Under the Etude Programme, SlaterLabs developers provide financial institutions with the necessary consultancy, installation support and expertise to allow them to tailor the core banking application being developed to specific organisational needs and goals. It allows customers to operate across different business units, geographical locations, industries and time zones through the use of multi-currency, multi-language, multi-entry and multi-zone capabilities and allows for different modules to be installed according to individual customer needs.

Commenting on the deal, Bank Van Breda's CEO, Mr Carlo Henriksen said: "We selected SlaterLabs as our core banking system development partner after an extensive search of the market. None of the established core banking packages came close to our criteria and we see great potential in the collaborative approach pioneered by SlaterLabs. In addition, they have very talented staff and a strong track record in banking system development. The Etude Programme also offers us commercial flexibility and multiple deployment options."

Bank J.Van Breda & C° is headquartered in Antwerp and provides sophisticated products and services to its primary market - entrepreneurs and the liberal professions - through 45 branches.

Bank Van Breda's CIO, Mr Marc Wijnants summarised their IT plans: "Today our core banking back-office applications are primarily mainframe based while most of our front-office applications are Microsoft .NET oriented. We see significant benefits in transitioning away from the mainframe to a single, uniform .NET platform that is highly productive and cost effective. Our own technology expectations were very closely aligned to those offered by SlaterLabs."

SlaterLabs Chairman & CEO, Mr John Slater commented "I am very pleased to welcome Bank J.Van Breda & C° to The Etude Programme. The bank sets very high standards in the sophistication and efficiency of its operations and this input will be of great benefit to the Etude Programme and its future participants. To win the endorsement of this prestigious organisation is a major milestone for SlaterLabs.

"When the Etude Programme was launched last year, we saw the potential it had to transform the banking landscape," says Mr David Vander, Managing Director, Worldwide Financial Services, Microsoft Corporation. "It is a great example of our partners using Microsoft .NET to quickly build and deploy flexible banking solutions with a modular approach and we are fully supportive of this initiative. With banks like Bank J. Van Breda & C° leading the way, we are excited to see how their businesses are transformed as staff become more able to focus on core, revenue generating activities, rather than maintaining banking applications."