UK banks now have the technology to launch a wave of highly
personalised, web-based banking services.
Some 80% of UK banks now have the sufficient infrastructures in
place to support second-generation banking services, according to a
study conducted on behalf of e-business solutions firm Abaxx
Technology.
Java and J2EE have become the de facto standard within the banking
community, the survey revealed, with most using it as their main
technology platform for application frameworks and component
technologies.
The study, which focused on 20 investment banks operating in the
UK, also found that the majority of such organisations are moving
away from the traditional methods of writing their own software,
and are instead opting for highly customisable off-the-shelf
systems.
"We are going to see is an explosion in second generation e-banking
portals; personalised and focused on managing the relationship of
the customer, servicing their longer term needs," explained Andy
Smith, Abaxx general manager for UK and Scandinavia.
Steve Barrie, chief analyst at Bloor Research, thought that banks
would have to change their mindset before they could fully exploit
their new technological capabilities.
"I'd question whether the banks have the mentality to move towards
this. A lot of them will see the commercial benefit [of highly
customisable systems] but still have the mental block that they
can't admit to having the same software as their competitors," he
said.
As banks adopt off-the-shelf systems they will also turn to
application frameworks for support. An application framework is an
underlying structure that adheres to industry standards, but to
which users can add business functionality.
The Abaxx survey found that 75% of UK banks are looking at
implementing application frameworks within their e-commerce
strategies.