Outsourcing


IBM launches “first secure” blockchain services on cloud

IBM has launched a new framework for “securely” operating blockchain networks, as well as new services on the IBM Cloud that are designed to meet existing regulatory and security requirements. Working with teams of security experts, cryptographers, hardware experts and researchers, IBM says it has created new cloud services for “tamper-resistant, trusted” blockchain networks. Jerry […]

LzLabs partners with Cobol-IT for world’s “first” software-defined mainframe

Swiss software start-up LzLabs is collaborating with Cobol-IT to deliver the world’s “first” software-defined mainframe, designed to move legacy mainframe applications and data to open Linux server and cloud platforms. Cobol-IT will act as an integrated software provider for the solution as it is implemented for LzLabs’ customers across the world. Announced at CeBIT 2016, […]

Misys unveils Misys FinCloud

Misys today is launching Misys FinCloud, a range of cloud solutions and “global cloud environment” for its clients. It is supported by “selected global and local infrastructure providers, systems integrators and solution partners”, including Rackspace and NTT Communications, Misys says. With Misys FinCloud “clients gain faster access to innovation through shorter and more predictable on-boarding […]

Bank of Ireland ponders major IT overhaul

Bank of Ireland, one of Ireland’s “big four” banking players, is looking to modernise its legacy software, Banking Technology understands. The bank’s current set-up is outsourced to Accenture, which manages its group technology and change division. The deal was signed in 2014, and around 200 staff transferred to Accenture from Bank of Ireland as a […]

Swift to launch new cloud-based learning platform, SwiftSmart

The new e-learning platform will administrate, document, track, report and deliver a broad catalogue of digital courses and social learning. It is an interactive, cloud-based service. To start with, SwiftSmart will support a subset of Swift’s existing training portfolio, which consists of 100+ courses. The full portfolio will be available by 2017. The initiative is […]

ERI and Capgemini partner for shared services centre

The new partnership between private banking software vendor ERI and tech consultancy firm Capgemini will see the launch of a shared services centre for private banks and wealth managers in Europe. ERI will provide its flagship core banking system, Olympic, whilst Capgemini will bring to the table its expertise in infrastructure and application management services […]

Bigbank overhauls credit processing with Provenir

Estonia-based Bigbank is modernising its credit decisioning and loan origination processes with Provenir. Provenir’s cloud-based solution will reduce time to market, improve efficiency and customer centricity at the bank, says the vendor. Agur Jõgi, chief technology officer at Bigbank, comments that investment in technology will help the bank to achieve the goals of “delighting customers” […]

Blackrock testing Symphony’s new financial messaging app

Asset management firm Blackrock is trialling Symphony’s new financial messaging app. The app is being tested by part of Blackrock’s workforce and it is “looking to roll it out more widely in the coming months”. Blackrock is a major name to come onboard and the firm has 13,000 employees. However, Symphony has had success before […]

R3 ends “first of its kind” blockchain trial with 40 banks

New York-based R3 CEV has finished its trial of five distinct blockchain technologies in parallel in the “first test of its kind”. The trial represented the trading of fixed income assets between 40 of the world’s “largest” banks across the blockchains, using cloud technology providers within R3’s Global Collaborative Lab. The banks, including Barclays, Deutsche […]

I2c and TIS team up for payments in Asia

Payment firms i2c and TIS have formed a strategic partnership to standardise prepaid payment solutions on the i2c processing platform. Under terms of the multi-year partnership, Japan-based TIS will adopt i2c’s cloud-based platform as its standard for prepaid card processing and expand its use to support credit and debit card payment processing in “key Asian […]

Avaloq migrates KBL Switzerland to BIL Suisse’s BPO solution

Avaloq Sourcing Switzerland, Avaloq’s business process outsourcing (BPO) subsidiary (previously B-Source), has migrated KBL Switzerland to the BPO platform of Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL Suisse). The BPO solution is based on the vendor’s flagship core banking platform, Avaloq Banking Suite, and the migration took five months. BIL Suisse acquired the Swiss subsidiary of KBL […]

Genesis Investment Management extends partnership with Simcorp

UK-based Genesis Investment Management, a long-standing customer of Simcorp, has implemented the vendor’s client communication and reporting solution, Coric. The system has been deployed on an outsourced basis, hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud. According to Simcorp, the project was completed in four months. As the result, the client reporting efficiency has improved by more than […]

Are cloud-based managed services set to take off in 2016?

Over the last few years, technology infrastructures have become increasingly complex and expensive to manage. At the same time, IT budgets have been cut, leading to companies finding it hard to provide and maintain IT infrastructures. Dana Brants, head of services at Swift, looks at what companies can do under the circumstances. Due to costs, […]

Visa Europe expands tokenisation service for cloud-based payments

Visa Europe is expanding its Visa Europe Payment Tokenisation Service (VEPTS) for cloud-based payments. VEPTS will be available for payment credentials such as banks’ own mobile payment apps, a variety of wearable and other connected devices, internet browser-based wallets, and retailer-specific checkout offerings such as Visa Checkout. Sandra Alzetta, executive director product enablement for Visa […]

Markit adopts AWS cloud services

Financial information services firm Markit has begun using Amazon Web Services, in a deal the firm says will optimise the performance and scaling capabilities of Markit products and services including enterprise data management, thinkFolio, WSO, indices and processing.

No cloud please, we’re bankers

Despite predictions over the last few years that banks were just a heartbeat away from adopting cloud technology, only 1% of banks are actually running core processing in the cloud today, according to a new report by Temenos.

BT adds Volante messaging tools to Radianz cloud

Financial network BT Radianz has added Volante Technologies’ tools to the BT Radianz Cloud, in a move the two firms say will improve the reliability of clearing, settlement and payment transaction processing while cutting costs.

Citihub and Excel IT ally for cloud data centre services

Citihub Consulting, a global IT advisory firm, has partnered with IT services specialist Excel IT to offer a combined proposition covering infrastructure strategy and architecture through to migration logistics and ongoing support.

Barclays launches cloud contingency payments with AccessPay

Barclays has launched a cloud-based contingency payment service for corporates, which the bank says will help corporates to make payments even if they are unable to use their primary channel, for example during an internet outage. The deal comes as financial institutions and corporates increase their focus on risk mitigation.

Ciber machine will convert Cobol into cloud ready code

Service provider Ciber claims to have solved one of the most expensive problems in business: upgrading legacy systems to make them secure and cloud friendly. Its new system, Ciber Momentum, converts the code from languages such as Cobol, Ada and Pascal into a more cloud-ready format.

How the Internet of Things is helping banks put their customers first

At the SAP Financial Services Forum in London last month, the topic of digital transformation dominated the agenda. From legacy banks with lumbering IT systems to nimble fintech startups, the consensus was clear: The long-standing status quo is simply unsustainable in an increasingly digital economy

Cloud – not just the remit of the financial technology start-up

Over the past few years the financial industry has started to reinvent how it operates. Organisations are changing the way they serve their potential and existing customers, while maintaining the high levels of compliance and security that their customers and regulators require. The technologies available today mean that financial services organisations aren’t constrained in the way they once were. They can now access secure and compliant technology, on-demand, in the cloud which is helping them to create new ways to bring value to customers. But not all financial institutions have been able to take advantage of these technologies in the same way as newer entrants to the market have

Cloud: lit from within

Cloud-based technologies are spreading rapidly through the business world: the research firm IDC expects the cloud software market to be worth more than $100 billion by 2018, implying compound annual growth of more than 21%, roughly five times faster than traditional packaged software. It is clear that cloud computing is on course to become an […]

Capture Today’s Banking Customer Leveraging Infrastructure-as-a-Service

Improve your customer’s experience with Hybrid IT Banks must compete fiercely for new customers and to hold onto the ones they have. That means consistently meeting customer expectations, which is no easy task given the speed with which those expectations are evolving, particularly in terms of Internet and mobile interactions. Banks need to deploy technology […]

Leeds Building Society targets “customer engagement” with HP deal

Leeds Building Society is to revamp its customer engagement tools through a ten-year deal with HP Enterprise Services, which will encompass a number of independent software vendors working on different parts of the business. The deal builds on the earlier deal between the two firms in 2013, which focused on the building society’s core banking platform.

OMG addresses data sovereignty issues in the cloud

The Object Management Group has formed a new working group to study issues of documenting and controlling data across distributed cloud environments, a big inhibitor of cloud for those with strict data sovereignty requirements such as banks and financial services firms.

Banking innovation: a marathon, not a sprint

Britain’s banks have reliably serviced the banking needs of millions of customers for more than a hundred years; providing a safe place to store hard-earned cash, mortgages to buy dream homes, and great interest rates to accumulate savings

BT gets personal with on-the-fly video message service

BT has formally today the availability of a personalised video capability as part of its Cloud Contact portfolio of services following pilot project with two UK retail banks. The system, which allows businesses to email individually tailored videos to millions of customers by integrating relevant data with video templates, was developed by Israeli marketing technology specialist Idomoo.

Financial services disruption – why I’m backing the banks

For banks, a race to remain relevant is on. In the past few weeks, Lloyds Banking Group has announced its intention to double-down on digital banking, closing branches and cutting costs. In the US, BBVA Compass announced that its agreement with startup Dwolla to offer real-time payment facilities to customers makes it the first mainstream bank to open its technology platform to digital developers like Dwolla

Financial institutions ramp up IT innovation

Banks and other financial institutions are finally spending more on growing new products in areas such as mobile and data analytics rather than maintaining legacy systems, according to a new report by Capgemini.

Banco Macro opts for cloud

Argentina’s Banco Macro will use the Mambu cloud as the basis for a new business unit, which will offer loans to micro-enterprises and small businesses. The aim is to provide a lifeline to areas that have historically lacked access to financial services.

How to build a better SunGard

As SunGard’s first ever chief technology officer, Steven Silberstein knows a thing or two about financial technology. In a past life, he was global head of prime brokerage at Lehman Brothers. He later became chief information officer at Chi-X Global, before joining SunGard in a newly-created position two years ago.