Press release

July 21, 2005

Banking Production Centre (BPC) and IBM have announced the successful completion of BPC’s SmartVista processing system tests on the IBM eServer iSeries platform. This initiative is the result of broadening cooperation of the two companies aimed at providing financial institutions with cutting-edge hardware/software solutions for e-business and e-commerce. The tests conducted at IBM’s Innovations Centre for business partners in Moscow have demonstrated the efficiency of SmartVista operation on IBM’s new generation servers and have opened up new marketing opportunities for the joint BPC and IBM solutions.

New IBM eServer iSeries systems are specifically designed to help organizations create a more optimized computing environment and ensure that their business continues operating reliably. IBM eServer iSeries is a highly secure integrated system designed to run thousands of the world's most popular business applications. It provides faster, more reliable and highly secure ways to help organizations simplify their IT environment by reducing the number of servers and associated staff required and to help them save money and reinvest in growing their business.

During the tests BPC’s engineers emulated a wide range of transactions, including cash withdrawal via ATMs and POS-terminals, retail purchases, funds transfers between the customer’s accounts and to the accounts predefined either by the bank or by the customer, balance inquiry and mini-statement order, e-commerce. The tests were performed on the basis of a full-functional live version of the SmartVista software suite comprising SmartVista Front-End switching system and SmartVista Back-Office card management system.

The successful completion of tests will allow BPC and IBM to start a challenging campaign aimed at delivering a joint solution based on the SmartVista software suite and the IBM eServer iSeries platform. Both existing and prospect customers of the two companies will benefit from running SmartVista-based card processing solutions on the new generation IBM servers. Furthermore, the current customers will be able to improve their processing infrastructure at either hardware or software level, while the new ones will obtain a comprehensive full-functional solution for transaction processing and card management based on efficient and reliable server system.

“We are confident that the power of IBM eServer iSeries technologies will help BPC to address a new market segment. From now on we shall be able to offer modern EFT solutions to the Russia and CIS financial institutions that currently rely on iSeries servers,” said Sergey Krukov, Deputy Director, Sales, Client and Partner Relations, BPC. “Again, this joint solution will be definitely welcomed in the markets where banks still deploy IBM servers of the previous generation. Challenged by EMV migration many financial institutions are now highly interested in switching to future-proof processing systems and upgrading their hardware platforms,” he added.