Archive for the ‘financial services’ Category
IBM Helps ING DIRECT Canada Connect with Mobile, Social Customers
ING DIRECT Canada’s mobile application, developed with IBM, delivers customers with a dashboard view based on their most frequent banking activities.
IBM is making a fast start with its new “Mobile First” initiative, which is intended to help companies around the world bring all their resources together to strengthen customer engagement, whenever and wherever the customer wants, and on the customer’s favorite device, which is increasingly a mobile one.
IBM client ING DIRECT Canada is applying a “smarter commerce” approach to consumer banking with IBM’s help in meeting the growing expectations of its 1.8 million customers.
IBM announced today that it is working with the online bank to deliver innovative financial services that improve ING DIRECT’s customer experience including simplified account access across mobile devices and social media channels, voice recognition, and advanced security.
ING DIRECT Canada’s mobile application, developed with IBM, delivers customers with a dashboard view based on their most frequent banking activities.
Based on IBM software and services, these innovations support ING DIRECT’s Orange Snapshot initiative, designed to provide its clients greater control to manage their accounts within their increasingly mobile and social lifestyle.
Orange Snapshot gives mobile consumers a complete and simplified view of all their accounts, as well as bill payment and email money transfers, in two easy clicks.
This allows consumers to sign on once from their mobile device, saving time and aggravation from multiple log-ins.
Working with IBM, the bank’s latest mobile innovation allows clients to easily and securely access their ING DIRECT account information from within Facebook’s social networking site.
Clients who opt-in to this app are able to view their account balances, history and pending transactions as well as receive account notifications — real time messages automatically pushed to them within Facebook.
With security and privacy always top of mind, ING DIRECT plans to expand this application further to include transactions such as transfers, bill payments and email money transfers.
Furthermore, ING DIRECT allows clients to share their experiences through Facebook and Twitter to make saving money more intriguing.
In a recent survey, ING DIRECT learned that 52 percent of consumers were able to forego non-essential purchases when they could better visualize the impact of their spending habits.
IBM’s Smarter Commerce initiative is designed to help businesses better connect with the rising tide of digital consumers who prefer to buy through online, mobile and social channels.
It is estimated that there are more smartphones on the planet than humans. According to IDC, by 2016, more than 10 billion smartphones will be in use around the globe. In Canada, more than half of smartphone users bank from their devices — and that number grows higher when looking at users between the ages 18-34.
ING DIRECT continues to work with IBM in seeking new ways to connect to mobile applications in order to advance sales, manage secure transactions, and provide new insights about clients.
The bank has begun experimenting with new voice recognition capabilities on their mobile apps that will allow clients to conduct simple banking transactions by speaking rather than typing or the application can read account information to the customer.
ING DIRECT is also exploring the use of biometrics within their mobile apps for purposes such as client login to improve the client experience while maintaining the highest standards of security. Internal pilots are already yielding positive outcomes.
Recently, Forrester Research, Inc. recognized IBM as a leader in enterprise mobility services, according to the February 2013 report The Forrester Wave TM: Enterprise Mobility Services, Q1 2013.
Based on an analysis of 13 global leaders’ enterprise mobility capabilities and how they stack up, the report indicates that IBM “brings clients a world-class design agency combined with breadth and depth of enterprise mobility consulting both in terms of technology capabilities and global presence.”
You can go here to learn more about IBM’s “Mobile First” initiative.
New IBM Global Financing For Business Partners
Click to enlarge. As the graphic itself explains, innovation starts with appropriately allocated capital. By investing in the right projects and by promoting sound corporate governance, financial development helps increase the rate of technological innovation and productivity growth. IBM today announced a major new financing program today that helps IBM Business Partners and their clients make such investments.
Hello there. I’m back in Austin, Texas, and no worse for the wear.
Las Vegas was…well, Las Vegas. Although I must say, I was most impressed with Wynn Las Vegas.
Steve Wynn has been a lightning rod of controversy during his reign as a resort mogul in Las Vegas (and, now, Macau), and having only seen him in interviews on “60 Minutes,” I can’t say as I had much of an opinion one way or the other.
But, after staying at his 60+ story hotel on the Strip these past few days, I can attest to the level of personal detail and attention he puts into his properties.
Upon arrival on Sunday, I waited a good 30 minutes just to check in. But, upon reflection, I guess that’s a good sign for Mr. Wynn and his couterie, and they were kind enough to bring me a bottle of water to myself and other customers who were patiently waiting.
But if hotels can do such a great job of enabling a streamlined checkout (video, phone check out, express checkout, etc.), there’s clearly still room for much improvement on better “processing” customers when they arrive. Smarter check-in, anybody?
But all in all, very impressed with the Wynn brand experience.
As for the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit, I’m still processing all the great info I took in, and may dedicate a more thoughtful post on my experience about that later.
But, since I was pre-occupied for a few days, we’ve had some important IBM news that fell below my blogging radar.
The most notable announcement emerged earlier today, one for IBM Business Partners and their clients.
IBM announced today it is providing IBM Business Partners with $4 billion in financing for credit-qualified clients over a period of 12 months.
This financing, through IBM Global Financing, can make obtaining credit easier and more accessible to IBM’s global partner ecosystem and their clients to acquire advanced technologies such as cloud, analytics and PureSystems.
Also, IBM is launching a new mobile app as another step to simplify the way IBM’s Business Partners can apply for and secure financing for their clients within minutes via any mobile device.
This financing initiative builds on the $1 billion in financing IBM Global Financing made available through IBM Business Partners for small and midsized businesses in 2011, which resulted in 6,800 global companies using financing and enabling them to invest in some of these important emerging technologies.
To learn more, you can visit IBM Global Financing here.
IBM To Acquire Risk Analytics Firm Algorithmics
IBM today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Algorithmics for $387 million, subject to price adjustments at closing.
IBM announces the acquisition of Toronto-based risk analytics firm Algorithmics, whose technology helps banking, insurance, and other financial services firms assess risk and make more insightful business decisions.
Algorithmics is a risk analytics firm with operations in Toronto, Canada. Algorithmics risk analytics software, content and advisory services are used by banking, investment and insurance businesses to help assess risk, address regulatory requirements and make more insightful business decisions.
This acquisition expands IBM’s business analytics capabilities in the financial services industry by helping clients quantify, manage and optimize their risk exposure across a range of financial risk domains, including market, liquidity, credit, operational and insurance as well as economic and regulatory capital.
According to a recent IBM Institute of Business Value survey of 1,900 global CFOs, nearly half indicated that their finance organizations are not effective in the areas of strategy, information integration, risk and opportunity management.
The roles of financial officers across all industries are evolving — drawing them into more frequent boardroom conversations about forecasts, profitability and exposure to risks. The survey reveals the importance of integrating information has more than doubled, mirroring the exponential rise in information volume and velocity within businesses today. Financial officers are becoming more involved in mitigating corporate risk in all its many forms – whether strategic, operational, legal or environmental.
Across the financial industry, integrated risk management continues to be a challenge — made even more pressing by regulations triggered in response to the global financial crisis. Financial practitioners are tasked with making split-second decisions by analyzing activity happening both within their corporations and from other market forces.
With the combination of IBM and Algorithmics analytics, companies can measure and assess operational risk associated with lending processes, market and credit risk exposures. Having this type of transparency and granular insight of financial risk in advance can help organizations meet new regulatory requirements.
More than 350 clients, including 25 of the top 30 banks and more than two-thirds of the CRO Forum of leading insurers, use Algorithmics analytics software and advisory services. Clients include The Allianz Group, BlueCrest, HSBC, Nedbank, Nomura, Societe Generale, and Scotia Capital.
“Today’s economic environment demands that financial institutions have more cash on hand, a better understanding of their financial standing and the ability to deliver more transparency to stakeholders,” said Rob Ashe, IBM General Manager, Business Analytics. “Combining Algorithmics expertise with IBM’s deep analytics portfolio will allow clients to take a more holistic approach to managing risk and responding to economic change across their enterprises.” IBM’s agreement with Algorithmics reinforces that companies are looking to reduce independent silos to gain an enterprise-wide view of risks for strategic planning, operations and new growth opportunities.
Algorithmics risk analytics software and services combined with IBM’s acquisition of OpenPages and recent investments in predictive analytics will provide clients with the broadest range of business analytics solutions.
Algorithmics risk advisers will enhance IBM’s Business Analytics and Optimization practice. The Business Analytics and Optimization team has more than 8,000 consultants including 200 mathematicians with more than 500 patents and a network of analytics solution centers, backed by an overall investment of more than $14 billion in acquisitions in the last five years. Algorithmic’s focus on credit, market and liquidity risk, as well as key customers in operational risk, will strengthen and expand IBM’s risk consulting services.
The acquisition is subject to applicable regulatory clearances and other customary closing conditions. With the closing of this acquisition, approximately 900 Algorithmics employees will join IBM’s Software Group.
Bank On The Run
The Washington Post reported earlier that three of the nation’s four largest banks are about to launch a system called “ClearXchange” that will let customers transfer money from their checking accounts using only a mobile number or email address.
The three banks include Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Wells Fargo & Co., and they expect to add other financial institutions later as they work to build an industry-wide utility for moving money around.
I’ve been with an Internet-only bank since 1996, so for my money, this is long overdue. Of course, it does beg the question as to how this squares with a service like PayPal.
PayPal being, of course, the e-payments market leader, and which according to this post processed some $27.5 billion (U.S.) in payments in the first quarter.
But enough about money on the move…let’s get Rational for a brief spell.
I mentioned in a prior post that the IBM Innovate software and systems innovation conference is transpiring in Orlando, Florida, June 5-9. That’s just around the corner.
You can still register to attend here, and if you’re not sure if you want to make the trip yet or not, try out the sample agenda builder here, which might just tip the balance and send you on your way.
Our world class Rational social media team will be providing expanded coverage of the event this year. You can follow some of the key social streams (including Twitter, YouTube, and live video coverage via LiveStream) on the IBM Innovate conversations site.‘
This year, folks can also submit questions for panelists directly from our social spaces for the Day 4 keynote expert panel discussion.
And of course, you won’t want to miss “The Guild’s” Felicia Day, who will be Innovate 2011′s special guest emcee.
In a recent interview with our Smarter Planet blog, Felicia provided a big reveal: Her brother worked for IBM and has been to Innovate numerous times!
The New Rupee
There’s a new Rupee coming to town.
Or, at least, to your computer keyboard.
Noted Indian tech blogger Amit Agarwal pointed out in this post recently that the Indian Rupee will soon have a unique sign that will be recognized around the globe, much like the U.S. dollar or the British pound.
According to Agarwal’s post, the Indian government shortlisted five designs following a crowd-sourcing contest to choose the new Rupee symbol.
You can see the five final designs below.
The Indian Finance Ministry initiated this competition in February 2009, and it’s believed that these new signs will be easy to write and were designed to appeal to both the India and international communities.
I did a one person straw poll here at the IBM Bangalore office, and we vote for option 3.
You can get more backstory in the following clip from NDTV:
Banking On IBM Industry Expertise
IBM has been relentlessly focused in recent weeks on the opportunity the smarter planet initiative presents to assist businesses in industry-specific contexts.
At Lotusphere in January, Lotus introduced its collaboration framework, which provided specific collaboration-oriented guidance across several industry-specific areas.
Last week in Las Vegas, IBM’s Mike Rhodin did the same for the integrated service management sector at IBM Pulse 2010.
Today, IBM announced that Whitney National Bank, with $12 billion in assets, has become a new banking customer and one that is utilizing IBM’s recently announced banking industry framework.
To compete in today’s dramatically altered financial playing field, banks must employ smarter banking strategies to achieve new levels of risk control, efficiency and customer service.
Whitney National Bank is using IBM technology across its regional banks to simplify its business practices, meet regulatory compliance and ensure transparency with customers.
Whitney can now extract key intelligence to obtain a full view of a customer’s transaction history — including a comprehensive analysis of sales trends and costs — to deliver more customized services and offerings. Increased visibility to this account data also empowers the bank’s customers to regulate their activities and expenses.
With industry consolidation, the number one priority of banks is to be able to assess liquidity.
After acquiring more than a dozen regional banks, Whitney National Bank faced the challenge of consolidating customer information and a host of disparate IT systems for checking and savings account management, online bill payment and loan processing.
Whitney National Bank is using IBM Cognos software to extract key intelligence to help it obtain a full view of its customer bases' behavior, including a comprehensive analysis of sales trends and costs, so it can deliver more customized services and offerings.
By integrating data from disparate IT systems, Whitney has been able to modernize its technology systems across regional branches to better manage risk and enhance customer service.
By using IBM’s Banking Industry Frameworks, Whitney National Bank is able to leverage pre-built industry-proven data and process models already employed by more than 250 financial institutions.
The bank is also migrating to IBM Power System with DB2 in its data centers in Allen, Texas and Prattville, Alabama.
Whitney National Bank is the latest example of how the right combination of hardware and software can be fine-tuned to meet the specific demands of banks.
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