S1 Corporation and IBM have expanded their global strategic alliance for Internet-based financial services. Through the extended agreement, IBM's global sales teams will promote S1 applications for consumer e-finance to mutual customers and prospects.
The two companies will integrate S1's Consumer Suite of e-finance applications with IBM's pSeries eServer, WebSphere infrastructure software and DB2 Universal Database. IBM will also implement a solutions centre where IBM's S1 Consumer Suite experts will provide consulting, customisation and integration services to mutual customers. The two companies began offering S1 Consumer Suite running on IBM's zSeries eServer last October.
Components of S1's Consumer Suite supported in this alliance include comprehensive Internet-based solutions offering banking, brokerage, and relationship management functionality that includes one-to-one marketing capabilities, customer service, content and wealth management tools.
The addition of S1's Consumer Suite builds upon a strategic alliance formed by the two companies in April 2000, which focused on S1's Corporate Suite of applications, a solution that enables banks to offer their corporate clients a wide range of online cash and asset management services.
Mark Greene, general manager, IBM Global Banking Industry, says: "With the broad acceptance of online financial services, banks can now leverage their assets to provide a highly customised level of service to increase customer retention and drive additional revenues."
The strategic alliance is a global contract that gives S1 premier partner status within IBM PartnerWorld for Developers and allows IBM to jointly sell, market, and further integrate the S1 product set. The alliance covers joint marketing programs, cooperative funding, performance benchmarking, as well as continued product integration.