Worldwide End-to-End Corporate Banking Solution Providers 2019 Vendor Assessment — assesses seven IT software providers offering end-to-end (E2E) solutions to corporate banks, spanning channels, their core processing needs, and functional capabilities from treasury to lending in a convenient package. The seven vendors are Comarch, EdgeVerve, Finastra, FIS, Intellect Design, Oracle, and SAP.
The E2E solution should deliver ease of integration, connectivity — whether using traditional internal APIs or open APIs to encourage data sharing, comparisons, and developmental work — and hygiene factors such as adherence to the latest regulations and installation assistance. Delivery models can range from a traditional on-premise or managed solution through to the cloud, and service should be backed by regular software upgrades, security patches, and flexibility to pivot to meet new demands as they arise.
The ability to free data across the functional silos of a corporate bank from payments to trade finance — enabling new efficiencies and analytical services, alerts, and business models to emerge — is especially prized. Digital transformation (DX) to improve efficiency, end-user experiences, and flexibility is assessed alongside solution providers’ stability, geographic footprints, track records, and technology road maps. A core banking solution at a corporate bank could last decades, so vendors’ plans to accommodate new technologies such as AI, open API-enabled ecosystems, and distributed ledger technology (DLT) connectivity options are assessed as part of a futureproofing methodology.
“The opportunity to integrate the various functions of corporate banks more coherently using an end-to-end corporate banking solution that spans channels, processing needs, and functions in a convenient package is self-evident. This packaged way of presenting connected solutions with data to the fore is a relatively new phenomenon,” said Neil Ainger, research manager for worldwide corporate banking, IDC Financial Insights. “The capabilities have always existed, but E2E solutions help banks link together their services more efficiently. These solutions also enable banks to digitally transform operations and prepare for cloud, more open API usage, and the development of ecosystems packed with various providers, should they so wish.”
E2E data mastery delivers easy compliance, automation, and onboarding capabilities, plus risk hedging and spotting capabilities that bank clients can utilize, according to Ainger. “As revenues fall and fintech-inspired competition rises, corporate banks need new revenue streams,” he said. “Well-aligned payment, cash management, liquidity, asset and supply chain alerts, lending data that can tap unstructured data sources, and so on can improve banks’ chances of success. Many corporate banks will develop such data-centric services themselves, but solutions that offer them co-creation or partner options — or at the least do not hinder their internal developmental efforts with inflexible software — will be highly prized.”