Bank Hapoalim Boosts Productivity Through IBM WebSphere-based Service Oriented Architecture15 July 2006
IBM today announced that Bank Hapoalim has boosted productivity while improving customer service as a result of more closely aligning technology to the needs of business through a service oriented architecture (SOA).
As Israel's largest headquartered bank and leading financial group with more than $59.4 billion in assets, Bank Hapoalim is building an SOA using IBM WebSphere software that will link the bank's 3.5 million customers and 350 branches throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, East Asia and Australia, as well as the stock market and government offices.
Bank Hapoalim's first strategic SOA project is its Customer Alerts system that enables customers to be instantly notified when a specific event occurs such as ATM transactions, money transfers, potentially exceeding a credit limit, etc. Since the bank's SOA relies on open standards based WebSphere integration middleware that joins together various sources of information, alerts are instantly and consistently presented to the customer in the manner they prefer including email and mobile phones. Receiving accurate information on demand from remote locations is an especially critical differentiator for the fifty percent of Bank Hapoalim's customers that conduct banking business online.
"We realized the value of an SOA yet wanted to preserve our existing IT investments. In evaluating the top industry vendors, it was clear that IBM has the most flexible solutions and clear vision that will help us achieve our business goals," said Gabby Tomer, manager of software engineering, Bank Hapoalim. "Using a WebSphere-based SOA enabled us to create our customer alert system in just a few months; a project that would have easily taken more than a year had we chosen a different solution."
Bank Hapoalim was challenged by a complex information technology infrastructure (IT) that consisted of myriad proprietary applications, various user interfaces, and silos of critical information. This results in time delays when responding to customers, compliance officers, and conducting overall business operations throughout the bank's various departments and branches. By connecting its key audiences of employees, customers, partners, and government regulators through an SOA, Bank Hapaolim can reduce the time previously allocated to responding to inquiries by as much as twenty five percent and has realized increased efficiency due to streamlining interfaces.
"Bank Hapoalim's strategic and iterative approach to SOA is a beacon for financial services organizations that are considering an SOA, yet feel challenged by the perceived enormity of the project," said Sandy Carter, vice president, SOA and WebSphere strategy, channels and marketing. "By successfully implementing small projects and tracking the ROI on those projects, Bank Hapoalim illustrates how quickly and easily best practices can be reused throughout the company to streamline to the creation of a service oriented architecture."
About Bank Hapaolim
Bank Hapoalim is Israel's leading financial group and bank. In Israel, the Bank Hapoalim Group includes three commercial banking subsidiaries, as well as financial companies involved in investment banking, credit cards, trust services and portfolio management. The Group has also holdings in non-financial sectors.
Overseas, the Bank operates through 38 branches, subsidiaries and representative offices in North and Latin America, Europe, East Asia, Turkey and Australia. In these markets, the Bank is engaged in trade, corporate finance, private banking and retail banking.
With over $59.4 billion in assets, the Bank enjoyed record net profits of US$632 million in 2005.
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SOURCE: IBM
Source: marketwire
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