Logica’s Operational Support and Billing service (OBS) will be used by ING to improve transparency of charging and collect fees from a large proportion of its business customers. The product incorporates SunTec Business Solutions’ TBMS-F application, previously implemented at large-scale telcos to manage customer care and billing processes.

ING plans to introduce the system initially to provide rating and billing support to corporate customer in the Netherlands. In a clear break with tradition in bank billing practices, ING users will be provided with clear statements, including detailed breakdowns of individual service charges. ING also intends to use the system to more accurately measure and manage income from business customers.

Erik Moti, ICT project manager for the programme at ING, says of the product: “It enables us to reduce the cost of revenue collection, to improve revenues and pricing management, and to meet customer and regulatory demands for transparency – all with a significantly reduced burden on our back-end systems.”

Logica has been demonstrating the product to banks attending the Swift international banking show in Geneva. With its first major public bank signing the vendor expects to see a lot more interest from bankers who traditionally practice a laissez faire approach to corporate relationship management.

Says Lu Zurawskim head of OBS at Logica: “ING were one of the first banks to recognise that billing challenges could be solved by repeatable solutions used by telecoms companies around the world.”

Logica is understood to have another major banking client ready to go public with a similar OBS implementation across their global operations. An announcement is expected imminently, says a spokesperson at the vendor.