FTI launches universal financial server

Financial Technologies International (FTI) has developed a promising alternative to data warehousing for banks specifically interested in consolidating information across a bank department, division or enterprise for the purposes of analysis.

"The Box Universal Financial Server" is built on a global financial data model, which facilitates analysis, says Charles Lewis, CEO of New York City-based FTI. And the Java-enabled server is capable of real-time processing, he says, calling it a "proactive financial management tool." With The Box, a bank can monitor if the foreign exchange desk, for example, is overexposed in Japanese yen at any point in the day and then act on that immediately.

The Box's ability to "read the contents of transactions" also means that the server can process new data without IT staffers reprogramming the existing systemoa significant administrative plus. So, says Lewis, when financial managers are barraged with phone calls from customers looking to raise capital through stock sales that will incur the least amount of capital gains tax based on legislation recently passed, those with The Box would be able to answer their customers by placing customer transaction files into the server and letting the accounting engine calculate the appropriate stock sales.

The price of the server ranges from $500,000 to $2.5 million. FB