Meet Mark Billingham, our newly appointed Chief Information Officer!

2026-07-01 08:18:58.0

At BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, technology plays a vital role in how we support our customers and partners. As we continue to grow our business, expand our product offering and welcome new partners, having a resilient and efficient IT function has never been more important.

That's why we're delighted to announce the appointment of Mark Billingham as our new Chief Information Officer. Mark will lead our technology strategy, ensuring our IT capabilities continue to evolve to support the changing needs of our customers, and partners, while providing the strong foundations needed for the next stage of our growth.

Mark brings more than 25 years of experience, having worked across global IT organisations, healthcare, and the automotive industry. He also has over 15 years of experience here at BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, having just led the development of our Enterprise Architecture and Cloud team.

We sat down with Mark to learn more about his career to date and his vision for the role of Chief Information Officer.

Using technology to create better outcomes

As Chief Information Officer, Mark’s priority is to use technology deliberately to simplify the estate and accelerate our delivery function, unlocking value and growth for our partners and business alike.

Three areas that Mark will prioritise in his new role are:

1. Modernising our technology by continuing our move to cloud-based systems, making our technology more flexible, resilient and able to support new products and partnerships as our business grows.
2. Unlocking the potential of AI by using it to enhance customer journeys, strengthen fraud prevention, improve decision making and help colleagues work more efficiently, while ensuring it is used responsibly.
3. Industrialising delivery and operations by simplifying the way technology is delivered, increasing automation where it adds value, and maintaining the high levels of security, reliability and governance that our customers and partners expect.

Reflecting on these ambitions, Mark said: “I want IT to be the catalyst that turns our strategic ambitions into reality – connecting technology, colleagues and partners to innovate with purpose and deliver smarter, more seamless experiences that create lasting value for our customers.”

Turning innovation into business value

Innovation continues to play an important role in BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK's technology strategy, particularly through initiatives such as the Innovation Lab, which brings together colleagues and FinTech businesses to solve real business challenges.

Looking ahead, one of his ambitions is to build on those foundations by creating a repeatable approach to innovation, taking successful ideas beyond experimentation and embedding them into day-to-day operations.

By continuing to develop the organisation's cloud-based data platform and AI capabilities, he believes there is significant opportunity to deliver more personalised customer experiences while improving efficiency across the business and delivering measurable outcomes.

We spoke to Stephen Hunt, Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK about Mark’s new role as CIO, he said: "I'm delighted to congratulate Mark on his appointment as Chief Information Officer.

“During his 15+ years with BNP Paribas Personal Finance UK, Mark has played a key role in shaping our technology strategy and building the strong foundations that support our business today. His leadership, technical expertise and deep understanding of our organisation have earned the trust and respect of colleagues across the business.

“As we continue to grow, expand our partnerships and evolve the products and services we offer, technology will be central to delivering the experience our customers and partners expect. I have every confidence that Mark will lead our IT function through this next chapter, maintaining the operational excellence that our customers and partners deserve.”

We’re excited to see how Mark applies his wealth of knowledge to the role CIO, and how he will support us on our ambitious growth journey.

Find out more about how we’re using smart technology to help people budget for life’s big purchases.