Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), the US-based
global IT services giant which operates across industries from
aerospace to healthcare, is embarking on a major rebranding
exercise later this year as it looks to increase the number of
financial services companies it has as clients. Dan Jones
reports.
Michael Arben, director for strategic initiatives in EMEA at
Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and Andrew Crowley,
vice-president for financial services consulting in EMEA, told
RBI they believe greater opportunities await CSC in a
fintech sector that is addressing a host of compliance-related
problems against a backdrop of lingering liquidity issues.
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The rollout of the Single European Payments Area (SEPA) for
instance, is something which Arben says “is a catalyst in
triggering a restructuring of the way banking operates and the way
in particular that it deals with corporates”.
He added: “Sepa has got people thinking again of the
deficiencies in cash management and treasury management,” he adds.
“You put all those together in the context of liquidity and you
have a recipe for some criteria that is becoming quite urgent.”
CSC is accelerating its interest in the banking sector as part
of a wider rebranding exercise set to take place later this year.
Crowley says this will constitute a much stronger globally
integrated approach and will see the firm better leverage its
capabilities across Europe and worldwide.
CSC has numerous existing fintech partnerships within Europe,
particularly France, where the group has collaborated with the
likes of BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Nataxis on issues such
as compliance with MiFID (Markets in Financial Instruments
Directive). Over 35 percent of CSC’s revenue and staff in France
are focused on the banking sector.
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By GlobalDataCrowley also points to Germany as an area of strength, with CSC
having provided SEPA solutions to the likes of Commerzbank, HTB and
Citibank.
But it is the pan-European stage – and agreements such as that
which sees CSC power MasterCard Worldwide’s debit and prepaid
processing platform – that could best demonstrate CSC’s
capabilities, Arben and Crowley suggest.
Arben stressed that the firm is “trying to avoid the zero sum
game” of targeting competitors, instead preferring to expand the
marketplace by creating value. But he acknowledged that “there are
some competitors in the UK, for example, which have been enjoying
success by the virtue of the fact that we haven’t been there.”
That is likely to change in light of CSC’s acceleration
programme. “We’re certainly bringing a lot more consulting services
around things like operational risk management, middle and back
office solutions in consulting, product and also in the managed
service area which we probably haven’t taken to the UK market as
strongly before,” Arben adds.
An increased focus on bancassurance may also aid UK operations.
“It plays to our insurance strengths in the UK, which certainly
allows us to have more consulting conversations and services for
banks where they’re typically trying to get a better bancassurance
model,” Arben says. “It’s very common in Europe but not a model
that has been particularly successful here in the UK, so we
certainly see a drive in that respect.”
The competitive background is now more favourable to CSC, Arben
continued, in part because rivals have realised the strengths of
the business. “If you go back a couple of years ago we certainly
felt pressured by Oracle and SAP to really displace us in terms of
banking clients, [but] we’ve seen a change in heart – they’ve
become comfortable in realising that banks are very reluctant to
move away from a stable, embedded environment.”
This sentiment has materialised in the form of agreements signed
in the past few months with both Oracle and SAP. In November 2007
CSC and SAP announced the formation of an alliance which brought
together CSC’s Hogan Core Banking System with the SAP Price
Optimization application.
And in April 2008, the Hogan system was coupled with Siebel, the
retail banking front office application system from Oracle, as part
of a combined solution intended to offer multi-channel software to
support banks’ marketing, sales, origination and service
capabilities.
“Historically, our strategy was to continue to develop
applications and then licence and distribute them ourselves.
Certainly now you see the Oracle announcement is part of a broader
approach in which we take a solution to customers,” commented
Crowley. This is reflected in the growing demand from some segments
for wider offerings, with Crowley making mention of “card in a box
or bank in a box” systems finding favour in Eastern Europe in
particular.
| IT CONTRACTS | |||
| RBI Fintech DealWatch tracks recent major technology contract wins with a focus on the retail financial services industry as well as fintech mergers and acquisitions and innovative new product launches |
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| Country | Participants | Type/value |
Details |
| Turkey | IsBank, Fidelity National Information Services |
Contract win | IsBank, Turkey’s largest bank, has chosen to implement the Corebank system from Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) across its entire retail banking operation. The core banking system will replace IsBank’s legacy system and is part of a wider transformation initiative through which the bank intends to offer new products more efficiently as well as improving customer service and boosting revenues. The bank sees Corebank’s product capabilities as particularly useful with regard to its efforts to push further into the fast-growing Turkish mortgage market. “Rather than relying on proprietary technology as most banking systems do, Corebank J2EE is a standards-based application, which means it can flex to react to industry technology trends and improve processing for our customers’ and our prospects’ benefit,” said IsBank manager Hakan Aran. |
| Vietnam | An Binh Bank, Temenos | Contract sign-off | Vietnam’s An Binh Bank (AB Bank) has become the country’s seventh financial institution to go live with the Temenos T24 Model Bank system. AB Bank sees the technology as aiding it in its quest to grow its customer base from 55,000 accounts to two million by 2010. |
| Mexico | TSYS, Globalcard | Contract win | TSYS has signed an agreement with Globalcard which will see it provide account processing services, reporting tools and risk and portfolio management to the Mexican-based credit card company. |
| UK | Yorkshire Building Society, Skywire Software | Contract win | The UK’s Yorkshire Building Society, the third-largest mutual, has chosen Skywire Software’s Docuflex solution in order to standardise document protection and enable document delivery across electronic channels. The implementation will involve creating a central document repository. |
| Japan | Bank of Tokyo-Mitsibushi UFJ, Sefas | Contract win | Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has implemented a document software package from IT provider Sefas. The Open Print solution will optimise the bank’s ability to control, produce and distribute business documents. |
| Qatar | Qatar International Islamic Bank, Misys | Contract sign-off | Qatar International Islamic Bank (QIIB) has extended its relationship with software firm Misys by implementing the Misys Equation 3.9 retail banking solution. The multi-currency system has been installed in 10 of the bank’s branches across the region. |
| Finland | OP-Pohjola, Equens | Payment processing implementation | Payment processing firm Equens has signed an agreement with OP-Pohjola Group, the largest financial services group in Finland. Equens will process SEPA and cross border euro payments for OP-Pohjola, with a view to introducing foreign currency payment processing in October 2008 |
| China | Cisco, China Construction Bank | Contract win | IT services firm Cisco will collaborate with China Construction Bank (CCB) on the implementation of a core network and construction of a data centre at CCB’s head office. The deal was signed in Washington as part of a series of trade deals signed between China and the United States. |
| Global | Experian, Clear2Pay | Strategic partnership | Experian and payments firm Clear2Pay have entered into a strategic partnership which will see Experian’s bank account and validation software Bank Wizard embedded in Clear2Pay’s payment processing system Open Payment Framework (OPF). The system is currently used by European banks in 44 countries. |
| Germany | Commerzbank, SAP | Contract sign-off | Germany’s Commerzbank has completed the implementation of the SAP for Banking solution. The adaptation of the new systems was based on the existing SAP application used by Commerzbank subsidiary Eurohypo. |
| South Africa | Standard Bank, Misys | Contract win | Standard Bank has become the first firm to implement the Misys BankFusion Universal Banking platform, the latest core banking solution from the UK financial technology firm. The implementation will take place at Standard Bank’s Zimbabwe operations. |
| Ireland | Allied Irish Banks, Finantix | Contract win | Wealth management operations at Allied Irish Banks (AIB) are to be bolstered by the introduction of J2EE technology from Finantix. The system will provide AIB with increased customer insight, said the bank, and follows AIB’s recent installation of Finantix advice-led sales components for its retail operations. |
| Global | Symantec | Award winners | Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, HSBC Mexico, JPMorgan Chase and AgFirst Farm Credit Bank were among the winners at Symantec’s 2008 Visionary Award ceremony. The awards recognise organisations that display best practice in managing and protecting business-critical information. |
| Global | Arab Bank, Fortent | AML contract win | Jordan’s Arab Bank will use anti-money laundering technology from risk and compliance technology vendor Fortent across 400 branches in 29 countries. The system allows for both English and Arabic characters and has already been rolled out in Europe and parts of the Middle East. |
| Global | XIRING, Crédit Agricole, Banque Populaire | Reserve capital increase | French e-security firm XIRING has announced that four Credit Agricole and Banque Populaire investment funds are to subscribe to a reserve capital increase of €3 million ($4.7 million). XIRING sees the move as supporting its growth plans and enabling it to consider acquisition opportunities. |
| Ukraine | Nadra Bank, Wincor Nixdorf | ATM partnership extension | Ukraine’s Nadra Bank is to extend its partnership with Wincor Nixdorf via the installation of multifunction ATMs and transaction terminals. Wincor Nixdorf has already provided more than 90 percent of the bank’s 1,000 ATMs over the course of an eight-year partnership. |
| US | Commerce State Bank, Metavante | Contract win | Wisconsin’s Commerce State Bank has announced that it is converting its core banking processing platform to Metavante’s Integrated Banking Solution. The bank, formed in 2005, has signed a long-term agreement with banking and payments firm Metavante encompassing ATM, electronic banking and other services. |
| US | Equifax, Fair Isaac | Strategic partnership | Credit report compiler Equifax and IT consultancy Fair Isaac have announced that they are to collaborate on an initiative which will see the two firms offer advanced analytics and scoring solutions to consumers and businesses. The offering will use consumer credit data from Equifax and Fair Isaac’s scoring technology. |
| Global | Atos Worldline, ING-DiBa | Contract extension | ING Di-Ba, ING’s German direct banking subsidiary, has extended its card processing agreement with Atos Worldline until 2012. Atos Worldline will also process all Visa cards handled by the bank. |
| UK | Nationwide Building Society, BT | Outsourcing contract win | The UK’s Nationwide Building Society is outsourcing the management of its networked IT services to BT under a seven-year, £160 million ($319 million) deal. Under the new agreement, Nationwide will transfer all voice and data networking infrastructure to BT, including third-party contracts and some in-house staff. |
| The Netherlands | Albert Heijn, Equens | Biometrics trial | Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn is teaming with European payments processor Equens to test fingerprint scanning technology as an alternative to card and cash payments at the check-out. Shoppers participating in the new service – called Tip2Pay – will be able pay for purchases by placing their fingertips on a reader. |
|
Global |
HSBC, Global Payments | Card processing joint venture | HSBC is transferring its card merchant acquiring business in the UK to a joint venture company formed with US transaction processor Global Payments. Under the terms of the agreement, Global Payments will pay HSBC $439 million in cash to acquire a 51 percent stake in the venture, called HSBC Merchant Services (see RBI 594). |
Source: RBI
