Finastra today announced that UK-based specialist building society, Teachers Building Society, has selected Fusion Essence Cloud, its next-generation Software as a Service (SaaS) core banking solution, to deliver a new core and digital banking service.
Fusion Essence Cloud will help Teachers Building Society (Teachers BS), the first-ever UK building society customer to invest in the solution, process significantly higher volumes of mortgages, savings applications, and money transfers; enabling the firm to continue to grow its member base through an enhanced customer experience.
Simon Beresford, CEO of Teachers Building Society, said, "After a rigorous global selection process, Finastra is the standout partner for us. Finastra's commitment to responsible business and social innovation held strong appeal. Its deep expertise, innovative solutions, and proven experience with 90 of the world’s top 100 banks left us in no doubt about the benefits of the appointment. Investing in the new platform will ensure we can deliver best in class products and service to brokers and their clients, as well as teachers, providing enhanced engagement experiences to both our core audiences."
Fusion Essence Cloud, a SaaS solution on Microsoft Azure, gives Teachers BS the flexibility to bring new products to market and respond to new demands quickly, while unlocking access to data and analytics for a personalized customer experience. With native digital online and mobile banking capabilities, Fusion Essence will enable the building society members to open and manage savings accounts easily and transact digitally with a cutting-edge experience. The team at Teachers BS will also benefit from end-to-end straight through processing of higher volumes of mortgages and savings, due to pre-built integration with software specialists BEP Systems, for origination, and Fairmort, for regulatory reporting.
Anand Subbaraman, General Manager, Banking, at Finastra said, “Fusion Essence Cloud will give the Teachers BS team the flexibility to meet ongoing customer needs when it comes to home ownership. Our integrated solution streamlines core processes, such as onboarding, money transfers, mortgage origination and regulatory reporting, and will enable Teachers BS to focus on business expansion while giving its customers the best digital experience. As our first UK building society customer, we are delighted to be supporting Teachers BS’ ongoing growth and success and to be working with them to build ‘the building society of the future’.”
Teachers BS is the first UK building society to invest in Fusion Essence SaaS to serve its core audiences more effectively. The mutual was founded in the 1960s specifically to offer mortgages to teachers, a group considered ‘unattractive’ by larger lenders due to their smaller deposits and relatively low income. Today, the Society’s purpose remains the same; to support teachers who are first-time buyers, as well as those with atypical income through Teachers for Intermediaries, its specialist complex lending brand. The new platform, powered by Finastra, which aims to unlock the power of finance for everyone, will enable the Society to continue its mission and grow its business across both groups.