Tech Bytes: Fla.'s Phoenix Lands Deal with Manila Bank

East West Banking Corp., the banking arm of Filinvest Development Corp., has signed an agreement to install Phoenix International Ltd.'s client/server core banking software.

It was the first banking company in the Philippines to do so.

East West will also use the Orlando vendor's Internet banking module and TradeWind, its trade finance system.

Elrey T. Ramos, East West's president and chief operating officer, said it decided to upgrade its technology in the face of increased competition from foreign banks entering the Philippines since a deregulation in 1995.

It needed software to support new products and services being developed for the country's emerging middle class, as well as to support mortgages and other consumer loans, Mr. Ramos said. The company has been using an IBM AS/400 computer for core data processing.

Filinvest Development Corp. is the holding company of the Filinvest Group of Companies, a real estate developer.

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