IBS Journal March 2015
industrybytes Direct banks Atom Bank
The brainchild of Anthony Thomson, one of the founders of UK-based challenger bank Metro Bank, Atom Bank (penned for a launch this year) has designs to revolu- tionise the UK banking market by pioneering the ‘online only’ business model in the country. Thomson had something of an about face after his experience with Metro Bank (which focuses on offering a unique branch experience for customers), shun- ning the branch model and opting to differentiate by offering a superior digital experience. Atom Bank’s plans were fleshed out further in summer 2014, when the bank tri- umphed the new Agiliti ‘bank in a box’ offering from Fiserv at its launch event in Lon- don. Agiliti is underpinned by the vendor’s Signature core banking system (as used by Tesco Bank), and Mobiliti platform for mobile banking, with Atom Bank implied as one of the first three takers of this offering. However, the fate of this endeavour is a little less clear now, with rumours surfacing later in the year that Atom Bank was in fact leaning towards Fiserv’s rival FIS as its platform of choice (this despite the fact that Thomson resides on the board of Fiserv’s new subsidiary intended to bring Agiliti to market). Hot on Atom Bank’s heels was Starling Bank, another digital banking player which also hoped to launch this year, built on proprietary technology. However, a flood of recent senior management departures has shrouded the future of the bank in uncertainty (see p9).
Discover Financial Services
The US direct bank, Discover Financial Services, has been something of a pioneer in its efforts to break the traditional mould of the highly insulated US market by installing an international core banking system. ‘Project Otis’, initiated in 2010, reached a major milestone towards the end of last year, as Dis- cover cut over to Infosys’ Finacle for deposits. Further phases for consumer loans and student loans will be undertaken over the course of the next two years. The project has been an enormous undertaking for the bank, with nearly 1000 people (300 from the bank and 700 third party specialists) working on
the implementation. The Finacle installation involves connecting to a number of third party systems and a front-end solution, known internally as Atlas, that deals with tellers and the call centre, described by the bank when talking to IBS at the end of last year as a ‘vital’ part of the architecture. The Discover project, along with the undertaking at Zions Bancorporation in Utah, which is rolling out the Bancs system from Infosys’ rival TCS, have become a barome- ter for the possibility of international suppliers making serious inroads in the US market.
50 © IBS Intelligence 2015
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Anthony Thomson, Atom Bank
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