Infosys to launch Finacle as service offering

NEW DELHI: The country’s second largest software exporter Infosys is planning to launch its universal banking solution Finacle as a service offering along with its other products to expand its market reach.

“We have been evaluating the option of offering Finacle as a service. Currently, we are in the process of validating market demand and formalising our strategy across geographies for such an offering,” Finacle vice-president and Business Merwin Fernandes told PTI.

Technically, the company is already capable of offering Finacle in SaaS (software-as-a-service) model, he said adding, announcement to this effect would be made at an appropriate time. SaaS is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the internet.

However, he said, this offer would be made available only with large deal size. Finacle platform offers core banking, e-Banking, treasury, wealth management, CRM, and cash management requirements of retail, corporate and universal and banks worldwide solutions, he said.

Talking about growth, Fernandes said, last year Infosys Finacle added 12 new clients to reach a total of 91, out of which around 37 banks were part of top 1,000 global banks.

In 2006-07, Finacle registered revenues growth of 45% at $118.91 million and had been maintaining a CAGR growth of 58%. Infosys Finacle recently bagged an order from Bahrain- based Bahraini Saudi Bank (BSB) for replacement of its legacy core banking solution.

Quoting a survey, Fernandes said core banking replacement market is estimated to grow from $13.9 billion in 2004 to over $34 billion by 2010.

The Middle East is a key contributor to this growth as banks in the region are increasingly investing in the IT infrastructure to compete with local and foreign competition, Farnandes said, adding that it is one of the fastest growing markets among the targeted geographies.

Finacle addresses key banking issues in the region like legacy systems, emerging regulatory requirements, enhanced security and data protection, risk management and strict legal and religious laws on banks (Islamic Banking), he said.