"The three constituent parts of our company are very complementary in their solution ranges, which today comprise the Sopra Banking Suite," says Jean-Paul Bourbon, CEO of Sopra Banking Software, "At the same time, each business already possessed a vast experience in their respective fields."

"This experience results in a company that pays close attention to its customers' needs, " continues Mr. Bourbon. "Currently, the banking sector has plenty of challenges. Regulation is one example. Risk and IT management is another. A third worry is that customers switch between banks more easily, and expect to have bank access through a greater variety of channels than ever. We believe that Sopra Banking Software offers the right type of software solutions and services that help banks tackle these challenges. Our solutions help them fall in line with new regulation more quickly, manage risk and IT more effectively as well as vastly improve customer profiling. In turn, this will help them create the innovations that meet their customers' demands."

The Sopra Banking Suite is the new company's software range for retail, private and direct banks. The Suite can be implemented directly as a fully integrated core banking system, or an 'à la carte' basis that only installs modules as needed.

Especially for larger banks with complex, aggregate IT systems, the Sopra Banking Suite supports a thorough 'transformation approach'. This approach works either vertically, by re-aligning one business domain with the Suite's rich functionalities, or horizontally, by decoupling operational layers. In both cases, banks can keep using what legacy systems they wish to retain, due to thee Sopra Banking Suite's service-orientated architecture (SOA).

"We don't just make software. We are clearly also involved in implementation, after-sales service and training," adds Mr. Bourbon. "I would also like to point out that the services we provide for existing customers of the three parent companies will continue. In fact, we are very proud that we can already claim over 500 customers in 70 countries, and will work very hard to keep their trust in our solutions." Further services that Sopra Banking Software provides include maintenance and training.. The company is also deeply involved in the BIAN industry network and counts a large number of hardware, software and service partners.

Sopra Banking Software can claim significant credibility as far as its strategy and outlook goes. Two of its constituent parts were listed inn Gartner's 22012 International Retail Core Banking 'Magic Quadrant' as a 'Leader' and 'Visionary', respectively. They owed this status in part due to their business principles, project methodology and the backbone support of the Sopra Group in making this a reality.