The Egypt-based unit of Greece’s Piraeus Bank has gone
live on Fiserv’s Universal Banking platform, following the lead of
its Cyprus-based unit, which implemented the vendor’s technology in
January 2009. The unit is the first within Piraeus to be running a
platform fully supporting the Arabic language, reports Douglas
Blakey.

 

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Fiserv, the US-based IT provider which topped the FinTech 100
rankings in 2008 and 2009 (see RBI 623) has announced that the
Egypt-based operations of Greece headquartered Piraeus Bank have
gone live on the vendor’s Universal Banking platform.

Fully supporting the Arabic
language, Universal Banking is a “unique, integrated real-time
solution for retail and treasury markets”.

Fiserv said that the platform
allows large and mid-sized financial institutions to expand their
range of services and diversify their income streams.

Piraeus Bank had total assets of
over €54bn ($71.8bn) in fiscal 2009 and operations in 11 countries;
it announced implementation of Universal Banking in its Cyprus
operations in January 2009.

GlobalData Strategic Intelligence

US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?

Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.

By GlobalData

In Egypt, Piraeus has total assets
of around €1.3bn, a branch network of 49 outlets and a lending
market share of around 2%.

Other key international markets for
Piraeus include Romania and Bulgaria, with branch networks of 186
and 101 respectively and lending market shares of 5.8% and
7.2%.

Group-wide, Piraeus reported a net
profit attributable to shareholders of €235m in fiscal 2009, down
25% year-on-year due to a significant rise in provisions which
soared to €491m.

“Our expansion into the Egyptian
banking market depended on a robust universal banking solution.
Working with Fiserv, we have created a standard blueprint to expand
internationally,” said Jannis Delis, group chief information
officer at Piraeus Bank.

“As we continue our multi-country
expansion, Fiserv solutions provide us with a solid, trusted
foundation and expertise in financial services.”

Fiserv’s offerings include the
Signature bank platform for retail and commercial banking, Treasury
and Trade functionality, and branch support with Aperio, the
vendor’s next generation solution for customer channel management,
and Teller, a multi-currency, full-function, branch tellering and
transaction processing solution.

“Piraeus Bank’s long-term plans to
expand across multiple countries continues to be realised through
the completion of this implementation in Egypt,” said Tony
Catalfano, division president of bank solutions at Fiserv.

“Marking a milestone for the bank,
as well as for Fiserv, this is Piraeus’ first bank running with
full Arabic language capabilities.

“Fiserv solutions provide the best-of-breed technology necessary
for financial institutions to expand their global reach,” Catalfano
continued.

 

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

Country

Participants

Type/Value

Details

Date

EUROPE MIDDLE EAST AND
AFRICA

UK

Tsys, Serverside Group

Card personalisation venture

Tsys has announced a partnership
agreement with Serverside Group, a global digital card design firm,
to launch Tsys Card Shop, allowing issuers to launch customised
card programmes on demand, regardless of batch size. Payment cards
are only created when cardholders request them.

28 Apr

Spain

Banco Sabadell, Apple iPhone

M-banking venture

Spain’s Banco Sabadell has unveiled
iPad and iPhone specific versions of its mobile banking
service.

23 Apr

Sweden

Swedbank

Payments processing venture

Swedbank has launched a service that
lets customers use mobile phones to log onto online banking
accounts and digitally sign documents using their handsets.

19 Apr

Germany

Commerzbank, First Data

Debit processing agreement
extended

First Data, a provider of electronic
commerce and payment processing solutions, and Commerzbank, a
Germany-based financial institution, have extended their debit
processing agreement. First Data will continue to provide technical
processing for cross-border Maestro transactions for the German
financial institution until 2015.

16 Apr

South Africa

Absa, Planet Payment

Payment processing venture

South Africa’s Absa bank has teamed up
with Planet Payment on a service that lets merchants charge
customers in their own currencies. It is to help minimise confusion
from tourists that will arrive in the country ahead of the football
World Cup. The service will support over 30 foreign currencies.

14 Apr

UK

Transport for London, Transys

Business management contract win

Transport for London has paid £1
million ($1.5 million) to buy the Oyster brand from the Transys
consortium as part of a renewed push to incorporate the contactless
e-ticketing technology in mobile phones and bank cards.

13 Apr

Italy

American Express, Bank of Italy

Card distribution suspension

The central bank of Italy has ordered
American Express to suspend the distribution of new credit cards
after a judicial investigation found the credit card company had
used confusing wordage to customers in relation to various
products.

9 Apr

Spain

Santander

Consumer management launch

Spanish bank Santander is using mobile
multilingual robotic guides, interactive video walls and augmented
reality tools to take guests on a hi-tech tour of its 395-acre
visitor centre in Boadilla del Monte, Spain, as part of its drive
to become a leading innovator in finance.

9 Apr

France

Gemalto, Todos

Payment processing acquisition

French smart card supplier Gemalto has
acquired Swedish online banking authentication specialist Todos.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

8 Apr

Sweden

Nordea, Accenture

Online outsourcing contract win

Nordea has agreed to a five-year
outsourcing contract with Accenture for the development and
maintenance of applications to support the Scandinavian bank’s
websites. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

7 Apr

Bahrain

Arab Financial Services, First
Data

Payments processing contract win

Arab Financial Services has selected
First Data to support its regional client base. Financial terms of
the deal were not disclosed.

6 Apr

THE AMERICAS

US

Wall Street Systems, Speranza
Systems

Electronic payments system contract
win

Wall Street Systems, the global
provider of treasury, trading and settlement solutions and
services, has acquired the assets of electronic bank account
management (EBAM) specialist Speranza Systems, after it said it
expects a significant growth in the EBAM market. Financial terms of
the deal were not disclosed.

26 Apr

US

Swift

Business management venture

Financial messaging network Swift has
gone live with its new standard for electronic bank account
management (EBAM), allowing banks to streamline the manual process
of bank account management.

21 Apr

US

MoneyGram International

Payment transfer service expansion

MoneyGram International, a global
money transfer company, has expanded its mobile payment transfer
service to approximately 40,000 locations in the United States.

20 Apr

Brazil

Banco de Brasil, Western Union

Online consumer platform launch

“Western Union, part of the
money-transfer segment of global payments, and Brazil’s Banco do
Brasil have announced that the Western Union Money Transfer Money
in Minutes service is now available online to Banco do Brasil
customers.

12 Apr

US

InComm, Qpay Inc

Payment processing contract win

InComm, a firm specialising in sales
and marketing of prepaid products and innovator of transaction
processing, has entered into a merger agreement with Miami-based
Qpay, which provides payment processing systems. The bank said it
was a “significant step towards increasing both our product
offerings and destinations in the prepaid space”.

12 Apr

US

MasterCard

Online consumer platform launch

US cards giant, MasterCard, has
launched a website where cardholders can gain access to deals and
discounts from thousands of retailers and manufacturers.

9 Apr

ASIA-PACIFIC

Japan

Tsys, SBI Sumishin Net Bank

Payments processing win

Tsys has announced that it has won a
contract from online Japanese lender SBI Sumishin Net Bank (SSNB)
to process its payment card portfolio. Tsys will provide processing
and back-office operation services for SSNB to issue cards to
consumers, including retail membership cards, a proprietary
private-label credit card and association-branded credit cards.

20 Apr

Australia

Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Consumer website venture

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has
launched Coinland, a virtual online game for primary school
children to learn about money management. CBA also recently
launched an iPhone augmented reality application for people buying
and selling homes.

15 Apr

India

Firstsource, ICICI Bank, Kohlberg
Kravis Roberts & Co

Potential sale of business unit

American private equity giant Kohlberg
Kravis Roberts & Co is the frontrunner to buy a controlling
stake in ICICI Bank’s Firstsource, which was originally set up to
support the bank’s back office operations, according to Reuters.
Firstsource has since diversified into the medical and telecoms
sector.

13 Apr

China

Alibaba, Alipay

Online payments processing
investment

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba has
said it will invest CNY5 billion ($732 million) over the next five
years to upgrade its online payments network Alipay.

12 Apr

Australia

Chi-X

Electronic trading system launch

Australia’s government has given
in-principle approval for Chi-X, a European equity trading facility
to launch a trading platform in the country.

31 Mar

Source: RBI