Fern Software is a specialist in the low-end financial services sector, initially providing a core system for credit unions. It then became a prominent player in the microfinance sector, which took it beyond the UK, and it now also has a range of other institutions as clients.
By virtue of setting out in the late 1970s, Fern Software is one of the sector’s long-stayers. Its first credit union system hit the
market ahead of the IBM PC. It started to sell its offering to credit unions in Northern Ireland, then in Scotland, followed by the rest of the UK. In 1997, it was drawn into South Africa and in the next couple of years sold its offering to around 20 Saccos, domestic equivalents
of credit unions. Further international expansion came fairly rapidly and, within 18 months, Fern Software had opened an office in the Philippines. It rode the wave of Y2K, as existing clients were upgraded to the latest version of the platform, which was Windows- based, and as others were recruited. At this time, it particularly moved into the Caribbean. One of the original founders of the company, Eamon Scullin, has subsequently admitted that Fern Software found it was lacking functionality when it started to move into other markets, particularly in terms of the products that it supported and fee structures.
