IBS Journal September 2015


From Russia with ‘live’, Touch Bank touches down


Digital-only Touch Bank, a start-up bank founded by OTP Bank, with the help of Dutch software company Backbase, has launched in Russia. The new bank says it offers a full


range of services targeted mainly at ‘young professionals in Russia’ and has ambitions to expand internationally. Financial services provided by Touch


Bank comprise deposits/savings (in the local currency, Euros, US dollars and pounds sterling) and loans for retail cus- tomers. It issues a card, based on Master- card, which combines a debit and credit card in one, and allows customers to make payments anywhere. Backbase is a software company


founded in 2003 which provides Backbase Customer Experience Platform (CXP) and Backbase Digital Banking Platform (DBP) for financial institutions. Moscow-based OTP Bank is a


subsidiary of a Hungarian financial ser- vices group, OTP. The group is one of the largest financial service providers in Central and Eastern Europe, serving nine countries. In Russia, OTP Bank is among the 50 largest banks, with total assets of $2 billion, retail deposits of around


$900 million and retail loans worth $1.5 billion. OTP Bank has recently concluded a


major overhaul of its back office software, having rolled out the CFT-Bank core plat- form at its head office and branches. This replaces an old installation of the Vabank


OTP Bank, Moscow


core system from another domestic devel- oper, Flexsoft. For Touch Bank specifically, OTP Bank


selected a different provider, Inversia (also a domestic vendor) and its Bank 21 Century core system.


Antony Peyton Charles River onboards clients in Canada and Thailand


Charles River, an investment management software specialist, has added Canada’s Edgepoint Investment Group and Bangkok-based Krung Thai Asset Management (KTAM) to its customer list. Edgepoint has implemented the


vendor’s flagship front-to-middle office IMS system, provided on a hosted basis. The system supports portfolio management, trading and compliance operations across Edgepoint’s domestic and international equity and fixed income business lines. The investment management firm


also uses Charles River’s FIX (Financial Information eXchange) network for global electronic trading. Craig Donoff, head trader at Edge-


point, comments that the new solution has helped to increase productivity and


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efficiencies and reduce compliance risk. Furthermore, as Charles River hosts and manages the application day-to-day, the Edgepoint team can concentrate on inves- tor and market demands and address these promptly, he adds. Meanwhile, KTAM has selected IMS,


integrated data management service and FIX network. KTAM says it plans to expand into ‘new,


more diversified investment strategies and asset classes’ and believes that the Charles River IMS will help manage its day-to-day systems, allowing it to focus on its core busi- ness activities. It provides investment man- agement services to retail clients, institu- tions and large state enterprises. It belongs to the state-owned Krung Thai Bank. Tanya Andreasyan


© IBS Intelligence 2015 www.ibsintelligence.com


Bangkok, Thailand © Mark Fischer, flickr


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