performance & Operational Slowdown

As live T24 data grows, so does lag in day-end processing, reporting delays, and even customer experience issues. One case cited: a modernization initiative enabled ~30% faster processing after cleaning up interfaces and migrating or archiving old data.

AI automated intelligent Archiving moves historic and inactive data from the T24 applications into separate, read-only tables ($RO or $ARC), freeing up space in the T24 database memory, leaving buffers for the daily transactional data.  This reduces the live database volume, minimizes system load, and enhances speed and responsiveness

Outgrown Data, Higher Risks

When data outgrows the legacy platforms, the modules become interwoven, which can complicate the migration process and slow down the system. These rigid structures and outdated data formats can increase data mismatch risks and system failures.

Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management

As banking data volumes grow year after year, so does the pressure to stay compliant. Regulations like SOX, GDPR, and AML require financial institutions to retain historical data from customer details to full transaction trails, for extended periods. Managing this ever-expanding dataset within legacy systems creates both operational and regulatory risks.

Data Integrity at Stake: As data continues to grow, migrating and validating it accurately becomes more difficult. Even small mismatches can lead to penalties, failed audits, or damage to your bank’s reputation.

Regulatory Retention: As more data accumulates, it gets harder to store every record for the required amount of time without overloading your storage systems.

Rising Security Risks: Older systems were not designed to protect the huge amounts of data that banks handle today. As data grows, so do the risks, making sensitive information more vulnerable to breaches. Usually, banks consider Temenos T24 data migration or archiving in three main situations. Understanding which one applies to your bank is the first step to making the right choice.

Soaring Storage Costs

Finally, let’s talk money. As databases grow, so do storage costs. In a Temenos environment, this can quickly eat into the bottom line. Without smart archiving and monitoring, banks risk rising expenses, wasted resources, and unnecessary cost overruns.

In summary, archiving is not merely a technical task. It involves reducing expenses, maintaining system efficiency, ensuring compliance, and preparing banking operations for the future.

How to Perform a Smooth Temenos 24 Migration and Archiving?

Migration Process

Migrating Data into Temenos Transact (formerly Temenos T24) is not just about moving from source to target. It must be carefully regulated to keep the bank running, convincing regulators, and controlling costs.

The Temenos T24 migration process can be done all at once or executed as a phased process.

The multi-phase process must be carefully planned and executed to preserve data integrity, ensure accuracy and minimize disruptions. This phase is slower, the system keeps running, not impacting the customers.

Planning and Strategy

The basic phase of the project defines the scope and strategy for the migration.

• Requirement Analysis: Determining the business requirements and analyzing the data requirements for applicable Temenos modules like transactional data, loan details, and customer information.
• Source System Assessment: Evaluating the bank’s legacy systems to understand their data models, identify dependencies and data complexities.
• Strategy and Approach: How do we migrate with minimal disruption? Defining the overall migration strategy with a precise plan to migrate the data without business disruption.
• Tools and Environment Setup: Configuring the data migration tools like Archon Data Store for staging and testing. And then integrated them with the legacy systems.

Data Analysis and Mapping

The next stage focuses on analyzing legacy T24 data and aligning it with the new archival platform.

• Data quality assessment: Analyzing the data from the Temenos T24 database to identify anomalies like duplicates and incomplete records.
• Data mapping: Creating a mapping from Temenos T24 data model to the archival system’s schema, which is crucial cfor omplex data handling.
• Decommissioning strategy: Defining a strategy for ultimate retirement of the legacy Temenos system, depending on the historical data validation for legal and compliance purposes.

Data Extraction, Cleansing and Loading

This is where the inactive or historical data is moved from the Temenos system to the new platform.

• Data extraction: Using an extractor to pull the historical data from the T24 system based on predefined archiving criteria.
• Cleansing and Data Transformation: Cleansing and transforming the extracted data involves standardizing formats, filling gaps, and ensuring proper data formats so as to maintain data integrity during migration.
• Loading with metadata: Loading the cleansed and transformed data into the new archival platform, along with metadata tagging to enrich the data with relevant information for easy retrieval.

Testing and Reconciliation

The process isn’t complete yet without validating the accuracy and the integrity of the migrated data.

• Mock migrations: Performing test runs with sample data that got migrated, followed by testing the production data. This is done to identify issues earlier and resolve them. The process is repeated until reported error-free.
• Data reconciliation: Performing qualitative and quantitative reconciliations between the Temenos system and the target system to ensure data accuracy and completeness.
• Financial reconciliation: A strong reconciliation process happens by comparing record counts and financial balances between the source and the target.
• Full-scope test: Dress rehearsals are timed; full-scale test runs are in an environment like production. They make sure everything is ready for the final cutover by checking that the process works correctly and on schedule.

Going Live and Post Migration

At this stage, the actual cutover from the Temenos system happens, and the post-migration activities will commence.

• Cutover execution: Executing the final, timed data migration run followed by a detailed runbook.
• Post-migration activities: Conducting post-migration checks and running the first end-of-day processes in the new environment to get the data business-ready.
• Data retention policy update: Reviewing regularly and updating data retention policies based on changes in the regulations and business needs to ensure compliance. Also, the archive system remains optimized.

Data Migration Challenges and Best Practices

Banking Data migration from a legacy Temenos T24 system to a new archival system isn’t easy.  It brings about multiple challenges, mainly due to the intricate nature of banking data. However, by following best practices, financial institutions can address these issues to maintain compliance and reduce long-term costs.

Challenges of Temenos data migration and archiving

Data Complexity

• Temenos T24’s data model stores multi-value fields in two columns, which makes it difficult to extract and interpret.
• Banks hold large volumes of unstructured data including documents scanned images and communication logs, alongside transactional data. Extracting and mapping this data adds a new layer of complexity.
• After years of operation, data becomes fragmented across various applications and interfaces. Sorting out these data silos and accurately mapping is crucial while preserving the critical information.

Data Quality Issues

• Legacy banking data is often incomplete and inconsistent, accumulating duplicates over time. Migrating this data to a new archival system will lead to reporting and analytics in the future.
• High volume and multi-value temenos data require rigorous validation to ensure records and financial sum up to match the source system.

Compliance and Security Risks

• Financial institutions face strict regulations regarding data retention, privacy (e.g., GDPR), and auditability. Failure to adhere to these rules during migration can lead to heavy fines and legal repercussions.
• Migrating sensitive transactional data and customer data imposes a risk of data breaches. Protecting the data during migration and in the data archive is crucial.

Operational Challenges

• When all temenos banking data is moved at once, an extended downtime may occur for banking operations. Additionally, system performance can be impacted.
• Incomplete or improper mapping of temenos system connectors like BI, reporting and third-party systems may pose integration failures, disrupting the downstream process.

Best practices to address migration and archiving challenges

How do banks navigate all these challenges? Let’s discuss proven approaches that can move the needle risk-free.

Strategic planning and assessment

Here are some boxes that need to be ticked as a part of planning and assessment:

• Defining what data needs to be archived
• Determining the archival period
• Identifying who needs approval
• Aligning IT, compliance, and business teams early on

Clear Archival Policies

A solid archival policy acts like a rulebook to ensure historical data remains both secure and accessible when needed.

• Setting retention schedules
• Disposing protocols and governance upfront
• Defining rulebook to prevent compliance gaps that may later arise

Iterative Testing & Validation

Waiting for the whole project to be completed and testing it will not be a good practice. Then, how to do it right?

• Running multiple mock migrations
• Validating continuously for a smoother, risk-free cutover

Prioritize data security

Data on the move is data at risk. That’s why security must come first in any T24 migration.

• Encrypt data end-to-end, both in transit and at rest
• Implement strict access controls to limit who can view or handle data
• Maintain detailed audit trails to track every action during migration

Collaboration Across Teams

A successful migration is not solely an IT initiative; it requires a collaborative effort across various functions.

• Early engagement with compliance, operations, and business stakeholders
• Continuously ensuring alignment of requirements and expectations.

How Can Banks Benefit Through Temenos Migration & Archiving

Why are banks obsessed with migrating and archiving data in Temenos Transact? Because the payoff is huge.

Improved System Performance

Think of your core banking system like a car engine. The more it weighs with unnecessary stuff, the slower it runs. By archiving historical and inactive data, you free up resources in your live system, making daily transactions, reporting, and end-of-day processing faster and smoother.

Cost Reduction

Data sitting idle in legacy systems isn’t just clutter, it’s expensive clutter. Between rising storage fees, software licensing, and IT overhead, the costs add up fast. Archiving lets you retire old systems and shrink storage needs, directly improving your bottom line.

Enhanced Regulatory Compliance

Regulators don’t care if your systems are old, they expect complete, accurate, and accessible data. Proper archiving ensures you’re always audit-ready for mandates like SOX, GDPR, or AML rules. Instead of messing up digging historical records, you’ll have them neatly organized and secured.

Accelerated Digital Transformation

Every bank talks about advancements, but digital transformation can’t happen if your systems are trapped by several years of data. Migration leaves way for smoother upgrades, easier integration with fintech ecosystems, and cloud adoption. In short, it positions your bank to innovate.

How Archon Suite Helps with T24 Migration & Archiving

If you are looking for the right solution for T24 data archiving, now is a great time to look at Archon Suite. Archon Suite puts compliance first and is designed to help your business stay ahead.

Archon Suite does more than standard ETL tools. It is designed to manage the specific challenges of Temenos T24 data, including complex multi-value fields. You can rely on it to move your data securely, efficiently, and in full compliance.

1. Data Classification

Different types of data serve different needs. Archon Analyzer automatically sorts records into categories like critical, compliance-related, and outdated. This makes it easy to find information and helps regulators access what they need quickly.

2. Smart ETL (Extract, Transform, Load)

Archon ETL automates the extraction of complex legacy data from T24, cleans it, and converts it into archive-ready formats. This reduces errors, speeds up cutovers, and makes the transition smoother.

Temenos T24 operates using an XML-based data format, which can pose challenges in extracting, storing, and subsequently retrieving historical data. This is where the native T24 connector of the Archon Suite becomes valuable.

When financial institutions need to retrieve information for an audit, compliance verification, or customer inquiry, the Archon Suite can effortlessly convert the XML format back into understandable records. This guarantees that even years after data has been archived or decommissioned, it remains precise, compliant, and can be accessed with just a click.

3. Centralized Access

Finding information shouldn’t feel like a treasure hunt. Archon Data Store creates a single, centralized archive where employees, auditors, and compliance teams can search and retrieve data instantly without touching the live T24 system.

4. Tiered Storage

There is no need to store everything in costly, high-performance systems. Archon offers tiered storage, keeping active data easy to access and moving older records to secure, lower-cost storage. This approach saves money and keeps your data traceable.

5. Retention Policies Made Simple

Every regulator has different rules. Archon Suite lets banks set custom retention schedules. For instance, 7 years for SOX or 10 years for AML. Those records are automatically disposed of when they are no longer needed. During archiving, data is classified and assigned to the right storage tier based on retention policies. That means no risks are created with manual deletions, and the data always remains audit-ready.

6. Data Discovery & Reporting

Archon migration adds powerful metadata tagging and indexing. So, finding the right transaction, customer record, or report from ADS is as easy as running a Google search. Furthermore, it supports advanced analytics, turning archived data into insights.

Temenos T24 Data Archiving with Archon Data Store

Archon Data Store™ (ADS) helps companies retire old applications while keeping full control of their data. Instead of just storing or archiving information, ADS offers a secure, scalable, and compliant way to decommission a wide range of systems, such as SAP, Mobius, JD Edwards, Lotus Notes, Temenos T24, Epicor, Informatica ILM, and PeopleSoft.

Thanks to its cloud-native design, ADS helps organizations lower costs and keep important records available for audits, legal needs, and business operations. It utilizes automated retention rules, metadata-based search, and a secure data bunker to protect sensitive information, ensuring archived data remains safe and easily accessible.

Archon Data Store (ADS) is developed with a focus on compliance, making it an ideal solution for banks looking to archive Temenos T24 data securely. Unlike standard storage solutions, ADS is application-aware, which means it comprehends the structured intricacies of Temenos Transact data as well as unstructured materials such as documents, reports, or scanned images.

What makes ADS stand out?

Security

As you know, The Archon Data Store is designed with a focus on security, ensuring that every stored record remains encrypted, resistant to tampering, and prepared for audits.

Data is fully encrypted both in transit and at rest, shielding sensitive records from breaches. Role-based permissions prevent unauthorized access and ensure only the right people see the right data.

Every action is tracked, providing a verifiable trail for regulators and internal reviews. Archon Suite is built to align with mandates like GDPR, SOX, HIPAA, and SEC 17a-4, reducing compliance risk.

Compliant by Nature

As global banking regulations continue to evolve, compliance cannot be a second thought. ADS incorporates compliance features from the outset:

• Retention enforcement (SOX, GDPR, AML, SEC 17a-4, HIPAA, etc.)
• WORM storage for immutability
• Immutable audit logs for comprehensive traceability

In summary, you will always be prepared for audits.

AI-Enriched Search & Discovery

No more sifting through cumbersome archives. As Archon migration employs metadata tagging, AI-driven search features make T24 historical records readily accessible. Whether it’s a customer payment from 12 years back or data to satisfy today’s auditors, ADS makes retrieval effortless.

Cost-Optimized Storage

Why incur high storage costs for inactive data? ADS offers tiered storage options (hot, warm, cold), along with compression and deduplication. This enables banks to achieve a balance between speed, access, and cost, ensuring you only pay for what is truly necessary.

Intelligent Archiving for Core Apps

ADS is equipped with native connectors for ERP and CRM systems like SAP, Salesforce, and JD Edwards, and it integrates effortlessly with core banking systems such as Temenos T24. This allows it to intelligently extract, archive, and index multi-value fields, transaction records, and customer information without compromising data integrity.

Accelerate ROI

Transitioning from Temenos T24’s legacy environment may seem overwhelming, but ADS is engineered for swift deployments. Banks can quickly retire outdated systems, reduce licensing and infrastructure expenses, and still provide users with secure access to historical data, without disruption.

What does it mean for you

Migrating and archiving Temenos T24 data isn’t just a tech project; it’s a balancing act between keeping operations running, staying compliant, and future-proofing your bank’s data. Get it right, and you’ll not only reduce expenses but also enhance speed, security, and scalability.

Ashok Kumar N

Ashok Kumar is a Senior Architect at Platform 3 Solutions, helping businesses move from outdated systems to modern, efficient data platforms. With over a decade of experience, he has built secure and scalable solutions that work across different cloud providers. He brings strong technical skills and a practical approach to solving real-world data challenges.