Temenos Outlines Corporate Banking Roadmap at Community Forum in Lisbon
Temenos has made public future enhancements to its corporate banking offering in areas including: syndicated lending on the web; supply chain finance with enhanced factoring and forfaiting capabilities; trade finance internet capability; and cash management, for example multi-bank cash concentration services.
Speaking at the Temenos Community Forum (TCF) 2011 in Lisbon on 23-25 May 2011, which attracted more than 800 users and potential customers, Adrian Hadley, product manager retail, confirmed that Islamic treasury products and exchange traded options would be incorporated in release 12 (R12).
The company also used the event to announce the latest release of its core banking system T24, which is a componentised edition of the product aimed at large banks, and Metro Bank’s use of ARC Mobile for mobile banking services.
Anthony Thomson, chairman of Metro Bank, the first UK high street bank launched in 150 years, spoke about his philosophy with regards to the future of banking, highlighting the holy grail of better customer experience. And certainly Metro Bank is a game-changer in terms of customer service, with seven days a week branch banking, 15 minute account opening and instant card issuance. “If we could introduce ‘telepathic banking’, we would,” he said.
He stressed that service is more important than interest rate – and attracting customers on that basis means that they will stay customers longer because they are not driven by rate changes. “The key is to create fans, not customers,” he advised. “Profit is a by-product of a great experience.” And by adding mobile banking services, Metro Bank is looking to improve its clients’ mobility and usability experience.
Other banks attending the TCF included Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and Pakistan’s Silkbank – both had recently replaced their core banking systems with T24. Each implementation came with specific challenges – for example, Silkbank, which focuses on the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) segment, found that trade finance was the most challenging module to implement because of the country-specific requirements, according to Javed Edhi, chief information officer (CIO). However, the banks were satisfied that they were more service-oriented and customer-centric as a result of the T24 implementation.
TCF 2011 was the first major outing for the incoming chief executive officer (CEO), Guy Dubois, who is scheduled to take over from incumbent Andreas Andreades on 1 July 2011. Dubois gave the keynote speech at the gala dinner, a spot normally reserved for Temenos’ founder George Koukis.