LONDON/KARNATAKA - Infosys Technologies Ltd. and The Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) have today announced that CFS has chosen FinacleT Universal Banking Solution to power its business transformation initiative.

As part of the programme, CFS, part of The Co-operative Group, the UK’s largest consumer co-operative, will replace systems across its back-office and channels in the Retail Banking and Corporate Banking businesses with FinacleT.

This initiative will also include the implementation of FinacleT core banking, CRM (uniting CFS banking and insurance businesses) and e-banking solutions across the critical home-market operations of CFS in the UK.

A strong customer focus and high operational excellence are vital as part of CFS’s future development and growth strategies. The existing technology infrastructure while fit for purpose at present is considered unsuitable for future requirements and CFS has decided to replace the existing legacy systems with a world-class banking solution.

David Anderson, Chief Executive at The Co-Operative Financial Services, said, “The Enterprise Platform programme is a strategic initiative for CFS and deploying the right technology is critical to creating a client-centric business based on our core principles of value, fairness and social responsibility.”

According to Nandan Nilekani, Co-Chairman of the Board of Directors, Infosys Technologies Ltd, “The value-driven best-in-class capabilities of Infosys combined with the global leadership of FinacleT Universal Banking Solution provides CFS a strategic partner with proven expertise for achieving the group’s transformation objectives.”

The rigorous selection process focused on acquiring a new generation platform to support the group’s crucial objectives of product innovation and client-centricity, standardisation of platforms and processes, and scalability for future growth.

Clive Elliott, Director of Enterprise Platform at The Co-operative Financial Services, said, “We selected FinacleT from Infosys as our strategic partner in this transformation journey for the strong technical architecture and functionality of the FinacleT solution, extensive domain knowledge of the team and the global experience of working with leading financial institutions. Infosys’s approach to sustainability was also important, given the importance we place in this area.”ohn Hughes, Director of Retail Banking, and business sponsor of the Enterprise Platform Programme said, “Once the new platform is implemented CFS will be able to create a differentiated customer experience through innovative products, a unified customer view and seamless integration across channels. FinacleT will also enable CFS to acquire and retain customers, achieve sustainable scale, and lower operational costs.”

Sanat Rao, Vice President and Global Sales Head at FinacleT, Infosys Technologies Limited said, “We are delighted to partner with CFS for this strategic initiative. This partnership is another endorsement of the global leadership of FinacleT and its superior value proposition to large financial institutions around the world and further consolidates our footprint in the growing European market. We look forward to enabling CFS to effectively employ the transformational capabilities of FinacleT to achieve its objective of sustainable and client centric growth.”

A leader in banking transformation, FinacleT has a global footprint across 62 countries and has been acknowledged by top analysts including Gartner and Forrester as being among the leaders in the core banking solution space.

FinacleT is also the winner of a series of awards for its innovation and implementation capabilities, the most notable ones being The Banker Technology Award, The Banking Technology Award, and The Asian Banker IT Implementation Award. (ANI)