Leading financial technology developers, Misys and D+H, have merged to create Finastra – the world’s third largest fintech.

Misys, a leading financial services software developer, and D&H, a global payments and lending technology developer, sealed the deal by immediately announcing a collaboration with tech titan, IBM, to support their merger.

Finastra will move into the IBM cloud to run its FusionBanking Essence core. IBM said it will support Finastra as it develops retail banking proof of concepts and product demos, including using Watson APIs in its products. The companies also announced a further collaboration to develop a financial crime and a blockchain offering.

The new company will be headed by Nadeem Syed, appointed directly from his previous position as Misys chief executive.

While both Misys and D+H are headquartered in North America, both have a significant presence in the Asia Pacific region, with divisions in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.