MANILA, Philippines - Over the last 18 months, banks all over the world are doubling their investments in technology - a healthy sign of recovery, says IBM Philippines' Country Manager for Financial Services sector, Leo Capinpin, during the recent (March 18-21, 2011) Bankers Institute of the Philippines' (BAIPHIL) 26th National Convention in Tagaytay City.
Banking is now IBM's largest client segment outside of government. IBM has been serving banks since it was formed in 1911.
"A smarter bank anticipates client needs and delivers innovative products faster and more consistently than the competition. It has full visibility, in real-time, of its risk position and responds quickly to changes in market conditions," he told the over 200 BAIPHIL convention participants.
Technology is indeed important to the banking industry, confirmed BAIPHIL First vice-president Agnes Brillantes-Santos. "It improves the way banks deliver their services to the clients, promotes efficiency from within and provides cost-efficient solutions."
Hence, BAIPHIL made Technology a major part of their biennial convention. The event brought together members from Metro Manila and provinces and featured general and technical sessions on best practices. The event also showcased booths with interactive presentations led by IBM and IBM Business Partners. Other service providers and information technology, software solutions/applications and telecommunication suppliers attended.
A decade ago, IBM began building a broad portfolio of software products designed specifically for banks. To make its technology platform more robust, IBM has formed technology and marketing partnerships with thousands of independent software vendors as well as many niche hardware vendors focused on aspects as varied as end user devices, networks, and trading systems.
In addition, within IBM research, thousands of engineers and scientists are developing technologies, methodologies, and math algorithms that can be used to make banking systems more efficient, agile, and intelligent.
Mathematicians have experience in creating specialized Monte Carlo simulations running on high-performance computing systems that analyze risk. Furthermore, IBM is investing $100 million just on research to enable new mobile services for businesses and consumers. A recent pilot program, called 'BlueStar,' will make it easier for banks to deploy new consumer banking services on smart phones.
