London Bridge Software has finalised the acquisition of US banking solutions company Phoenix International. The UK-based vendor announced its intention to purchase Phoenix in late October with the aim of creating a single source supplier for retail banking systems.
London Bridge's existing portfolio includes software for credit scoring, collections and recoveries. Phoenix's products include customer relationship information management, online customer profitability analysis, financial reporting, an executive information management system and fully integrated branch, telephone, ATM and Internet banking modules. Other products include trade finance and global payments capabilities for wholesale banking.
According to Chris Rowbottom, chief executive officer of the Phoenix Division and chief operating officer for London Bridge Software Holdings, the combined product set will help solve several problems faced by financial services organisations. "The combination of the Phoenix System and London Bridge's Vectus, creates an open architecture which will allow our clients to consolidate the various delivery channels including branches, call centres, Internet banking, telephone banking, mobile banking and interactive TV," he says. "Additionally the use of credit/behavioural scoring and effective collections and recovery software will facilitate better risk decisions both during customer acquisition and during the delinquency stage of the loan."
The acquisition was financed from the proceeds of the placement of shares made by London Bridge Software in October 2000.