Temenos, a provider of integrated core banking systems, and software solutions provider Microsoft have announced an alliance for delivering core banking solutions with TEMENOS T24 and Microsoft SQL Server to increase operational efficiencies of large-scale banks worldwide.

Earlier, the two companies worked with North Shore Credit Union (NSCU), a financial institution in Canada, to deliver a new core banking solution with a data management platform based on TEMENOS T24 and Microsoft SQL Server.

Microsoft believes the new agreement will see both parties collaborate more closely and commit technical, marketing and sales resources to bringing a flexible core banking solution to market, which optimises the use of the Microsoft platform with T24.

Accenture has introduced a new version of Alnova Financial Solutions, its core banking platform, which is aimed at faster implementation and upgradation through the “broader use of standard software components”.

The company informed the new version can help banks support their changing product and pricing requirements and can be integrated with legacy systems using service-oriented architecture (SOA) and third-party business process management tools.

To help streamline implementations and future upgrades, Accenture has expanded the use of common software components and expanded its ability to support Alnova deployments through its global delivery network. Other enhancements include:

- a standardised delivery and implementation methodology, aimed at reducing implementation costs and risks;
faster software-testing and data-migration capabilities;
- a new tool for accurate estimation of time and efforts required for implementation; and
- an electronic repository of Alnova design data to help banks establish design requirements and customise the solution.

Monitise Americas and Metavante have announced the launch of text message banking services.

The service will allow consumers to use text messaging to obtain any-time balance information on their accounts.

It will also enable consumers to set alerts, to notify them when their balance is low or when their payroll deposit has arrived, for example.

Monitise Americas is a joint venture between Metavante, a provider of banking and payments technologies, and Monitise, a mobile money player.

Aricent, a global technology and services company, has announced its role in the joint development of a new mobile banking application for Pocit, a subsidiary of information technology company, Tradebridge, backed by South Africa’s Capitec Bank.

Pocit, a sister division of healthbridge, was formed as a spinoff from healthbridge’s payment solution for healthcare providers.

Developed by Aricent, the mobile component of the Pocit application, allows anyone with a credit card or bank account to make payments directly from the mobile application via a cell phone without having to know the recipient’s specific banking details. Once registered with Pocit, a user can receive, send, request and store money.

The handset application was developed on an open source framework J4ME, which was improved by Aricent’s development team over the life of the project, resulting in a flexible framework upon which more complex functionality could be added in subsequent phases, the company informed.

TransCard, a provider of pre-paid debit card solutions branded with MasterCard, Discover Network and STAR associations, has launched online bill pay for all MasterCard clients and cardholders.

The online bill pay platform is aimed at providing cardholders with an easy way to pay their bills. It has been integrated with the cardholder website. Payments can be set up to be either one-time or recurring, with the amounts directly deducted from cardholders’ accounts as with any other transaction.

Trust National Bank, a commercial banks in Russia, has completed the upgrade of its country-wide communications network with Cisco Unified Communications to offer a secure, multi-functional digital telephony services. The bank now boasts a resilient multiservice network infrastructure that helps reduce management and operational costs.

Trust National Bank selected NVision Group, a Cisco Gold Certified Partner, to implement Cisco Unified Communications to make the network fault-tolerant, secure, intelligent and scalable.

Cisco informed that the new system also helps enable the integration of telecommunications with banking business applications.

Bank employees can access a full range of telephony services to maximise the efficiency of using PSTN lines and cut long-distance communications bills. With encryption and security built into Cisco IP solutions, conversations over the bank’s digital network are highly secure, Cisco noted.

Trust National Bank’s network upgrade deployed different Cisco products, such as voice gateways, WAN routers, IP Phones and access switches.