FIS Cortex is a modular software application which processes card-based transactions on every level of an electronic funds transfer. The solution allows organisations to issue debit, credit and prepaid cards from a single platform.

Established in 1835, Airdrie Savings Bank has seven branches covering North Lanarkshire and last year reported total assets of £150 million. Currently, the bank has more than 60,000 customers.

Stuart Waterson, senior manager, operations for Airdrie Savings Bank, explained that the switch to FIS Cortex was prompted when its existing supplier announced it was going to sunset its non-Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant solution.

"Personal service is our number one priority at Airdrie Savings Bank and we wanted to avoid any disruption to our customer base. We also wanted to solve the problem of PCI compliance and deploy a system that could handle debit, prepaid and credit card processing through a single platform. FIS Cortex is the perfect solution," Waterson said.

"FIS Cortex has a major advantage over some other products in that existing card data can be easily migrated from the previous system. This means there is no need to inconvenience customers by re-issuing their debit cards or Personal Identification Numbers (PINs). FIS also takes on the considerable burden of PCI compliance. We really liked the fact that FIS Cortex is highly configurable and can integrate seamlessly with our systems and daily processes, as well as avoiding large scale in-house development," he added.

John Yeomans, general manager, cards for FIS commented, "Maintaining compliant solutions is a huge hurdle for many institutions and often requires a large portion of IT budgets. FIS' outsourced debit processing service is attracting a great deal of interest as banks look to find functionally rich, reliable and cost-effective alternatives to in-house solutions."