Habib Bank UK has made the decision to overhaul its existing bespoke fixed asset solution and replace it with Real Asset Management's integrated fixed asset accounting and tracking software, in a drive to modernise its current processes and increase the visibility and accountability of its asset base.
As the first European branch of Habib Bank Limited to be opened in 1961, Habib Bank UK has been serving the banking needs of the South Asian community in Europe for over 54 years and has a network of 11 branches with 9 in the UK and one each in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Its parent company, HBL was not only the first commercial bank to be established in Pakistan (in 1947) but is also the largest Pakistani bank nationwide with almost 1600 branches across the country. Additionally, it has a global presence, being represented in 20 other countries.
Habib Bank UK was keen to move its systems to a newer version of Windows which would have resulted in a large amount of bespoke development work. It had reached the point where support, as well as functionality for the existing solution was limited, and the decision was made to invest in a best of breed, off the shelf system. Ali Asghar, IT Manager at Habib Bank UK comments, "As a growing organisation, it was crucial that we updated our IT systems and set in place more future proof software to reflect and support this growth. RAM's reputation and strong client base, particularly within the banking/finance sector, was a key factor in our decision to purchase RAM's system, as was the user friendly and feature rich nature of the software."
Habib Bank UK needed a centralised system to control and track its 1,000 strong asset base which consists largely of office and IT equipment, furniture and buildings. From a financial point of view, its key requirements are to calculate and run off monthly depreciation and to ensure compliance with both internal and external audit requirements through the provision of detailed financial reporting. Asghar continues, "It was important to choose a solution which could produce in depth reports and provide us with different levels of analysis. We were very impressed with the range of pre-built reports covering historical data within the RAM system as well as the flexibility to be able to create our own when required."
Habib Bank UK will also be utilising RAM's mobile asset tracking application alongside the asset register to perform physical audits on a quarterly basis. The bank had previously undertaken the exercise of bar-coding its assets and will now have the facility to track their movement and whereabouts using its existing smartphone and tablet devices. Asghar comments, "Being able to track asset location and status with minimal cost and resources will be invaluable in imposing more control over our asset base and ensuring that business assets can be identified quickly and easily."
Asghar concludes, "We are looking forward to the increased benefits that the new software will bring and feel confident that by having a fully supported system and the expertise of RAM to tap into, we will transform our asset management processes and take them into the 21st century."