Post-Lasersoft progress


Polaris continued to work with other vendor solutions. For instance, it did so alongside the retail and private banking platform from Swiss supplier, Finnova, at Lausanne-based Migros Bank. The bank initially talked to Polaris when considering rewriting its existing system. The decision was then made to go with a package and Migros undertook a selection process. It has used Polaris to develop functions offshore that are specific to its requirements. This decision was made in summer 2007, after which resources from Polaris started training on-site to learn Finnova’s product and methodologies. This allowed Polaris to develop functionality based on the Finnova Development Kit. The bank cut over to the Finnova system in late 2009. 2011 witnessed the signing of Polaris’ largest single


contract deal to date (valued at $55 million). This was to replace around 20 legacy systems at Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, with the Intellect core banking system. By this stage, Polaris already had some experience of working with a central bank in the form of Central Bank of Seychelles which went live the previous year with, presumably (given the reference to a project in the Seychelles at the time of the Laser Soft acquisition), some contribution at least from the LaserPanacea solution. However, the volume of transactions and the breadth and specifics of functionality was clearly much greater at RBI. It manages public debt, collections and payments of governing bodies in India, and processed around 100 million transactions per day. The deal was won versus TCS. There was further progress in North America as BMO Capital Markets, the wholesale banking arm of Canada-based BMO Financial Group, completed the roll-out of Customer On- boarding Hub (a component of the Intellect system) for its North American businesses, with the remaining worldwide businesses planned.


Other wins came in Bangladesh from Bangladesh


Commercial Bank Limited (BCBL) and Sonali Bank, Bangladesh’s largest state-owned bank. The latter was to replace its four legacy branch banking solutions developed by four different local vendors with a centralised Intellect suite, and also implement the system in its subsidiary in the UK, Sonali Bank (UK) Ltd. A joint venture was also established with the two Bangladeshi banks, whereby the system would be sold, implemented and supported in the country. Polaris would hold a majority stake of 51 per cent in the new entity, with the rest initially belonging to Sonali, although the stake would be reduced to 30 per cent with a couple more banks coming on board as shareholders. The main condition for new shareholders was to sign for Intellect. The new company purchased the source code of Intellect to adapt the system to local regulatory and market requirements although it would


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still be kept in line with the mainstream Intellect solution and would receive the same updates and developments. The vendor also entered the Sri Lankan banking market, with two wins in 2011, at Regional Development Bank and Citizens Development Business Finance. Both were arranged via a tie-up with a local partner, MillenniumIT, a trading software developer and systems integrator (owned by the London Stock Exchange Group). Late in the year, in the Philippines, a relatively new


bank, Maxbank, was signed. Polaris convinced the bank that its system had both the scale and real-time attributes being sought. There was also already a relationship with the vendor’s manager responsible for the Philippines, and Polaris committed to opening an office in the country. The latter was felt to be important as Maxbank was the first taker of Polaris’ core banking system here and there was extensive central bank reporting. ‘They [the regulators] send out a new format today and require the report yesterday,’ said the bank’s chairman, Max Oppacher,


‘so we needed someone on the ground.’ Cutover happened the following June. One pertinent question by now when talking about Polaris’ core banking system implementations was, which system was it, given Polaris had sought to use the Intellect brand for both its original platform and LaserPanacea. Maxbank had sought to clarify which system was underpinning its solution - ‘I’ve asked exactly the same question,’ said Oppacher - but remained unsure. He believed it was a bit of a mixture. 2011 saw Intellect’s first go-live in Nepal, at Social


Development Bank (SDB). This start-up bank signed for the system in 2010. Amir Dhoj Pradhan, chief executive of SDB, said that the worry of being the first taker in the country was outweighed by Polaris’ international track-record and ‘its commitment for after-sales support’. A lot of customisation was required to adapt the system to local requirements, including the incorporation of Nepalese calendars and regulatory reporting as per central bank requirements. Also the recognition of interest income is cash-based rather than accrual-based, and the relevant customisation ‘was a big challenge as it had an impact on the whole loans module’, said Pradhan. The customisation issues caused the delay of go-live, but the budget was not exceeded. Intellect covers the core and all business lines of SDB, and Pradhan observed that ‘the deposit module is particularly good’. In mid-2012, Polaris also won a first customer in Uganda. The country’s main mortgage lender, Housing Finance Bank, selected Intellect ahead of Infosys’ Finacle, Oracle FSS’s Flexcube, Temenos’ T24, Misys’ Bankfusion, Colvir’s CBS and Infrasoft’s OmniEnterprise. Polaris’ software was taken to cover core, HR management, document management and CRM. It


Universal Banking Systems Market Report | www.ibsintelligence.com


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