Erste Bank, a leading Austrian bank, has undergone rapid growth in Eastern Europe in the last few years by acquiring some 10 banks in countries such as Slovakia, Czech Republic, Serbia, Hungary, Ukraine, Romania and Croatia. While, its member banks now have excellent opportunities in expanding markets, in some cases they also face Euro transition challenges.

Peter Weiss, head of Group IT functions, Erste Bank comments: "After an extensive selection process, we chose Finantix as the vendor with the most compelling offering. Its technology combines the right balance between flexibility and reuse, with the front-office processes built on a solid and proven architecture. We are looking forward to continued success with Finantix."

Finantix' technology provides local banks the ability to tailor their banking processes to specific market requirements. Finantix will enable Erste Bank to support its business objectives across the group building upon the existing investment made into back-office solutions and without compromising on country business differentiators and time to market constraints. With Finantix technology, Erste Bank will be able to handle both the immediate Euro accession requirements and the ongoing market driven demands.

Finantix' component-based J2EE flexible technology can be implemented in multiple ways depending on the requirements of each bank. Erste Bank has opted for a pre-defined solution which includes the following modules: Teller and Banking, Consumer and SME lending, CRM and Marketing for all retail channels.

Finantix offers a full suite of front office retail components that include content and workflows. Finantix components can be implemented on a line-of-business approach or as full solutions. Different components can be bundled together to create a plug and play environment ensuring quick implementations.

Alessandro Tonchia, strategy director, Finantix comments: "In retail banking the demand for a physical branch network is high. At the same time, banks aiming to transform their branches from cost into profit centres by offering advice-led sales and services. We are proud to support Erste Bank in its international expansion plans helping it to compete effectively and increase market share. "