According to Karen Massey, Senior Research Analyst, Consumer Banking & Credit practice at Financial Insights, an IDC company, “Banks want to transition from ‘complex on the inside and simple on the outside’ to ‘simpler and more standardized on the inside and highly differentiated and customer focused on the outside’.”
Speaking during a recent webinar hosted by Fiserv CBS Worldwide on “Core Banking and Integration at Principal Bank: Efficiency Meets Innovation”, Ms. Massey stressed that banks are increasingly leveraging service oriented architecture (SOA) to enable strategic and tactical IT initiatives. She noted that financial institutions already lead other sectors with almost 50% of FSI’s having completed their first SOA project and banks take the lead in financial services with 41% of banks surveyed opting for SOA for new projects. A further 24% of banks showed a preference for SOA on a tactical basis.
One bank that has successfully transitioned core systems and integrated channels using SOA is Principal Bank, a $1.3 billion US federal savings bank. Talking about his integration experience, Dean Brown, CIO of Principal Bank said that one of the keys in selecting Fiserv CBS core and its associated CBS Communicator XML-integration layer for its new core platform was the solution’s ability to provide an end-to-end, integrated set of core banking systems “under one roof” and have an open architecture to support integration on a business or technology basis. “Scalability, performance, and seamless upgrade cycles were also key considerations, as was the industry knowledge of the bank’s technology partner.” To date CBS core and CBS Communicator, using messages, services and service providers to integrate multiple channels, have brought benefits to the bank. These include the ability to successfully deploy non-traditional channels and products, establish an efficient operating environment, deliver consistent data across business units, and align IT with the bank’s strategic business vision.
Said John Macaluso, CTO of Fiserv CBS Worldwide and also a speaker at the event, “Business integration is an important competitive differentiator. Financial institutions need to transform their technology environments to be more responsive to a business climate of dynamic change. They need systems that provide real-time actionable data, integrated into business processes to enable sustainable growth, greater operational efficiency and better risk management and compliance.” He continued, “SOA delivers both a Technology Value from IT integration and a Business Value: streamlining process flow to deliver business process excellence. Principal Bank is an outstanding example of the practical application of SOA.”
The Financial Insights’ case study on Principal Bank and its core transition and enterprise integration experience is available from Fiserv CBS Worldwide or to Financial Insights’ banking and insurance subscribers only. To download the study entitled, “Core Transition and Channel Integration via SOA Support Product Innovation at Principal Bank”, visit www.fiservcbs.com.
