FIS sets sights on eastern Europe with new cloud banking platform
FIS is targeting Poland and eastern Europe with its new cloud-based core banking utility
US banking and payments technology specialist FIS has launched a cloud-based real time core banking utility aimed at mid-tier banks in central and eastern Europe, which it says will help its clients cut costs and time to market for new products.
The service is hosted by Polish payment processor and central clearing house Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa, and draws on KIR’s cloud infrastructure and high-speed links to all the banks in Poland, which currently handles over 120 million transactions per month.
FIS will provide the software platform using the FIS Profile core banking system and Xpress middleware layer. It aims to drive cost savings by enabling banks to run their core banking products on a hosted version of the FIS profile.
According to FIS, the new service will provide access to established product libraries, reducing the time required to launch new product, and will provide a holistic view of the customer’s banking relationship so that banks can create better offerings tailored to individual customers.
“We are delighted to be working with FIS on this industry-changing solution,” said Michał Szymański, vice president for payments at KIR. “We are already the Polish banking utility for payments and extending that role to delivery of cloud-based IT services for banks is a natural step towards even greater exploitation of economies of scale. Being at the heart of the Polish banking system, we are dedicated to providing banks with state of art services such as this.”
While cloud solutions are generally known and marketed on the basis of their ability to reduce costs within organisations, FIS has also highlighted the fact that the new platform will operate in real time, potentially speeding up product delivery. At the same time, financial institutions in Poland and other countries in the region are relatively unhindered by legacy systems compared to some western European markets.
“The world of banking is changing and we are seeing increasing demand for outsourcing and SaaS offerings,” said Jonathan Davis, head of outsourcing at FIS. “Mid-tier banks often find it difficult to build the investment case to upgrade their legacy systems to provide real-time capabilities that deliver true market advantage but market demands are driving them to find cost economies without compromising on functionality. With FIS Profile in the cloud, mid-tier banks in the region now have a core banking platform that can enable them to launch innovative and competitive new products quickly and cost effectively.”
The launch in Poland mirrors the growing use of cloud technology by the mid-tier banks and building societies in the UK. In September and October respectively, Yorkshire and Leeds Building Societies joined an alliance with HP to use HP’s private cloud to host the building societies’ savings and lending platforms.
