Simeka Business Group, through its subsidiary Simeka Consulting, formerly known as ITQ, has developed and implemented a multimillion-rand asset finance software solution for Laiki Bank Asset Finance Division in Cyprus, a subsidiary of the global Marfin Popular Bank group.
Marfin Popular Bank, in its present form, was created by the merging of three groups: Marfin Financial Group, Laiki Group and Egnatia Bank. The subsequent consolidation has created a major financial institution.
Marfin Popular Bank offers a wide range of financial services through its subsidiary companies and its branch network. It has presence in Cyprus, Greece, UK, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Romania, Estonia and Malta. The bank has received many awards for its achievements in banking and technology over the years. The highlight of this was in 2006; a year in which the group received four prestigious industry awards.
"Besides being an international player, being a financial services provider made the selection process so much more stringent as there is absolutely no room for errors or breaches. Laiki Bank was specifically looking for a supplier at the forefront of solutions for financial institutions and Simeka Consulting certainly has the credentials in terms of our skills base, track record and delivery. In addition, the fact that we are a South African-based company means we are able to offer very competitive pricing against international players," explains Gerhard Buitendag, Managing Executive, Simeka Consulting.
Working from a Bynx Willow global solutions base with the fleet management aspect already successfully in place, Simeka Consulting was commissioned to develop an integrated end-to-end asset finance system for private and corporate clients of Laiki Bank.
Support guarantees are in place with backup and support provided from the South African ITQ support office by means of VPN.
"The solution will be available to Laiki Bank employees with an interface for the dealer network so approvals can be done on the shop floor so to speak," explains Gerhard Buitendag, Managing Executive of Simeka Consulting Implementation and Outsourcing.
"The system offers end-to-end processing with front-to-back integration and includes functionality such as application management, risk assessment management, CRM along with accounting and processing functions. In the highly competitive asset finance market, timing is everything and whoever gets back to client first with an approval usually gets the deal. The development enables Laiki Bank to communicate with all the stakeholders in the process in a real-time environment and approvals can literally be done then and there. While all the more complex tasks are done in the background such as credit checks and risk assessments, repayment terms, interest calculations and so on, the customer is freed up from the administrative hassle and Laiki Bank gets to deliver on its promise of a high performance, technologically advanced, client-centric bank," explains Buitendag.
As a South African company, Simeka Consulting had to work hard to demonstrate its capability to client, especially on the support and backup side since servicing the needs of a financial services client some 8 000 miles away is no easy task.
"In the highly competitive financial services sector, having a powerful asset finance solution can be the make or break when trying to stay ahead of the competition," adds Gerhard Buitendag.
The development will enable Laiki Bank to extend its lending policies literally to dealers on the floor by means of a management system that is synchronised to the back office administration system.
Simeka Consulting also recently assisted Laiki Bank with a currency conversion from Cyprus pounds to euros. "Cyprus joined the EU on the 1st of January 2008 thus a currency conversion was critical to the success of the entire Laiki project. One error in this regard could have had a major impact on the profitability of the bank. This phase went into production on the 1st of January 2008 without a hitch," explains Buitendag.
"For Laiki Bank, clients can look forward to a highly streamlined, cost and resource efficient and professional way of doing business. For Simeka Consulting, we'll be looking at offering this development to the South African financial services sector. We've proven our prowess in the international market and delivered a solution that fits the bill of an exceptionally demanding client. We'll be able to offer the same professional development and attitude to South African financial institutions with an internationally-vetted track record to prove our capability," he concludes.
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