LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, and Anthony Thomson, co-founder and former Chairman of Metro Bank and founder of Atom Bank, today announced Agiliti™, a state-of-the-art technology and services solution that enables speed-to-market for new entrants into the UK banking sector and rapid delivery of new capabilities for existing financial services providers.
Agiliti is a hosted, software-as-a-service (SaaS) retail bank technology solution, modular in its approach, with a comprehensive software and infrastructure offering dedicated solely to the UK banking market.
“Technology is the last major barrier for new entrants to financial services, and Agiliti is offering them a way to overcome it. New entrants in particular benefit from the fact that the business model allows them to align costs with business success,” said Anthony Thomson. “Additionally, a technology solution that could have previously taken two to three years to build could now be implemented in as little as six months with Agiliti. Essentially, this technology will mean that new providers can enter the market without exposing themselves to the lengthy implementation times, risk, and the often prohibitive cost associated with a conventional IT set-up.”
Agiliti is designed to enable new and existing players to quickly deliver retail and SME banking products such as current accounts, savings, and secured and unsecured loans, together with a full suite of payment and transaction capabilities; manage customer relationships across all channels and throughout the customer lifecycle; and retain full ownership of the customer, the associated data, their brand, and their commercial model.
Thomson continued: “Agiliti offers banks the IT equivalent of leasing a new car, with a newer model provided whenever it’s launched. This is the next phase of the banking revolution, which should bring greater competition and choice for consumers. We expect a significant number of new banks to open in the UK within the next three years, and Agiliti is ready to help them get up and running quickly, with an economic model that makes good business sense.”
A relaxation of capital and liquidity rules in 2013 for new entrants into the banking market, coupled with public and political desire for more competition, is expected to spur new applications for banking licences in the UK. The financial regulator recently noted that nearly 30 firms have applied for authorisation to become new banks.
“Agiliti offers a compelling solution that enables UK financial services providers to focus on the business of banking,” said Travers Clarke-Walker, Managing Director EMEA at Fiserv. “By utilising Agiliti, organisations can concentrate on those differentiators that secure them genuine competitive advantage – enhancing their brand, developing a strong service ethos, extending their product offering or refining their distribution strategy for example – rather than direct their focus to building and maintaining a costly IT infrastructure.”
Think Money Limited is one of the first in the market to have selected the Agiliti solution for its IT operations. The Manchester-based firm enables consumers to establish personal current accounts with unique functionality for personal financial management, and also offers a comprehensive mortgage and insurance comparison service. Michael Aldred, Managing Director of Think Money Limited, said, “Think Money needed a new solution capable of meeting its needs for rapid product evolution and speedy introduction of new products. Since we began working with Fiserv, we have seen at firsthand the collaborative, flexible and constructive engagement and commercial model that Agiliti offers.”
Fiserv has established a wholly owned subsidiary, Fiserv Financial Service Technologies Limited, to provide Agiliti to the UK market. Anthony Thomson will serve as a non-executive director of the subsidiary.
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About Fiserv
This year, Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) celebrates 30 years of leadership in financial services technology. As one of FORTUNE® magazine's World's Most Admired Companies, Fiserv is helping clients worldwide achieve best-in-class results by driving innovation in payments, processing services, risk and compliance, customer and channel management, and business insights and optimization. For more information, visit www.fiserv.com.
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