FIS Reports Solid 2009 Sales of i/OS Core Banking System

Published: January 19, 2010

by Alex Woodie

Jack Henry & Associates and Fiserv may dominate discussions of so-called "core" account processing platforms that run on the IBM i/OS platform. But with more than a dozen new multi-year licenses for its HORIZON core banking system in 2009, Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) is making a strong case for its i/OS-based software.

FIS was created in November 2006 when Fidelity National Financial spun off its information services division into a separate entity, and combined it with card issuer Certegy. Several years and several acquisitions later, FIS chairman William P. Foley, II led the company's biggest acquisition yet: the $2.94 billion deal for Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Metavante. The deal was announced in early April 2009, but thanks to an extended review by the federal government to look at the competitive ramifications of the deal, it was not formally completed until October.

The combination of FIS and Metavante (while the company officially changed its name to Fidelity National Information Systems and adopted a new logo following the Metavante acquisition, it retains the FIS abbreviation) is being reported as a game-changer in the cutthroat business for core banking systems. With 8,000 and 14,000 customers, respectively, Metavante and Fidelity were the second and third largest providers of core banking systems before the merger, and was expected to create the largest provider after the deal. It also places FIS directly in the cross-hairs of the two standard-bearers in the field: Jack Henry and Fiserv, both of which are strong supporters of the i/OS server.

The new FIS owns eight core banking systems, including two that run on i/OS--Horizon is one, and the other is Bancway, the Metavante application that runs on i/OS, Unix, and Linux; Metavante acquired Bancway from Kirchman in 2004.

FIS last week announced that, in 2009, it secured 16 multi-year new core processing contracts for HORIZON with financial institutions throughout the country. What's more, the company signed five new deals in October alone, marking a one-month record, the company says.

One of the new HORIZON licensees is Cardinal Bank, a $2 billion subsidiary of the publicly traded Cardinal Financial. The bank is adopting the core HORIZON banking system and several additional modules for front-end teller services, a content management offering, and document imaging. The bank is also adopting a full range of other FIS offerings, including electronic bill payment, Internet and telephone banking, card production services, and risk compliance. The bank also bought access to the NYCE Payments Network, an electronic payments network owned by FIS.

FIS executives are touting the HORIZON sales as sign of what's to come. "FIS is continuing to build momentum with HORIZON sales in the marketplace through our commitment in developing a robust, fully integrated core banking platform with advanced functionality that meets the needs of financial institutions within the community bank market," Anthony Jabbour, executive vice president of FIS' Financial Solutions Group, states in an announcement.

For more information on FIS, see its Web site at www.fisglobal.com.

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