Credit Suisse is latest finance firm to launch app store

Credit Suisse is set to launch an online technology marketplace focused on providing apps to the investment banking and hedge fund sectors.

The eCO Financial Technology marketplace, which will launch in January, will match up buyers and sellers of apps and provide standardised contracts to smooth procurement.

A statement on the eCO website said: “eCo maximises the buyer’s chances of successful deployment through independent quality and interoperability analysis. Service partners – the industry’s most experienced software and services companies – provide support contracts to avoid dependencies between banks while enabling all parties to achieve the cost and quality savings of staying on a common code line.”

Finance firms, like the government, are looking at ways to reduce how much they spend on IT. By opening up choice and smoothing procurement through app stores, firms can contribute to this.

French banking giant Credit Agricole, which has 150,000 employees and 51 million customers, has already created an app store to provide banking apps to customers and get ideas from customers for new apps.

The Credit Agricole Store is a platform that puts developers in touch with the bank's customers. Customers can download any apps they want and make suggestions for new ones. 

The app store currently has 21 apps and received more than 100,000 visits in its first three months. Apps cover services such as balance checking and fund transferring, as well as one to help visually impaired people use the online banking interface.