Finacle Whiteboard

Infosys Launches Finacle Treasury-In-A-Box™

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 09:24:34 +0000

Modernisation of treasury systems has always been a big challenge for banks, as it entails more than significant investment and business risk. Long lead times involving a lengthy scoping exercise could mean that the original objectives have changed by the time the system is finally ready, leaving the bank no better off than before. That apart, paying for a full-blown solution is not commercially viable for banks that might have operations limited to, say, the money market and fixed income segments. The perceived business risks and a prolonged implementation process and apprehension on scale of investment drive banks to continue with their current solutions that has limited capabilities and high maintenance cost.

Simplifying how banks earn wealth management revenue

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:45:07 +0000

From mere distributors who facilitated transactions, banks today have progressed to performing an advisory role for their clients. And this is in line with client expectations. Today, customers look at banks as a one stop shop to meet their financial needs. In this scenario, it is wealth managers’ aim to manage clients’ wealth holistically, offering solutions for all their financial requirements - constantly tracking their portfolio, comparing it against benchmarks and re-balancing when required. This expansion of banks’ role as wealth managers provides new opportunities to enhance their fee income generation capabilities.

2+2=5: The Modular Approach for Treasury

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:19:45 +0000

A universal remote control is under-utilized if all you have is a T.V. Not to mention wasteful expenditure!

And, the same concept is applicable even in case of the new-age banking solutions, especially treasury systems. Of course, having a comprehensive suite of functionalities is nice but if all its modules are not going to be immediately utilized then going the modular way may be the best way to achieve higher efficiency and lower cost of ownership.

The Importance of Partnership in Banking

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 07:06:06 +0000

The changing landscape is forcing banks to look at different ways to enhance profitability through the services they offer. From being a one stop shop for all financial service needs, banks are consolidating their profitable ventures and partnering with third parties in areas of non-core competence. Partnership, by its very nature, allows banks to share risks associated with their unproven capabilities and achieve higher cost efficiencies. In a recent research, when asked how banks saw the potential for partnerships and collaboration with other companies, these were some partnership categories that emerged:

A Multifaceted Approach to Mobile Security

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 02:53:41 +0000

The mobile channel emerged as the perfect solution for financial institutions in search of a way to extend reach, improve customer convenience and lower operating costs. That being said, mobile banking may have enhanced customer experience and supported financial inclusion, but it has been dogged by security issues all along. Service providers have to safeguard transactions at three levels – authenticate user identity, protect devices against replication and secure data transmission. While various technologies such as user and mobile PIN, data encryption, limited on-device data storage and multi-factor authentication improved the safety of mobile transactions, they could not be universally applied and hence, excluded a huge number of older or less powerful devices.

New Chapter in U.S. Core Banking

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 10:11:43 +0000

Banks in the U.S can no longer afford to go slow on core banking modernization. With the dust settling on the financial crisis, the view of the future just got clearer. Changes in regulation, customer outlook and demography will bring forth new expectations; how well banks adapt to these may well determine their future.

A modular option for treasury implementation

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:20:10 +0000

Every treasury worth its stash understands the vital value that derivatives analytics can bring. More so, after the losses suffered by the banking industry in the recent crisis. As banking products get more and more complex, the challenge to get their ‘mark-to-model’ closer to ‘mark-to-market’ is greater. And robust analytics can prove to be the differentiator for banks that aggressively innovate with products but seek to keep their risks manageable.

A modular option for treasury implementation

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 03:50:51 +0000

Small and medium-sized banks are often in a quandary about renewing their treasury systems. Implementation is not just a complex, risk-bearing, expensive affair; it could take so long that by the time it’s done, the original objectives may have changed. What’s more, those with modest treasury operations may not need the entire repertoire of functionalities built into a full-fledged solution.

Guarding Against an Identity Crisis

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:57:16 +0000

If your pocket is picked, lost cash may be the least of your worries. There’s a goldmine hidden in a driver’s license, Social Secuirty Card and other documents of identification. With one strike every four seconds, ID theft – stealing an identity for financial or other gain – is the fastest growing crime in the United States. What’s worse, this can be a slow burn, lasting indefinitely and hurting repeatedly.

Calling for more foresight, less hindsight

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:15:16 +0000

A wise man once said that “the most fertile source of insight is hindsight”. That’s never been truer than in the aftermath of the financial crisis, when pretty much everyone said they saw it coming!

Ease the pressure on collection management

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:46:29 +0000

Collection managers have an unenviable task these days. The global economic downturn has made loan delinquency a near universal problem, no longer restricted to a few customers or segments.

Yes. Agility and Innovation go hand-in-hand!

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:37:00 +0000

Agility is not about “fastest-finger first”. Rather, it is an attitude, a value system, a willingness to be nimble of mind as well as quick of body. It is about understanding that to achieve greater competitive advantage and higher shareholder value, organizations need to innovate consistently – moving quickly and thoroughly through product and process development – in other words, be more agile. Clearly, there is no place for status quo.

Banking the under-banked: Robust back-end support is non-negotiable for RRBs

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 03:47:30 +0000

Social and development banking is emerging as an exciting landscape. The unbanked have special needs - proximity and ease of access, flexibility in savings and repayment schedules, simplicity and speed in processing, small product sizes for loans and low-balance savings accounts, basic financial education and information. More than anything else it is the convenience in banking as simple as buying something in the Kirana/mom-and-pop shop next to his house. With pressure building up to continually explore new growth avenues, banks are recognizing the potential of the previously unbanked market – In India alone the rural population counts for nearly 70% of the entire population i.e. a multifold increase in customer base. According to a 2007 survey, the number of RRBs serving this population is around at 91 with over 14,000 branches, spread across 585 of the 622 identified districts.

Bancassurance – time to reassess the IT strategy

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:29:18 +0000

Bancassurance business has slowly and steadily gained acceptance worldwide. In pursuit of fee-based income avenues, banks across geographies have joined the Bancassurance bandwagon implementing various business models like setting up joint ventures, working as pure distributors, setting up new insurance businesses and acquiring existing insurance firms. In certain cases, a reverse flow has also been witnessed whereby insurance companies have set up or acquired banking businesses to compete with the serious Bancassurance players.

Financial Inclusion in India: The market is ready. And banks.

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:08:02 +0000

No-frills accounts, the beginning was modest. Encourage small savings and enable customers to perform basic cash transactions without imposing conditions of minimum balance maintenance. But banks soon realized that by maintaining such a narrow focus and seeking to enable only the most basic transactions such as account or deposit creation among the unbanked community they are losing out on perhaps a very lucrative market. While estimates differ, most put down India’s bank account penetration somewhere between 40 and 50 per cent.