02:30 PM
INTERNATIONAL BYTES
ABN AMRO International Financial Services Company has launched a new treasury outsourcing service from Trema Group.
The Web-based service allows ABN AMRO to outsource numerous treasury functions including inter-company loan arrangements, liquidity management, FX management, leasing and sales aid financing, debt and equity funding structures, global netting programs, financial and management accounting, and compliance and regulatory reporting.
By creating an outlet for these services, the Trema package provides a solution for treasurers who need to establish regional treasury capabilities but don't want to set up a complete treasury operation.
"Our customers need increasingly flexible services not least because they have treasury concerns in new geographic regions," said David Guest, managing director, ABN AMRO International Financial Services. "This service enables them to chose what treasury functions to outsource to improve efficiency while keeping control."
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Lloyds TSB has chosen Entrust Technologies to provide Internet security for key online banking, its latest Web-based service.
Lloyds TSB will be the first financial institution to use Entrust's authentification and digital signature capabilities to create a security infrastructure for a large-scale smart card Internet banking service. The Entrust solution involves the use of electronic stamps of approval to verify that transactions have been securely and privately sent and received, and smart cards that can securely store each customer's secret authentification and digital signature.
"It is essential that Lloyds TSB offer customers that same level of trust and peace of mind that they expect from more traditional banking methods, while also providing speed and flexibility of access with added online banking functionality," said David Callington, manager, key online banking, Lloyds TSB.
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The equities division of The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has selected a Web-based portfolio and risk management system from Imagine Software.
The system, called Derivatives.com, will help CBA trade and make markets in complex derivatives products and global securities, through the use of an Internet-hosted application service provider (ASP). The system will initially be on three trading seats, but available to all CBA's traders and managers worldwide through the Internet.
"This is a new business for us and we wanted to get up and running as quick as possible," said Stephen Richards, head of Equity Trading and Risk for CBA. "The decision to use Derivatives.com saved us development time, allowed us to outsource many IT functions, and gained us access to trading and management tools that would have required expensive customization and lengthy installation."
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Britannia Building Society has tabbed Alterian plc and Marketing Databasics (MDB) to develop an analytical foundation for its customer relationship management (CRM) program.
The companies will implement a purpose-built solution consisting of Alterian's MarkIT Manager database and MDB's hosting and warehousing technology. The combined result is a fully integrated analysis and campaign management package that enables Britannia to target its customer more effectively and translate customer behavior analysis into meaningful sales and marketing campaigns.
"Britannia's members have voted three consecutive years to stay a mutual society and as such we are committed to providing them with the level of customer service that have come to expect," said David Crenshaw, senior manager CRM at Britannia Building Society. "The significant speed benefits offered by the combined solution means we can expect to be 'fit for the future' and able to support campaigns across all our channels."
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Banca Serfin has completed installation of Banca En Internet Serfin, an e-Banking platform from EverSystems.
The platform allows Serfin customers to have secure, one-click access to all their accounts, providing information about balance summaries and account activity. The platform also gives customers the ability to transfer funds, make monthly payments over the Web and download statements.
Banca Serfin is Mexico's third largest banks and is part of the Banco Santander Cetral Hispano.