issue 18 november 2008

The Banking Software Company
TEMENOS NEWS
ISSUE 18
NOVEMBER 2008
Scaling new heights
in retail banking
The future of retail banking operations –
reaching out for greater development
and growth
Youthful mobility
BIAN
Barrie Neill, Temenos, highlights areas to
consider for success in mobile banking
Examining the association’s
role in the future of banking
• The road to Rome – Temenos Client Forum 2008 • Against the grain • Risky business
• Online challenges • Wishes, buses and wise men • The three pillars of Islamic private banking
• Database spotlight – on the bench
ISSUE 18 | NOVEMBER 2008
TEMENOS NEWS
| 3 ANDREAS ANDREADES: CRISIS MEASURES | 4 NEWS | 8 LEAD STORY: THE FUTURE OF RETAIL BANKING
OPERATIONS | 12 COMMENTARY: BIAN – A STANDARD FOR THE FUTURE | 14 REVIEW: TEMENOS CLIENT
FORUM 2008 | 15 RETAIL BANKING | 16 CORPORATE & CORRESPONDENT BANKING | 16 UNIVERSAL
BANKING | 17 PRIVATE WEALTH MANAGEMENT | 17 MICROFINANCE & COMMUNITY BANKING
| 18 ISLAMIC BANKING | 18 DATABASE SPOTLIGHT
Crisis measures
Over the past few months, the credit climate has gone from
crunch to crisis – even the largest banks are facing difficulties and
the rest of the industry is feeling the pressure. To cope, financial
institutions across the board are re-evaluating how they operate
and commit to long-term change.
With easy credit now a thing of the past, it is only through the
fundamentals of banking services and product offerings that
financial institutions will survive and prosper. Now, more than
ever, they must focus on servicing customers, creating brand and
customer loyalty – and underpinning their products and services
with the highest possible levels of efficiency and risk management.
Customer and brand loyalty is only attainable with the strong
foundation of consistent quality of service and continuous product
innovation, while efficiency and risk management are imperatives
that underpin any profitable growth for the bank.
With wholesale funding discredited as a model for sustainable
growth and exposing banks to a funding mismatch, one particular
banking vertical has been thrust into the spotlight. Retail banking
has emerged as the vital sector that can deliver a wide range of
financial products and successful funding models via multiple
service fulfilment channels. This capability is not limited to loans
but encompasses many other financial services, including savings
products, innovative payment mechanisms and individually
tailored loans authorised on the basis of their purpose. As such,
retail banking will play a crucial role in defining the operating
profile of winning banking organisations for the next generation.
Technology is fundamental in helping banks achieve these
objectives and staying ahead of the competition – and the next
few years will be critical for the development of the industry.
ANDREAS ANDREADES
CEO
Temenos has helped banks around the world replace monolithic,
inflexible and extremely expensive systems, providing them with
flexible, centralised core banking solutions that enable agility and
support growth and product innovation.
In light of these developments, we’ve dedicated this issue of
Temenos News to the retail banking industry. In such times it
is important to encourage discussion around banking system
requirements, operational strategy and execution of these.
The main article in this issue brings together Robert Hunt (Senior
Research Director, TowerGroup), Jiang Hong (Vice President, Bank
of Shanghai) and Mark Gunning (Temenos Group Strategy Director)
to discuss the pressing issues banks must focus on now and in
the near future. We also have features on the Banking Industry
Architecture Network (BIAN) – one of the banking industry’s latest
standards associations – and an overview of the 2008 Temenos
Client Forum, which took place in Rome this summer and which
brought together more than 600 bankers from around the world.
In this edition you will also find all our regular news and opinion
columnists to keep you up to date with the latest thinking across
banking verticals as well as Temenos news around the world.
TEMENOS T24 (referred to as T24), TEMENOS COREBANKING (referred to as TCB), TEMENOS eMerge
(referred to as eMerge), TEMENOS Client Forum – TCF (referred to as Temenos Client Forum),
TEMENOS Globus (referred to as Globus), TEMENOS, jBASE (referred to as jBASE), TEMENOS , are registered
trademarks of the TEMENOS GROUP.
For further information or your feedback, please e-mail us at [email protected]
©2008 TEMENOS HEADQUARTERS SA – all rights reserved. Warning: This document is protected by copyright law and international
treaties. Unauthorised reproduction of this document, or any portion of it, may result in severe and criminal penalties, and will be
prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under law.
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www.temenos.com
TEMENOS NEWS
“The acquisition underscores both our ambition
and the potential for Temenos to lead the core
banking software market over the long term.”
Andreas Andreades, CEO, Temenos
Temenos acquires Financial Objects
Temenos has acquired software vendor
Financial Objects. Andreas Andreades,
Chief Executive Officer, Temenos, says:
“The combination of Temenos and
Financial Objects creates a group that
is bigger, stronger and more profitable
and, therefore, better placed to take
advantage of the significant market
potential that exists for third-party
core banking software.
“This is a value-enhancing deal for
our shareholders – even before any
cross-selling revenues, we expect the
acquisition to materially enhance our
2009 earnings. Following on from the
Informer acquisition in July and the
Actis.BSP deal in 2007, we are
demonstrating that we can and will
continue to successfully complement
strong organic growth without
compromising shareholder value or
losing focus. This underscores both
our ambition and the potential for
Temenos to lead the core banking
software market over the long term.”
Votorantim Bank goes live with TEMENOS
T24 Model Bank in just seven months
Votorantim Bank, a rapidly growing
financial institution based in Brazil, has
gone live with TEMENOS T24 (T24).
T24 supports the bank’s international
wealth management operations. The
bank went live in March 2008 and
represents Temenos’ first client in
Brazil. Votorantim employed Temenos
Professional Services including Temenos
Application Management and jointly
delivered a complete international
wealth management system in just
seven months. With T24, the bank plans
to support its international treasury,
asset management, private and lending
(cars and mortgages) operations.
Reinaldo Lacerda, Wealth Management and Product Director, Votorantim
Bank, says: “With T24 supporting our
business, we have the front-end
capabilities, modular integration, asset
management support and the scalability we need. We can now expand our
customer base without increasing our
costs or operational risk. We will also
take advantage of the improved
workflows and rapid deployment of
new products enabled by T24 to help
increase our competitive advantage
and market share.”
Bank of Shanghai
goes live with
TEMENOS T24 to
support retail banking
operations and
11 million accounts
Bank of Shanghai, one of the largest city
commercial banks in China, has gone live
with TEMENOS T24 (T24) across its entire
retail banking operation in September
2008. T24 had already been supporting
the bank’s corporate banking, trade finance
and treasury divisions, and the system
now supports approximately 11 million
customer accounts, 245 branches and
up to 2.5 million transactions per day.
Jiang Hong, Vice President, Bank of
Shanghai comments: “This successful
implementation signifies a pivotal point
in the bank’s development. Our long-term
business strategy is to become a truly
international bank with global scope.
T24’s scalability and open systems
architecture will enable us to standardise
our processes and manage more than
11 million customer accounts from one
central point. It also provides us with
unrivalled scalability to support our retail
operations. The system’s rich functionality
means we can deliver cutting-edge
integrated product and services offerings
to both existing and new markets.”
TEMENOS NEWS
“We recognise that having the most robust
technology capabilities possible will be a
key driver in achieving our goals.”
An Binh Bank goes live
with TEMENOS T24 Model
Bank in 57 branches
An Binh Commercial Joint Stock Bank
(ABBANK), one of Vietnam’s largest jointstock banks by chartered capital, has become
the seventh client in the country to go live
with TEMENOS T24 (T24). T24 now provides
the bank with centralised core banking across
its retail and corporate banking operations in
57 branches and is helping the bank to launch
a range of new delivery channels, including
ATM and internet banking.
ABBANK implemented T24 Model Bank
to reduce its implementation time and costs,
minimise customisation and lower project
risk. Nguyen Hung Manh, Vice Chairman of
ABBANK, says: “Because T24 Model Bank is
a proven technology, we have been able to
benefit from a fast, low-risk implementation.
We are now ready with a platform that will
support the bank as it launches new delivery
channels to help us achieve rapid business
growth over the next two years.”
Sue Webb, Executive Vice President,
Global Core Cash Management,
JPMorgan Treasury Services
JPMorgan commits US$30 million
to implement central platform
for global services
JPMorgan, a full-service provider of
cash management, trade finance,
and treasury solutions, announced
that it will make a US$30 million
technology investment to implement
a centralised operating platform
supporting expansion of the bank’s
global treasury management and
liquidity services businesses.
This core banking solution will
bring uniformity to the firm’s product
offerings, enable JPMorgan to offer
a consistent set of services across the
world, and use robust infrastructure
to deliver richer data and real-time
reporting to clients. Work has begun
to deploy the platform with pilot
schemes planned for later in 2008.
JPMorgan will work with Temenos,
a global provider of banking software
systems, to implement the platform.
In addition to this US$30 million
commitment, the firm will make
additional significant technology
investments to support international
expansion.
Sue Webb, Executive Vice President,
Global Core Cash Management,
JPMorgan Treasury Services, says:
“The global marketplace is where we
expect to see significant growth in our
business, and we recognise that
having the most robust technology
capabilities possible will be a key
driver in achieving our goals. We are
making a significant investment in
our technology to support our clients’
businesses around the world. Working
with an industry-leading software
provider such as Temenos will enable
us to meet our clients’ evolving
needs, regardless of where they
do business.”
Al Wasatah Al Maliah selects TEMENOS T24 Model Bank to support new e-brokerage
Al Wasatah Al Maliah, a newly established Islamic brokerage
and investment house, has become the first non-bank-backed
financial investment services company in the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia to implement TEMENOS T24 (T24). Al Wasatah Al Maliah
signed with Temenos in February 2008 with a go live date
scheduled for mid-2008. T24 will support all the company’s
operations in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Corporation Council
(GCC) states.
Bassam Bin Gheshian, Chief Operating Officer, Al Wasatah
Al Maliah, says: “Our aim is to become a leader in the Islamic
e-brokerage sector. We chose Temenos because we feel that it
delivers the best technology on the market. T24 Model Bank will
help us position our products and services in a way that will make
them convenient and readily available to all investors. This is a
crucial part of our commitment to nurturing our clients with a view
to helping them develop into well-informed, profitable investors.”
TEMENOS NEWS
“A critical element in our decision to implement T24 was the opportunity to have Metavante host the application and integrate it with
the broader set of services Metavante currently provides the bank.”
Frank Trotter, President, EverBank Direct
Metavante and Temenos establish joint marketing strategy to sell T24 in the US
Metavante Technologies, Inc. and Temenos have expanded the
strategic alliance previously announced in March 2007, and have
begun the joint marketing of TEMENOS T24 (T24) to foreign
financial institutions in the US. The highly specialised
international institutions will benefit from Metavante’s extensive
US banking knowledge and over 40 years’ experience in the US
banking industry as well as gain access to T24, the internationally
recognised market leader of global banking systems. Metavante
will provide T24 in an outsourced environment, along with
providing integration, implementation and support services,
while Temenos will provide licensing, enhancement, support
and consulting services.
Alex Groenendyk, President of Temenos Americas, says:
“We’re pleased to expand our relationship with Metavante
and accelerate the growth of our T24 international banking
system to US-based subsidiaries of international banks.
By leveraging Metavante’s strong banking relationships,
distribution network and hosting capabilities, Temenos is
uniquely positioned to tap into the growing foreign banking
market in the US.”
Temenos and Metavante sign EverBank
as first joint T24 marketing client
EverBank Financial Corporation, a Metavante core processing client, has selected
TEMENOS T24 (T24) to support its World Markets division. The deal represents
the first T24 opportunity resulting from the extended Metavante–Temenos
strategic marketing alliance announced on 31 July 2008.
T24 will be implemented and hosted by Metavante and will support the bank’s
World Markets global trading (including foreign exchange) and commodities
operations. T24 will replace several in-house systems and support the continued
development and delivery of innovative multi-currency and metals-based
products and services. Frank Trotter, President, EverBank Direct, says: “We needed
a system that would fully support our growth objectives. A critical element in our
decision to implement T24 was the opportunity to have Metavante host the
application and integrate it with the broader set of services Metavante currently
provides the bank.”
Andreas Andreades, CEO, Temenos, says: “As the first contract under our joint
T24 marketing agreement with Metavante, this is a very exciting development.”
Temenos expands capabilities
in Central & Eastern Europe
Following impressive growth in Central
& Eastern Europe, we have enhanced
our regional capabilities. Customers
and prospects will now be supported by
an expanded sales and pre-sales team,
boosted by a number of new joiners
following the acquisition of Informer
Group in the region. We are also
equipped to provide training facilities
and courses for existing and prospective
customers on all T24 modules.
To support this growth and future
plans Temenos Greece has relocated
to a new office in the heart of Athens’
business district. This large, highlyequipped office already provides a
base to our sales, pre-sales, services,
finance and support functions.
Additionally, our Sofia office has been
fully operational from 1 September
2008 and we now also have another
office in Bucharest.
Temenos acquires
Informer Group
assets
Temenos has signed an agreement to
acquire the core banking assets of Informer
Group for US$40.3 million in cash and
shares. The transaction is expected to be
accretive to adjusted EPS by US$0.02 in
2008 and by US$0.08 in 2009.
Informer SA, a listed provider of software
and services for core banking, has been an
authorised licensor and systems integrator
for Temenos in Greece, Eastern Europe, the
Balkans and the Middle East since 1995.
Through the acquisition, Temenos will gain
an expanded footprint in these markets and
also immediate entry into Romania and
Egypt, where Informer already has an
established presence.
TEMENOS NEWS
“As an internationally established system,
T24 is instrumental in helping us introduce
global standards into our business.”
Salim Kriman, Chairman, Bank Standard
Honda Bank GmbH
integrates loan operations
using TEMENOS T24
Honda Bank GmbH has chosen TEMENOS
T24 (T24) to integrate its existing loan
operations, which consisted of four disparate
systems. The bank required a flexible
system that would merge its fragmented
infrastructure with minimum disruption
to the business. T24 will provide a front-toback office core banking platform to
support the bank’s finance loan service,
as well as front-office capabilities for its
wholesale finance operations. The bank
also chose TEMENOS ARC Internet Banking
(ARC-IB), and the T24 Arrangement
Architecture Module to help improve the
bank’s competitive position in the market
by delivering improved customer centricity
into its business model.
Andreas Andreades, Chief Executive
Officer of Temenos, comments: “Honda
Bank is an important win for Temenos
because it signifies our continued growth
in the German market and the flexibility
and ease of deployment of our T24 Model
Bank in other sectors such as automotive
finance, as well as in mainstream banking
operations.”
Bank Standard in Azerbaijan
goes live with TEMENOS T24
Bank Standard, the largest, non-government- backed bank in Azerbaijan, has
become the first bank in the country to go
live with TEMENOS T24 (T24). T24 now
provides it with centralised core banking
capabilities across its retail, treasury and
internet banking operations. The system –
which went live in June 2008 – has been
implemented at the bank’s branch in Baku,
Azerbaijan, with a further 13 sites, including
the head office, to go live later in the year.
The system was implemented by Temenos’
Moscow-based team, which brought local
expertise to the process.
Salim Kriman, Chairman at Bank Standard, says: “We realised very quickly that
our existing system was preventing growth
because of a lack of global standards.
As well as expanding the business, we
wanted to establish best practice processes. As an internationally established
system, T24 is instrumental in helping
us introduce these global standards into
our business.”
Based on this implementation, Temenos
has created the Model Bank platform for
Azerbaijan, which will be used as a standard
for further implementations in the country.
Temenos has secured two further wins in
the region with its successful Model Bank
for Azerbaijan.
Temenos launches regional websites
Temenos now has three local websites for the German, Chinese and Japanese markets.
All three sites are in local languages and offer information on the Temenos products and
services available in those regions. Additional country-specific Temenos websites will be
launched in the coming year. They can be accessed through Temenos.com
Temenos staying ahead of the
market at the Nordic Innovative
Banking Forum 2008
As part of our ongoing commitment to innovation in the banking
sector, Temenos, in partnership with OpusCapita and Mors
Software, organised the highly successful Innovative Banking
Forum 2008 in Stockholm earlier in 2008. Hosted by Temenos’
customer Swedbank, it was an opportunity for more than 50
attendees to meet leading players in the Nordic financial market,
examine cutting-edge developments and discuss banking issues
and trends that keep this region at the forefront of technology.
Rowan Gibson, bestselling author and global business strategist,
gave a keynote speech on strategies for growth and industry
reinvention, while Lindsay Baldock, Strategy Manager at Temenos,
presented the advantages of a pre-configured T24 Model Bank
solution. With universally positive feedback from attendees and
significant progress with a number of prospects following the
event, we are pleased to be committed to supporting our
customers and to help shape the future of banking strategies.
TEMENOS NEWS
Robert Hunt
Robert Hunt is a Senior Research Director specialising
in core banking and transaction processing systems
for TowerGroup. His research is published within
TowerGroup’s Retail Banking practice. Before joining
TowerGroup, Robert held senior management positions
as Director of Technology Banking for BankBoston,
Managing Director of BayBank Systems, Inc., and Senior
Vice President at the Irving Trust Company.
As one of the largest sectors
of the financial services industry,
retail banking is at the forefront
of innovation. Temenos News
asked three industry experts to
comment on recent changes,
current developments and
future trends.
The future of retail
banking operations
Three perspectives on trends in the retail sector
How have retail banking products and
services changed in the past six years?
Robert Hunt (RH)
Senior Research Director, TowerGroup
There has been phenomenal growth in mobile
banking, which is now becoming a worldwide
delivery channel for banking and represents
further opportunity for growth. Another dramatic
change over the past several years has been the
rise of Islamic banking, allowing millions of
Muslims access to Shar’ia-compliant banking
products.
Microfinance is another key area of growth,
with millions of people gaining access to credit.
We now foresee a shift from microfinance as a
product offered by small non-profit organisations to a product offered by leading global
banks. This economic inclusion is improving the
standard of living and the quality of life for
people around the world.
Jiang Hong (JH)
Vice President, Bank of Shanghai
In China, over the past five years, people have
accumulated significant wealth. As a result, retail
customers are not satisfied with the low-yield
deposits products and banks have had to develop
many innovative new wealth products with varied
risks and yields. The credit card and personal loan
businesses are booming and there is intense
competition to attract both high-end and low-end
customers. Banks are offering many co-branded
credit-card products to attract customers.
At the same time, with the opening of the foreign
currency market, many new currency settlements
and financing products – such as renminbi
(currency of the People’s Republic of China) and
foreign currency swaps – are offered. We also see
competition for high-end customers becoming
intense. Banks are setting up individual wealth
management centres to offer customer-oriented
services. These teams are committed to the design
and development of specialised financing services
that cater for a wide range of customer needs.
TEMENOS NEWS
Jiang Hong
Jiang Hong is Vice President of the Bank of Shanghai.
As the founder of the bank’s IT department, he takes
responsibility for all IT and product development
operations and is at the heart of growing its
e-banking and credit-card businesses. Mr Jiang
Hong’s experience also includes a successful
academic career at China’s National University of
Defense Technology.
Mark Gunning (MG)
Group Strategy Director, Temenos
There are a few main areas of change. There have
been changes in the diversity and importance of
different delivery channels. Internet and mobile
banking are becoming increasingly important to
clients and they expect to see seamless delivery
across all channels. We’ve also seen specialist
competitors such as overseas organisations or
non-banks entering the market and using their
brand to sell into banking.
There is also an increased commoditisation
of services and products, which are now being
brought to market faster. Banks need to
industrialise their product delivery processes
because their competitors can copy what they
are doing fairly quickly.
What drivers are emerging now
that will change retail banking
in the future?
RH: There are two connected factors here.
One is growing economies – we’re seeing a big
expansion of the middle classes in countries like
India, China, Russia and Brazil, all of which have
huge populations. There will be a billion new
banking customers in the market over the next
five or six years. Over the same period, banks
in developed economies will be targeting new
products to minority groups. In the US, for
instance, there has been tremendous growth
in the Hispanic population – and the wealth of
this group is increasing. The second key area is
climate change. There will be a global energy
conservation movement, including more
people working and banking from home and an
emphasis on electronic delivery of information
to reduce the use of paper.
JH: With the further opening-up of the financial
services industry in China, foreign banks are now
permitted to conduct renminbi business. This
will intensify competition for high net worth
clients. There is increased awareness of wealth
management and growing demand for better
financial services and products. This is creating
commercial banks with more market opportunity.
As the global economy slows down, banks will
focus more on fee-based business to sustain
and improve their profitability. In the future, the
renminbi will become convertible and this loosening of foreign exchange controls will have great
impact on personal foreign exchange services.
MG: We will definitely see decreasing customer
loyalty and increased competition, particularly
on price. And there will be further regulatory
changes in some core areas of retail banking
profitability such as payments. There will be
more developments such as the UK faster
payments initiative and SEPA. To deal with
these changes, banks will focus on the areas
of the business that they consider to be core
competencies. They won’t want to do the
operations work behind the scenes, so there is
an opportunity to contract out that activity by
adopting an ASP model or establishing a shared
services model among banks.
Larger banks will also start to break into the
microfinance market. Previously, the banking
business model was too expensive to serve this
market. Now, there are other methods banks can
use, such as scaled down branches with remote
service centres, or mobile banking, which is a
good example of using technology to lower
costs and address an issue.
How do you see retail banking
products and services changing in
response to those drivers?
JH: Banks have to set up customer-oriented
core banking business systems. The core banking
system provides a solid foundation for retail
banking financial product innovation, such as
establishing a renminbi and foreign currency
integrated business platform and delivering
multi-currency, multi-account products.
Chinese banks are also keen to strengthen
customer relationship management. A key step
in achieving this will be to obtain effective
customer information from the data warehouse
and focus on the analysis of customer needs to
improve customer acquisition and retention.
MARK GUNNING
Mark Gunning was appointed Group Strategy
Director of Temenos in June 2005 and is responsible
for overall product strategy. He joined the company
in 1993 and has represented it in various capacities
related to development, client services and sales. He
has also been Regional Manager for North America.
RH: Banks will develop a broader range of services
and products to reach new market segments. This
includes a greater focus on relationship products
that address all the financial needs of a market
segment, rather than offering just specific savings
or loan products. On a global basis, green banking
is becoming more important, with the delivery
of electronic customer statements and notices.
But it’s not just about green banking, it’s about
customer choice. In the future we’ll see
customers virtually designing the product they
want and choosing how it’s delivered. A bank that
can respond to this product demand will have a
competitive advantage.
MG: There will be some element of product
innovation and a clear reduction in prices. Banks
will also find themselves under greater pressure
to deliver services – resulting in a concerted
effort to improve customer service. This will
cause a shift towards service personalisation –
where banks will have to target their services
to each customer’s requirements.
In many regions, banks are going back to basics.
Innovation is being stamped on, because the
economic downturn means they can’t afford it.
The biggest innovations over the coming years
may come from outside the banking sector, from
telcos, for example, which have the infrastructures
in place for payments and communications. Banks
need to prepare themselves to be responsive to
these competitors by ensuring they have the right
core banking system at the heart of their business.
What does this mean in terms
of banking operations and the
technology to support them?
MG: Because of increasing competition over
prices, banks will be looking to reduce internal
costs, so they can compete on price with new
entrants to the market who have better technology and a narrower proposition to the customer.
Banks will also continue to increase automation.
Looking forward, they’ll realise that they need to
rationalise their structure around more efficient
IT architectures.
10 TEMENOS NEWS
“We believe that large banks will need to rely more on
leading systems integrators and software providers to
achieve a modern and flexible operating environment.”
Robert Hunt, Senior Research Director, TowerGroup
Much of that will be based on SOA. Banks are
also moving towards standards, and Temenos
has joined the Banking Industry Architecture
Network (BIAN) to be at the forefront of this.
JH: To cope with the rapid rate of change in
the retail banking market, banks will need a
core banking system that will help them adjust
products and workflows. This means having rapid
parameterisation capabilities as well as flexible
development tools that banks can use to create
new products, channels and processes quickly.
This is especially crucial for interfaces. Bank of
Shanghai has achieved this by adopting advanced
international banking concepts and industry
standards. This has strengthened our ability
to deliver international standard services to
customers and made it easier for us to seize the
latest international business opportunities and
enhance business workflow accordingly. It also
helps us create and launch new products to the
market quickly, maximising our ability to
compete on the world stage.
CASE STUDY
RH: We have a lot of banks that are still operating
inflexible and difficult to maintain core systems.
If these banks want to offer new products and
services to a greater number of people, they
have to become more efficient. This includes
straight-through, real-time processing capabilities
and the ability to implement new, more complex
banking products rapidly. Banks still using legacy
core banking systems will have to develop and
implement core systems modernisation plans to
remain competitive.
Banks also need to improve their electronic
messaging capabilities for better customer
communications. Customers want information
from their banks – but only if that information is
valuable to them and delivered in a manner that
they choose. Banks, then, need to build into their
customer systems the information customers
want, when they want it, and how they want
it delivered.
Where do you see technology evolving
to support future retail banking
business and operational models?
RH: Banks need to develop an IT infrastructure
that can respond quickly to new requirements
for products and services while maintaining
a highly efficient and scalable operating
environment. We believe that large banks will
need to rely more on leading systems integrators
and software providers to achieve a modern and
flexible operating environment.
Bank of Shanghai
A joint stock commercial bank ranked among the top 500 banks worldwide,
Bank of Shanghai has over 10 million accounts, around 3,000 users and more
than 220 branches.
As part of its commitment to innovation, the bank decided to replace its existing,
multiple, core banking solutions with a single, more efficient technology.
Transparency was a key requirement. The bank’s legacy systems only permitted
staff to look at the business on an account-by-account basis, preventing a holistic
approach.
Over a two-year period, the bank replaced its separate retail, corporate, treasury and
trade finance systems with TEMENOS T24 (T24). It now has a customer-centric view
of its business, increasing its ability to strengthen the management of both credit
and operational risk. T24 also provides the bank with a safe and efficient
authorisation process, allowing straight-through processing of even the higher
risk products.
JH: At the moment, it’s hard to find truly
standardised core banking products. This will
change over the next few years, as banks begin
to establish international hardware and software
standards for the industry. Additionally, SOAbased development promises to become more
widely used – giving banks an opportunity to
support their businesses more flexibly.
MG: Banks need an agile environment in the
long term. They want IT support that is efficient
and adaptable. As the rate of change speeds up,
they will need a modern IT environment that can
process business efficiently now and adapt to all
the changes they may demand of it tomorrow.
Agility is the key. T24 is highly flexible, so you
can change the product without resorting to
code. It’s open – we don’t tie people to one
particular platform. All the functionality can
be exposed to other services and applications
within or outside the bank. So a lot of the
fundamental characteristics of the banking
system that you need are already there. We’re
working closely with the Temenos Management
Consultancy group to help define banking
processes, and our membership of BIAN will
provide another dimension, helping banks to be
agile and use standards as they materialise.
TEMENOS NEWS
11
12
TEMENOS NEWS
The Banking Industry Architecture Network is being hailed in the press as the latest
victory in the battle for workable industry standards. But what is its real significance
for banks and technology vendors? Temenos News investigates, and asks three experts
drawn from the analyst and technology worlds to share their views.
BIAN – a standard for the future
The Banking Industry Architecture
Network (BIAN) is one of the latest
industry bodies to hit the press.
With so many different acronyms
around, deciphering them all – and
establishing their value – can be
difficult.
BIAN was established in 2008 by
leading global banks, including
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, ING,
Deutsche Postbank, Standard Bank and Zürcher Kantonalbank.
An independent body committed to the promotion and
development of industry standards suitable for SOA, its founding
membership also includes forward-thinking technology vendors
with strong footings in the financial services sector, such as
Temenos, Microsoft, SAP, SunGard and SWIFT.
The association’s main objective is to ease the journey of banks
moving to an SOA by building a community that will openly share
domain and technical expertise in the application of SOA
principles and methodologies. As part of this process, financial
institutions, software vendors, service providers and technology
partners are invited to join the association to play a collaborative
role among other industry leaders towards the definition, building
and implementation of next-generation banking platforms.
Ultimately, BIAN will help create a common vision for the
industry, one that will assist banks – and technology vendors –
in making successful changes as efficiently as possible.
Standards you can bank on
The benefits of BIAN are clear. Koen van den Brande, Worldwide
Core Banking Industry Manager, Microsoft, says: “The increased
use of standards will help banks lower the cost and risk of
change.” This is especially crucial for larger banks that need
to take a gradual approach to core renewal. Often, SOA will be
their migration method of choice – a trend that makes standards
invaluable for success. Crucially, BIAN encourages banks to be
clear about their aims. It provides a framework for them to
discuss issues such as what a services landscape should look
like, as well as the services and capabilities they want to support
their business. Although BIAN – and the introduction of new
standards it promotes – will have the most immediate benefit for
large retail banks, it also promises to make technology more
accessible to smaller financial institutions.
There are benefits for vendors too. By providing a forum for banks
to clarify their needs, the committee gives vendors an opportunity
to develop their solutions in line with industry needs. BIAN
members Temenos and Microsoft are clearly excited by this
two-way, consensual approach.
As one of the technology industry’s largest players, Microsoft
has a lot to bring to the table, including an extensive partner
ecosystem and the ubiquity needed to drive standards. It has
already been instrumental in establishing web services standards
that are ideal for SOA. Van den Brande says: “Membership of BIAN
is important for us because, as a responsible member of the
industry, we have to work towards achieving what the industry
needs. By extension, the benefit for vendors is that they receive
first-hand information that will help them develop solutions that
are more effective and cost-efficient than the systems banks could
Visit us on
develop in-house.”
Stand S06
Helping to establish an independent association such as BIAN is
part of Temenos’ ongoing commitment to industry standards, its
support of SOA and its dedication to the retail banking market.
Barrie Neill, Retail Banking Strategy Manger, Temenos, says: “BIAN
is a really positive move for the industry because it will help drive
forward the use of standards – and, by extension, SOA. Temenos
has a crucial role to play here, because our products are already
SOA-ready and we have valuable expertise and experience to
offer. For us, establishing an active participation in BIAN is a
strategic move that increases our ability to support clients with
larger retail banking operations that are implementing SOA. It also
gives us an opportunity to take our strategy to the next level by
actively contributing to the development of standards. This puts
us in an even stronger position to ensure that our products
continue to support SOA.”
An unbiased perspective
The analyst community also has its views on BIAN. Robert Hunt,
Senior Research Director at TowerGroup thinks that the rising cost,
not only of developing and implementing new systems but also of
maintaining them, is bringing things to a head. He sees BIAN as
the next stage in a decade-long process that has included the
creation of IFX and other messaging and payments standards.
Hunt says: “I think BIAN is great for the industry. What we have
today is a technology Tower of Babel – systems written at
different times using different software structures and sometimes
different programming languages. This results in systems that are
difficult and expensive to maintain and prevents banks from
TEMENOS NEWS 13
Temenos and BIAN
For Temenos, membership of BIAN is part of an ongoing commitment to industry standards. Andreas
Andreades, Chief Executive Officer, Temenos, says: “Our involvement with BIAN is part of our company’s
increasing commitment to SOA. We recognise the importance of SOA and have invested significantly in our
product thus far, and continue to do so. We invest around 20 per cent of our yearly revenues back into our
R&D programme – more than any of our peers. We are well positioned to help our customers align their
businesses to take full advantage of current technology trends and develop a successful, long-term strategy.”
implementing new products in a timely manner. We need an
industry group that can define banking services and develop a
more standardised approach to software development. A single
vendor cannot accomplish this task, so BIAN represents a great
opportunity for the industry. As we develop SOA standards and
services, banks and vendors should be able to develop and
maintain systems at a much lower cost. This is another stage in
the maturity of bank information technology. “
One of the things that make BIAN stand out is its perspective.
Don Free, Research Director, Gartner, says: “It’s essential to
address standards in a business process context.” BIAN also has
the potential to help the entire banking industry by encouraging
investment that will benefit financial institutions of all tiers.
Free says: “Standards adoption and investment is growing within
the larger retail banks to simplify integration, mostly due to
differing data semantics among their complex systems. As more
vendors get behind standards, investment by both banks and
vendors will trickle down and benefit smaller banks that will be
able to access more agile, cost-effective technology.”
Clearly, BIAN is good news from every angle – and a crucial step
forward for the banking technology industry. With an independent
body behind them, banks will gain confidence in SOA and its
ability to provide a long-term solution to their issues. This should
prompt a number of financial institutions to begin their SOA
journey in earnest.
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14 TEMENOS NEWS
The road to Rome:
Temenos Client Forum 2008
While sporting fans turned their thoughts to
Beijing and the world’s greatest sporting contest,
Temenos had its eyes fixed firmly on another
important event, in Rome. The 2008 Temenos
Client Forum (TCF), a key event in the core
banking calendar, was held at the Marriott Hotel
and attracted around 600 delegates, including
clients, partners, analysts and journalists. TCF
aims to inform delegates of the latest industry
developments, as well as company and product
news from Temenos. It also gives Temenos’
industry partners an opportunity to showcase
their products and customers to share their
experience, relate success stories and build
on their knowledge.
A major topic for discussion was the way in
which the present economic climate is changing
banking approaches. For example, many analysts
see technology as an ongoing priority for firms
looking to offset their losses. By investing in the
right technology, banks can future proof their
business and maintain their competitive
advantage in the face of economic crises.
The globalisation of banking, the need for
increasingly complex products and services
and merger and acquisition activity, are also
major challenges that IT systems are often too
inflexible to meet. Financial institutions are
realising that there are strong imperatives for
renewingto
core
systems. Temenos delivers a lowWe are pleased
announce
The theme – 21st Century Core Processing –
risk implementation model to help banks effect
that the Temenos Client
reflected the challenges faced by financial
this change in a rapid and meaningful fashion.
Forum
institutions after a turbulent year for the
banking2008 will take place
industry and demonstrated how technology
can During
in Rome,
Italy. the conference, speakers looked at where
boost their competitive edge. This sums up the
core banking systems are today, and how they
Temenos approach – helping customers to
are likely to develop in the future. Speakers
www.temenos.com/events
address challenges, take advantage of new
discussed how financial institutions can derive
opportunities and maximise return on investmaximum benefit from their banking systems
ment with T24, the most modern, flexible and
and reinforce their market position by building
feature-rich core banking system available.
future-proof processes.
R Y
FO AR
TE DI
DA UR
YO
The theme – 21st Century Core Processing – reflected
the challenges faced by financial institutions and
demonstrated how technology can boost their
competitive edge.
Temenos Client Forum 2009
4 – 6 May 2009
Monaco
Delegates experienced a mixture of presentations and real-life customer reference studies
based on key industry themes such as SOA,
migration paths and preparing for growth.
There were 43 sessions and presenters included
Banque Libano-Française, Swedbank, Raiffeisen
Poland and Saudi Hollandi Bank. They were
joined by a number of guest speakers – industry
experts such as Chris Skinner, independent commentator on the financial markets, and Elton
Cane, content director at Finextra.
The ‘Product Expo’ ran alongside the main
programme and Temenos representatives
and business partners were available at their
exhibition stands to meet delegates. This gave
Temenos’ customers and prospects an opportunity to learn about new complementary
products and services first hand.
Temenos accentuated its customer focus with
lavish hospitality – delegates were invited to
attend festive evening events, including a night
of food and entertainment at a 13th-century
Palazzo in Rome and a gala dinner. Lastly, the
Internet Café provided access to the TCF site,
which housed a variety of event information.
28-30 May, 2008
Throughout the event, Temenos demonstrated
its client focus and strong commitment to
product development, as well as its continued
focus on implementation services.
KEY FACTS
Location: Rome, Italy
Number of delegates: 600
Breakout sessions: 43
Platinum sponsor: Microsoft Corporation
Gold sponsor: Hewlett Packard
Silver sponsor: Validata
Bronze sponsor: IBM
Breakout sessions included:
• T24 in an advanced SOA environment: Banque Libano-Française
• Datawarehouse and business intelligence in detail: Temenos
• Rolling out a multi-country solution: Temenos and JP Morgan Chase
• T24 to support retail banking growth: Raiffeisen Poland
• Asset management and Temenos: Temenos
• Modern Islamic banking using T24: Finance House
• T24 and Microsoft SQL Server – mission-critical platform for core
processing: Microsoft Corporation
TEMENOS NEWS 15
The secret to success is to build a secure, robust mobile banking
platform as cost-effectively as possible by reusing features and
functions that already exist within the core banking system.
RETAIL BANKING
Youthful mobility
BARRIE NEILL
RETAIL BANKING
STRATEGY MANAGER,
TEMENOS
As retail banks struggle to find new ways to differentiate
themselves, mobile banking is becoming a hot industry topic.
As with any innovation, banks need to consider a number of
issues before they take the plunge. And, as well as thinking
about how they can make mobile banking a successful,
profitable service in a world of shrinking maturity cycles,
banks must assess the extent of the threat from competition
and identify its source. They must also ensure that they’re
creating a valuable channel for their business rather than
just layering another expense on their existing channel
infrastructure.
Before addressing any of these issues, banks must first ask
themselves a crucial question: what is mobile banking and what
are the delivery options?
Mobile banking is not just an extension of internet banking.
There is a real difference between internet banking services
delivered through a handset and a true mobile banking model
that is designed for security, performance and optimal user
experience. In the first instance, the user receives standard
internet banking services through a web browser. This quality
of service relies on the reliability of the internet service delivered.
As a result, it can lack end-to-end security and cannot guarantee
delivery of instructions – which is important when making
transfers and payments.
Turning to true mobile banking, there are a variety of solutions
on the market that make use of different technologies and mobile
operators’ services. The most basic, SMS/USSD may suit all
handsets, but offers little security and message delivery is not
guaranteed. It has the same shortcomings as browser handset
solutions and the user is often confronted with complex menus.
Solutions based on handset applications offer the strongest
security, greater opportunities for branding and an intuitive
user experience that is widely accessible across the majority of
handsets that are available today. This may be the best approach
to differentiation in what might otherwise be a commodity area
of banking.
So, the technology exists to deliver a range of services to the
mobile phone, while protecting and promoting the brand.
But what about the market potential and the business case
justification?
The youth segment of the market offers huge potential for mobile
banking, allowing the bank to reach out into a market that is not
as receptive to traditional channels such as the branch, or indeed
the internet. But the challenge here has always been one of low
returns in the short term, with the hope of retention that will
eventually create value for the bank. So the short-term objective
must be to serve these customers at a cost that makes economic
sense while building and maintaining long-term loyalty.
Serving this segment is no less stringent when it comes to security,
functionality and reliability. In fact, in terms of customer
experience, it is probably the most demanding customer segment
for the mobile channel, comparing usability and experience to a
host of other download services.
The secret to success is to build a secure, robust mobile banking
platform as cost-effectively as possible. Reusing features and
functions that already exist within the core banking system helps
keep the costs down, as does having the mobile channel preintegrated with the core banking system. Using the same customer
data file is imperative for real-time consistency across channels.
The ideal approach to providing a secure solution is to support the
service through a small downloadable application on the handset
– something that the younger market tends to take in its stride.
The design principles that Temenos adopted for ARC Mobile
Banking bring the reality of a cost-effective solution closer for
our T24 clients, as can be observed by the strong uptake of ARC,
especially over the past year.
16 TEMENOS NEWS
Corporate & Correspondent Banking
Universal banking
Against the grain
Risky business
Conventional wisdom holds that with the march towards
globalisation and the pursuit of greater efficiency and reduced
costs, corporates with operations in more than one country
should aim to consolidate their banking relationships.
This trend is underlined by initiatives such as SEPA, which will
break down national barriers and encourage international
businesses to rationalise their accounts, on the basis that a
single bank can accommodate payments operations across
a number of countries.
In the current economic climate, however, corporates are
being forced to re-evaluate this imperative. The lack of market
liquidity and the tightening of banks’ credit criteria have as
profound an effect on corporates as they do on consumers.
At the same time, reduced appetite in capital markets means
that it is a lot harder to raise funds.
Corporate treasurers must still ensure they have adequate
group borrowing facilities in place. So to guarantee a greater
supply of credit and mitigate the risks of relying on one source
of funding, they are expanding their banking relationships.
Another consequence of the recent economic downturn
is that some of the largest banks have seen their ratings hit.
In response, corporates that have in the past operated a single
cash management arrangement with one global bank are more
inclined to safeguard themselves by spreading their surplus
funds and putting alternative cash management facilities
in place.
So if multi-bank policies are the new vogue, does that
mean corporates will lose the advantages of centralised
control and cash optimisation?
Not necessarily, because businesses can aggregate accounts
at different institutions for reporting through one main partner.
This represents a valuable opportunity for banks, and using
Temenos T24 is a great way to take up the right position.
The system integrates intra- and end-of-day balance reports
from any number of sources to produce a single, consolidated
view of a group’s cash position – an invaluable asset for a
corporate treasurer.
In the wake of the credit crisis, the issue of risk has never been
so prominent. While many banks are thinking about customer
or trading risk, universal banks, especially niche players, are
particularly concerned with operational risk and the damage
done to a business following operational failure. Every bank
knows its business may be damaged by operational risk –
the only questions are by how much and for how long.
Unsurprisingly, banks are keen to avoid operational issues
at all costs.
A key factor with operational risk is that it creates a snowball
effect. When it crystallises, it can lead to a deadly variant –
reputational risk. It could take years for a bank’s share value to
recover from a core system failure and it is doubtful that it could
recover from a second failure. To protect their business, banks
need to safeguard their reputation as well as their operations.
Naturally, many banks look to technology vendors to deal with
these issues. But, while operational risk may be at the forefront
of current thinking, many industry voices concentrate on the
reactive approach – business continuity planning and disaster
recovery methodologies. And, while these measures are both
vital and necessary, they are not the only way to deal with risk.
At Temenos, we take a three-pronged, preventative
approach to operational risk that starts at the implementation
stage and is based on internal integration, straight-through
processing and a proven, low-risk implementation methodology
based on T24 Model Bank. Crucially, our engagement does not
end once the implementation is complete. A number of our
customers also enlist Temenos Professional Services consultants
to provide onsite support following go-live to further reduce the
risk of operational failure.
All of these features combine to inherently reduce operational
risk. As part of our commitment to continuous improvement,
we are already looking beyond this to expand the ways in which
we help our clients deal with risk, for example by including
quantitative operational risk capabilities into forthcoming
releases of T24. In fact, risk mitigation is a key thread of our
entire methodology – because, like all experienced practitioners,
we believe that prevention is better than cure.
LINDSAY BALDOCK
CORPORATE & CORRESPONDENT BANKING STRATEGY MANAGER, TEMENOS
UNIVERSAL BANKING STRATEGY MANAGER, TEMENOS
TEMENOS NEWS 17
Private wealth management
Microfinance & Community Banking
Online challenges
Wishes, buses and
wise men
In the past, private banking was a heady haze of golf, dinners and
biannual meetings. Now, with budgets shrinking and customers
demanding more online services, this cost-heavy, face-to-face
operating model is becoming a thing of the past. In short, it’s time
for private banking to go online.
Advisory- and execution-only models present a real challenge
for asset managers who draw their revenues, not from transaction
flow, but from service charges. To keep profits up, they must find
new ways to service their clients effectively and add value.
There is also a regulatory implication. One of the impacts of
MiFID is that the bank has to fully understand client objectives and
levels of understanding – and ensure that any investments made
on their behalf are in line with this. To avoid regulatory breach,
private banks must keep a keen eye on what their discretionaryand execution-only clients are doing. The only way they can do this
is to establish an electronic channel to capture and monitor client
activity. The challenge lies in finding a means of doing this that will
appeal to – and benefit – the client.
This is where online channels can help. Private banks can
enhance their service offering by providing customers with a form
of direct market access – for example, a web portal that helps
them access research reports, market information and portfolio
management tools, making it easier for the customer to execute
trades independently while still using the services of the bank.
Of course, to make this kind of service work, banks need strong
internet banking and risk management capabilities. At least one
large tier 1 bank and a number of smaller banks in the Temenos
customer base are already doing this. In fact, the need to deliver
sophisticated online services to high net worth customers is one
of the crucial factors driving the core banking selection process.
Smaller players would do well to observe what they are doing,
and take heed.
BRENT RANDALL
PRIVATE WEALTH
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
MANAGER
TEMENOS
In life, some things seem to come in threes. The microfinance market is
no exception. Essentially, it can be divided into three market segments
– social microfinance, mutual societies and banks. Each of these
segments faces different business challenges – but technology is
common to all three.
Social microfinance organisations need to improve their commercial
awareness and increase their use of technology to compete with newer,
more narrowly focused market entrants. Many smaller microfinance
organisations simply cannot afford to implement sophisticated
technology. This difficulty can be circumvented by partnering with
networked organisations – companies that can commit to a larger
investment, assemble support resources and pass on economies of
scale. At Temenos, we’re working with several networked organisations,
including Opportunity International, to deliver T24 for Microfinance
and Community Banking to smaller microfinance institutions.
For microfinance banks, the challenge lies in balancing strategic
business goals against socially oriented microfinance objectives. Temenos
is in a unique position to address these challenges. We deliver proven
applications that help banks calculate profits and the social impact of
their activities. Because our software is information rich, it can help
financial institutions adapt to the complex financial and social factors
involved in delivering microfinance – known as the double bottom line.
Mutual societies in emerging markets, such as credit unions, serve
more narrowly defined member requirements. This requires membercentric technology, which is catered for by Temenos. But, often, mutual
societies have difficulty agreeing on a common regional technology
strategy – and this affects their ability to achieve scale.
The changing microfinance landscape poses challenges for all market
participants – and vendors must learn to provide them with appropriate
support throughout this time of transition. Our in-depth market
experience means we’re well equipped to help them. In more ways
than three.
MURRAY GARDINER
MICROFINANCE &
COMMUNITY BANKING
STRATEGY MANAGER,
TEMENOS
T24 – best practice in core banking
Using its knowledge and expertise across each banking sector, Temenos has developed T24 Model Bank, which includes pre-configured
products and processes for banking best practice to address the needs of specific markets. T24 Model Bank and its associated
methodology can achieve a 50 per cent lower implementation timeframe, minimise customisation, dramatically increase return
on investment and reduce implementation risk through much tighter control over a project scope and deliverables.
18 TEMENOS NEWS
Islamic banking
Database spotlight
The three pillars of
Islamic private banking
On the bench
With the number of high net worth and ultra-high net worth
individuals in Southeast Asia and the Middle East booming, and
investors seeking to put their wealth in domestic markets, Islamic
banks are turning their thoughts to private banking. Yet, while
many feel they should be offering Islamic private wealth management services, few are entirely sure what form it should take and
what their activities will entail. In the absence of any concrete
industry vision, there is an opportunity for entrepreneurial banks to
carve a niche by defining the market. Until they do, here are three
scenarios exploring what Islamic private banking could look like in
the future:
• Customer-level Shar’ia. In the same way that individual banks
have their own Shar’ia committee, Islamic asset managers could
well construct portfolios around individual client ethics. In
traditional private banking, this personalised level of services is
only delivered to ultra-high net worth clients with exceptionally
large portfolios. If Islamic banks have to deliver individually
customised services to all their customers, the cost of providing
this service may skew the market in the direction of ultra-high net
worth individuals.
• Company indexing. Like ethical funds, Islamic private banks
will need to ensure that the companies in which they invest
comply with Islamic law. In fact, some data providers have already
started to add an Islamic marker to company statistics. But banks
will have to create their own indexes to reflect their individual
interpretations of Shar’ia law.
• Community matters. Since the remit of Islamic finance in
general is to serve the community as a whole, should Islamic
private banks take a more social view of their investments, beyond
the mere accrual of investor wealth? If the answer is yes, it would
have an impact on the way portfolios are managed. It would
also pose a conundrum for asset managers, because to deliver
significant returns for their clients while benefiting the community
they will need to be creative and flexible.
T24 supports a full range of private banking capabilities and
Islamic finance products, including Islamic banking clients
operating in the three aforementioned scenarios. This mature
functionality puts Temenos in a unique position to help Islamic
banks define an operating model that will keep them at the
forefront of the industry.
For any bank considering a new data centre solution, benchmarks
are crucial. And, although some are sceptical, in the right
circumstances, they can deliver invaluable insights.
Interpreting benchmarks requires common sense. Instead of
relying solely on ‘high water’ benchmarking based on state-ofthe-art hardware, banks should also rely on benchmarks that deal
with real-life scenarios. Temenos’ continuous benchmarking
programme uses standard hardware, mixed transaction volumes
and criteria appropriate to working banks. This helps prospective
customers to see how our technology can work for their business.
Vendor priorities are also vital because they give a real flavour
for the strengths of the technology on offer. Our partners play
an instrumental role in the benchmarking process and are equally
committed to helping banks make the right decisions. IBM
concentrates on meeting ongoing challenges – including
data privacy and minimising compliance risks, to maximising
IT infrastructure performance and reducing cost. Its open
standards-based multi-platform data server, IBM DB2® is the
only hybrid data server optimised for managing both relational
and pure XML data.
For Microsoft, the focus is on delivering enterprise-class
performance for retail banking and providing high availability
and data security with low total cost of ownership. Microsoft SQL
Server is a scalable business intelligence platform that helps
produce trend analysis, fraud detection and business reports
in real time.
Oracle delivers secure, reliable and scalable systems for retail
banks while providing adequate controls. The Oracle Database
Platform provides industrial-strength capabilities to support
business goals. Temenos also has its own database server, jBASE,
a fast, robust, economical solution that has proven itself at a large
range of T24 sites. By examining various vendor strengths and
priorities, banks can make the right choice.
The final piece of key advice here is ‘try before you buy’.
Banks must do their own research. All financial institutions have
an in-house testing environment and, ultimately, any data centre
technology will have to prove its mettle in a live environment.
This makes it vital for banks to assess the worth of any solution
they consider buying.
DR. MOHAMED GONEID
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
MANAGER MIDDLE EAST & GULF,
TEMENOS
Clive Ketteridge
DATABASE STRATEGY
DIRECTOR,
TEMENOS