Microsoft Launches 'Banking Integration Factory'

Published: November 21, 2006

by Alex Woodie

Microsoft and several of its partners in the financial services industry yesterday unveiled a series of tools and services aimed at helping banks connect new banking applications with legacy software. The initiative, which Microsoft labeled its Banking Integration Factory, isn't so much an exercise in complying with new standards as getting the key players to design composite applications with integration in mind.

Microsoft describes its Banking Integration Factory as "a set of guidelines and tools to enable consistency in service implementations." The initiative seeks to drive consistency in several ways, including creating consistency in interfaces, complying with Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) profiles, and "cross-cutting" certain aspects of application design, such as security, confidentiality, configuration, exceptions, and logging. Supporting Windows .NET and Microsoft's Windows platform for the development of composite applications is also a part of the initiative.

Users will know the Banking Integration Factory is working when they gain new freedom in how they interact with banks, enabled through the adoption of composite applications by their banks. For example, in addition to cashing checks and answering questions, branch tellers will be able to provide customers with immediate access to services such as opening new accounts, managing forms, or completing loan applications, based solely on the customer's information. Similarly, better integration will enable many more services to be made available to customers when they call customer service representatives, bank online, or visit ATMs.

Banking-sector ISVs that are participating in the initiative include ARGO Data Resource, Corillian, Getronics, Harland Financial Solutions, and Jack Henry & Associates. Several other ISVs are supporting the initiative as well.

According to Greg Haislip, a managing director of Microsoft's financial services group, banks are spending too much time and money to resolve integration problems. "The new Banking Integration Factory helps solve this problem by providing a standard approach adopted by multiple vendors, to lead to more rapid implementation," he says.

Jack Henry & Associates, which develops core banking applications for banks and credit unions that run on IBM's i5/OS platform, sees benefit to Microsoft's initiative. "Large banks have spent millions of dollars on channel technologies to help with data aggregation and channel silo complexity," says Tony Wormington, president of the Missouri company. "Our relationship with Microsoft will benefit banking customers by allowing them to build upon their existing systems and providing them with a single source for totally integrated, enterprise-wide automation systems."