JACKSONVILLE, Fla. & WARSAW, Poland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Providing mid-tier banks the ability to leverage real-time banking capabilities while controlling costs, FIS™ (NYSE: FIS), the world’s largest provider of banking and payments technology, today announced the launch of its first cloud-based, real-time core banking utility for mid-tier banks in Central and Eastern Europe.
“The world of banking is changing and we are seeing increasing demand for outsourcing and SaaS offerings,” said Jonathan Davis, Managing Director of Outsourcing, FIS. “Mid-tier banks often find it difficult to build the investment case to upgrade their legacy systems to provide real-time capabilities that deliver true market advantage but market demands are driving them to find cost economies without compromising on functionality. With FIS Profile in the cloud, mid-tier banks in the region now have a core banking platform that can enable them to launch innovative and competitive new products quickly and cost effectively.”
The service, hosted by Krajowa Izba Rozliczeniowa S.A. (KIR), the Polish payment processor and central clearing house for the country’s banking sector, will drive cost savings – without compromising functionality – by enabling banks to run their core banking products on a hosted version of FIS Profile. Amongst other efficiency benefits, the new service will:
- Provide access to established product libraries, dramatically cutting the time required to launch new products to the market
- Provide a holistic view of the customer’s banking relationship, enabling banks to create better offerings tailored to individual customers
- Leverage a real-time banking system that is better matched to today’s consumer needs for seamless integration to new digital channels
- Deliver one of the lowest total costs of ownership in the industry
Commenting on the launch, Aite Group Research Director Christine Barry said, “There will be a demand from mid-tier banks in countries like Poland for a true Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model which delivers access to a leading banking solution, such as FIS Profile, at an affordable cost.”
The service will benefit from KIR’s modern and secure cloud infrastructure and high speed links to all the banks in Poland which currently handles over 120 million transactions every month. FIS will provide the software platform utilizing the award winning FIS Profile core banking system and Xpress middleware layer.
“We are delighted to be working with FIS on this industry-changing solution,” commented Michał Szymański, KIR vice president for payments. “We are already the Polish banking utility for payments and extending that role to delivery of cloud-based IT services for banks is a natural step towards even greater exploitation of economies of scale. Being at the heart of the Polish banking system, we are dedicated to providing banks with state of art services such as this.”
FIS (NYSE: FIS) is the world’s largest global provider dedicated to banking and payments technologies. With a long history deeply rooted in the financial services sector, FIS serves more than 14,000 institutions in over 100 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 32,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing and banking solutions, providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that drives financial institutions. First in financial technology, FIS tops the annual FinTech 100 list, is 434 on the Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.
About KIR
KIR is an institution crucial to the Polish banking sector. It is responsible for clearing of transactions between banks in Poland. Annually KIR processes nearly 1.5 billion non-cash payment transactions through the clearing systems ELIXIR ®, EuroELIXIR and Express ELIXIR. In order to facilitate communication between participants of payment systems and other institutions cooperating with banks, KIR has implemented an electronic information exchange service OGNIVO.
KIR has introduced to the Polish market the electronic signature services SZAFIR. It also offers solutions for cashless payments – KIR is the operator of direct and guaranteed online payments system PayByNet and an EBPP solution (electronic bills presentation and payment) invoobill, which operates through electronic banking channels. KIR also offers paper and electronic documents' management (invooclip) as well as optical reading services. As a SWIFT Service Bureau, KIR provides Polish companies with access to SWIFTNet. KIR SA has been awarded the title of Market Leader for Bank Innovation in 2012. In 2013 as the first institution in Poland, KIR received a certificate of compliance with the requirements of ISO 22301:2012, awarded by the British Standards Institution. It confirms the readiness of KIR to operate even in the most challenging and unexpected circumstances. For more information about KIR, visit www.kir.com.pl.
