Press release:

ACI Worldwide Teams with Suncorp Bank to Fight Payments Fraud

ACI’s Proactive Risk Manager™ Selected to Combat Cross-Channel Fraud

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

NAPLES, FLA –SEPTEMBER 18,2012—ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ: ACIW), a leading international provider of payments systems, announced today that Suncorp Bank, a division of Suncorp Group of Australia, has implemented ACI Proactive Risk Manager™ 8.0, the company’s comprehensive fraud management solution. A Proactive Risk Manager customer since 2002, Suncorp migrated to the next generation of the solution in order to take advantage of its real-time fraud detection functionality and its ability to integrate, present and enable disposition of fraud alerts from multiple transaction channels in a single system.

Proactive Risk Manager is a payments fraud management solution designed to detect and combat evolving and increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes. It combines predictive analytics with expertly defined rules to enable an accurate, flexible and real-time response to the increasingly complex and dangerous risks presented by fraud and money laundering.

“Protecting the assets our customers entrust to us is one of our most important duties,” said Martin Latimer, Executive Manager Group Financial Crimes, Suncorp. “We know that those who wish to defraud and steal from us are always seeking new and creative methods, and we are determined to do everything we can to prevent that.  By implementing Proactive Risk Manager 8.0, we believe we are better prepared to meet this challenge.”

“Fraud will always be a tremendous risk for financial institutions and could be very costly for those that are not properly prepared,” said Mike Braatz, Senior Vice President, Payments Fraud, ACI Worldwide. “In order to keep up with rapidly changing fraud schemes, financial institutions around the world need to implement solutions which will stand guard every minute of every day and provide the flexibility to keep up with evolving threats. We are happy to continue our partnership with Suncorp in their initiative to expand their successful fraud prevention programs, to cover other channels and ensure the lowest possible risk exposure for their clients.

Proactive Risk Manager is used by more than 160 customers in 44 countries.  ACI ranked in the leader category for financial crimes management by leading industry analyst firm IDC Financial Insights in the recent IDC MarketScape report, Financial Crimes Management 2012 Vendor Assessment.

European Central Bank May Get an Enforcement Role

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Thursday, September 13, 2012

European Central Bank May Get an Enforcement Role

By JACK EWING

FRANKFURT — To the European Central Bank’s existing duties — bulwark against inflation, lender of last resort, ultimate guardian of the euro — add another task: top cop for the euro zone’s banking system.

If the European Parliament and euro zone member states approve a plan presented on Wednesday by the European Commission, at the beginning of next year the central bank will become chief regulator of all banks in the euro zone, with the power to impose fines, remove top executives and even revoke banking licenses.

The central bank would supersede national regulators, which have been accused of being overly protective of the banks they oversee and reluctant to require the lenders to grapple with their problems.

But before the central bank can begin to tackle the task of regulating the more than 6,000 credit institutions in the euro zone, new staff members must be hired, money must be allocated and a clear structure must be developed to coordinate its work with the national regulators that will continue to handle most of the day-to-day tasks. No one yet has even rough estimates of how many people or how much money the central bank will need to perform the new role.

Even though the European Commission’s proposal for a banking union is a big leap, it does not grant the central bank powers on a par with those of United States banking authorities like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Under the current plan, the central bank would not have the resources needed to prevent bank runs or the authority to arrange a decent burial for a terminally ill institution.

The plan for a banking union is a work in progress, assembled in the midst of a fast-moving crisis. It is doubtful whether the central bank’s supervision of banks will do much to ease tension in the euro zone, though it might help in the future.

“They need to develop their specific operational expertise,” said Jörg Rocholl, president of the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. “I think of this as a long-term project that can prevent the next crisis from happening, to break this nexus between banks and states.”

The plan outlined by the European Commission would, if ratified, give the central bank new supervisory powers on Jan. 1. But it is likely to take six months from that date for the central bank to build up the capacity to regulate just the biggest, cross-border banks in the euro zone. It could be a year before it is able to supervise all the banks.

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Some in Europe Resist Reach of Central Banking Plan

The following is an excerpt from an article in:


The New York Times
Thursday, September 13, 2012

Some in Europe Resist Reach of Central Banking Plan

By JAMES KANTER and STEPHEN CASTLE

BRUSSELS — The European Commission president, José Manuel Barroso, described the proposal for a single supervisor for the region’s banks on Wednesday as the first step in a renewed drive for a federally unified Europe.

But immediate dissent from different European quarters over the ambition and scope of the banking plan, as well as concern about its feasibility, were reminders that a call like Mr. Barroso’s for “more Europe” as a solution to the Continent’s ills might be more easily said than done.

Delivering his annual State of the Union address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, Mr. Barroso outlined a plan for more central banking regulation as a crucial part of the effort to resolve the region’s debt crisis.

The proposal, which would require the unanimous approval of the European Union’s 27 member nations, would give the European Central Bank the power to withdraw banking licenses, fine noncompliant lenders and require all 6,000 euro zone banks to join the system by Jan. 1, 2014.

Mr. Barroso also opened the door to a new discussion on revising the bloc’s rule book, even invoking the word federation to describe his ultimate goal. But something akin to a United States of Europe is regarded as a step too far by many Europeans, who fear a loss of national sovereignty.

“A deep and genuine economic and monetary union can be started under the current treaty but can only be completed with changes in the E.U. treaties,” he said. “I call for a federation of nation states, not a superstate.”

He indicated that proposals for a new treaty could come as soon as 2014.

That will raise concerns among some politicians who remember how plans to draw up a constitution for the bloc took several years to draft and were then rejected by referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005.

The Lisbon Treaty, which took the place of the constitution, was intended to be the last redrawing of the rules for many years. Any new treaty would require the approval of all member states.

Seeking to paint himself as a moderate with ideas that could stem extremism during a period of economic distress, Mr. Barroso said that “we must not allow the populists and the nationalists to set a negative agenda.”

For more, visit www.nytimes.com.

Press release:

Punjab & Maharashtra Co-Op. Bank Embraces IBM Smarter Computing to Support Its Branch Expansion and Online Presence

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Mumbai, INDIA - 14 Aug 2012: Punjab & Maharashtra Co-op. Bank Ltd (PMC), one of India's youngest co-operative banks, has selected the IBM (NYSE: IBM) Smarter Computing approach to IT to accelerate its growth and reach in the fast developing financial services landscape in India. PMC Bank chose to migrate its applications including core banking to an IBM infrastructure with Power Systems to support the growing needs of its more than 66 branches, two extension counters and ATM network, while strengthening its online presence through remote banking.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, the richest and fastest developing state in India, accountable for 25 percent of India's industrial output and five percent of its GDP [1], the client base of PMC Bank is growing and diversifying even faster. Established as a new bank in 1984, today PMC Bank supports more than 500,000 clients and more than 5500 crore of business. To keep up with its growth without compromising its standards of service and to be able to enrich its offerings while developing its branch and ATM network, PMC Bank needed a totally new concept for its IT infrastructure to support varied applications like mobile banking, SMS banking, Internet banking, Treasury operations and kiosk services. 

"We want to offer our clients a banking experience which is easier, faster, more convenient and secure," said H Krishna Karanth, General Manager, PMC Bank. "We also want to enhance the role of our branches and let them focus on providing financial services advice and counsel, while leaving the transactions part to the IT infrastructure."  

This means executing millions of transactions daily, handling iterations in a secure way, maintaining full data integrity across multiple subsystems and constantly balancing workloads. It also means dealing simultaneously with challenges such as managing risk and regulations, achieving optimum connectivity and finding new ways to attain efficiency and cost-savings. That is why PMC Bank considered IBM.

“Banks and financial institutions have achieved reduced operating costs with high performance for many years with IBM Power Systems,” said Viswanath Ramswamy, Director, Power Systems, IBM India South Asia. “For PMC Bank, our goal is to provide a technology roadmap which will also assist the bank sustain its long-term growth. The choice of an IBM Smarter Computing solution over competitive platforms reaffirms our leadership in the Indian UNIX server market.”  

PMC Bank implemented IBM Power Systems built with IBM BladeCenter H, POWER7 blades, AIX operating system, IBM Storwize V7000 storage system and IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. Featuring IBM PowerVM virtualization technology, the system provides a more dynamic and flexible platform, and facilitates data sharing between bank branches more swiftly, while optimizing resources utilization and keeping costs under control. RAS (Reliability, Availability and Serviceability) and SSD (solid state drives) features automate data tiering to help PMC Bank handle peak loads in real time, thus improving response time for customers and reducing business down time due to hardware failures.  

PMC Bank's entire implementation and consolidation was done in association with IBM Business Partner Orient Technologies.  

For more information about Punjab & Maharashtra Co-op. Bank Ltd, please visitwww.pmcbank.com.

For more information on IBM India, please visit www.ibm.com/in.  

### 

[1] Source: Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), July 2008.

Accenture Recognized as a Leading Core Banking Software Provider for Large and Midsized Institutions

March 26, 2012

Accenture Recognized as a Leading Core Banking Software Provider

for Large and Midsized Institutions

 

Alnova Wins Celent Award for Breadth of Functionality

 

NEW YORK; March 26, 2012 – Accenture’s (NYSE: ACN) core banking system, Alnova Financial Solutions™, received the XCelent Functionality Award for breadth of functionality in Celent’s latest reports on global core banking solutions for large and midsized institutions.¹  It also ranked second in North America sales rankings among seven solutions.² Celent is a leading industry analyst firm focused on the application of information technology in the global financial services industry.

 

Alnova, developed by Accenture Software, earned the XCelent award for “Breadth of Functionality” based upon its range of advanced front- and back-office functionality and diversity of lines of businesses served. Alnova also scored well in the technology category, according to the reports.

 

“We are honored that Alnova has been recognized for the strength of its functionally,” said Paolo Maresca, head of Accenture Software for Banking. “This award reflects our commitment to core banking innovation and to delivering technologies that directly address the challenges banks face in the new market environment.”

 

“Core banking renewal, whether it is done incrementally or as a total replacement, has the potential to provide immediate and sustainable growth and efficiency benefits to banks, but only when supported by the right technology,” said Juan Pedro Moreno, global managing director ofAccenture Core Banking Services. “Our goal is to provide clients with a range of flexible, functionally-rich solutions that help banks become more efficient and customer centric in today’s cost-intensive and competitive environment.”

 

Core banking systems are sophisticated technology applications that support banks’ primary services – from deposit gathering, lending and mortgages to checking, savings, ATM and credit card services and online and mobile banking. They also support a wide range of regulatory reporting and compliance functions for banks.

 

Alnova Financial Solutions is a leading core banking solution with more than 100 clients in more than 20 countries, including many of the world’s largest and most successful financial institutions.  Most recently, the solution has been adopted by one of the leading banks in the U.S. market.

 

Celent's XCelent Awards were launched in November 2010 to acknowledge vendor excellence. They are designed to help financial institutions and technology providers stay abreast of industry trends by evaluating the shifting vendor marketplace and awarding technology best practices. 

 

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 246,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

 

Accenture Software combines deep technology acumen with industry knowledge to develop differentiated software products.  It offers innovative software-based solutions to enable organizations to meet their business goals and achieve high performance. Its home page iswww.accenture.com/software. For Banking software, its home page iswww.accenture.com/bankingsoftware.

 

¹ Celent, “Core Banking Solutions for Large Banks: A Global Perspective” by Bart Narter and Stephen Greer, March 2012 and “Core Banking Solutions for Midsize Banks: A Global Perspective” by Bart Narter and Stephen Greer, February 2012.

² Celent, “Big Leagues Table 2012: Global Core Banking Sales Ranking” by Bart Narter and Stephen Greer, March 2012.

 

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News Release from JPMorgan - Strategic Partnership

March 8, 2012

JPMorgan Chase and AirPlus International Form Strategic Partnership
New Partnership Will Provide Corporations and Their Employees With Integrated Expense Management Solutions That Deliver Local Expertise With Worldwide Reach

NEW YORK - March 8, 2012 - JPMorgan Chase & Co. Global Commercial Card business (NYSE: JPM) and AirPlus International, a leading provider of corporate travel & entertainment expense solutions, today announced the formation of a strategic partnership to help multinational organizations optimize processes and strengthen control of their corporate card and travel expense management programs. The comprehensive offering will provide leading solutions to both business travellers on the road and their travel managers at home.

By integrating AirPlus' innovative approach and expertise in corporate travel payment with J.P. Morgan's strength in global corporate banking services, the partnership will bring powerful benefits to organizations around the world.  This arrangement will generate new and innovative solutions in the corporate travel payments industry.

"AirPlus has developed a leading edge solution in helping corporations better manage their global travel spend," said Andrew Pilkington, President, Global Commercial Card, J.P. Morgan. "Together, we are delivering a compelling alternative to traditional corporate card programs. We will offer clients a complete suite of travel & entertainment payment solutions that provide world-class technology, travel expense management expertise and local service and knowledge. This partnership fully supports our strategy of delivering innovative yet practical solutions to drive a first-class client experience on a global scale."

"J.P. Morgan's strength and depth of experience in the cards business is an excellent fit with our know-how in international corporate payment solutions, and we are delighted to form this strategic partnership," said Patrick Diemer, Chairman of the Executive Board, AirPlus. "The partnership will form the basis for continued and sustainable growth of our global market share and bring us ever closer to our goals of becoming the preferred global provider of business travel payment solutions."

The features and benefits that the new J.P. Morgan and AirPlus partnership will bring to market will be announced in the coming months.

European Zombie Banks

Excerpt from an article in The New York Times
Monday, February 13, 2012

Help in European Financial Crisis Could Spawn ‘Zombie Banks’ 

By JACK EWING

FRANKFURT — Few would begrudge Mario Draghi his boast last week that he and the European Central Bank had prevented a disastrous credit crisis by showering banks with cheap loans in December.

But beneath the gratitude toward Mr. Draghi, the president of the central bank, lurks a fear that the easy money could simply be creating the conditions for another banking crisis several years from now.

Because of the central bank’s cheap financing, some economists warn, sick banks now face less pressure to confront their problems — to clean out bad loans and other impaired assets, or even wind down operations if there is no hope of a turnaround. The European Central Bank, they say, could inadvertently spawn a cohort of “zombie banks,” burdened by nonperforming loans and assets that remain on the books, like the ones that helped make the 1990s a lost decade for Japan.

“It’s a huge bet,” said Charles Wyplosz, a professor of economics at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. “If the crisis ends up well, the E.C.B. will have pulled off a miracle. If things go wrong, then commercial banks will be in a much worse situation than they were before.”

Professor Wyplosz said the central bank might be making the banking system more fragile by encouraging institutions to load up on risky assets, especially government bonds from troubled euro zone countries like Spain or Italy. Banks can use those assets as collateral for more loans from the central bank.