Banco do Brasil has entered into an extensive network computing agreement with International Business Machines Corp.
Over the next three years, the $104 billion-asset bank will spend $1.8 billion on new technology, including Java, OS/2 Warp Servers, and the Secure Electronic Transactions protocol for card payments over the Internet and its ATM network.
The deal is comparable to mega-contracts that IBM has signed with Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. and Cera Bank of Belgium.
Banco do Brasil Shopping, an electronic mall based on SET and IBM E- business technologies, is ready to roll out with five companies in Latin America.
The bank aims to process what it says will be the first Latin American SET payments-giving IBM the distinction of being involved in secure credit card transactions on five continents.
The bank's ATM network, which is expected to grow to 29,000 terminals from 7,000 in the next three years, should be the primary channel for SET transactions.
The Brazilian bank also will modify its home banking application and train 900 people, or 50% of its programming staff, in Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java language. It is the second-largest commitment to Java by a single organization other than IBM. IBM has 2,400 programmers developing Java.
The Java-based home banking product, to be called Banco do Brasil Personal Banking, will serve consumers and businesses.
By yearend the bank expects to have spent about $800 million to upgrade technology at 4,300 branches in 28 countries.
The upgrades will include moving teller, ATM, and back-office applications to the 32-bit OS/2 Warp Server. The bank plans to deploy about 8,000 of the servers.
Eduardo Garcia, Banco do Brasil's senior adviser to the director of retail banking technology and infrastructure, said its information technology had become obsolete.
"By the year 2000 we want to leapfrog our competitors in Latin America and worldwide," he said.
