S1 Corp. has completed the integration of mobile banking capabilities into its two major software systems, and several banking companies may be interested in using it, executives said.
S1, which provides Internet banking software and customer-contact applications, paid $2.4 million to license the mobile banking source code from a South African company, Fundamo. It is offering the platform to users of its Enterprise system for large banks and to customers of its Postilion unit, which focuses on smaller institutions.
Johann Dreyer, S1's president and chief executive, said the mobile system extends the Atlanta company's channel applications, which also include voice and branch systems.
"We haven't seen anything in the industry that's close to that platform," he told analysts and investors on an earnings call Thursday. "The feedback that we get from our customers is pretty positive."
However, he did not mention any sales of the mobile banking technology. Several of the nation's largest banks have developed mobile systems that enable customers to check balances, review transaction histories, and even pay bills with their mobile phones.
S1's third-quarter net income fell 84.6% from a year earlier, to $5.1 million. Revenue fell 1.1%, to $51.3 million.
The bottom line met Wall Street's earnings expectation of 8 cents per share.
John A. Stone, S1's chief financial officer, said the 2006 quarter included a single sale of almost $3 million that was recognized upon delivery. Usually the company spreads out revenue recognition over the period when the customer is installing it.
P. Sean Jackson, a senior research analyst at Avondale Partners LLC, said S1 has stabilized under Mr. Dreyer's leadership after fighting off an activist shareholder in 2006.
"They've been investing in a lot of platform-like products," Mr. Jackson said in an interview Friday. "You've got to develop it, you've got to market it before you see any meaningful revenue growth."
He pointed to the mobile banking initiative as an example. "They're doing all the right things," said Mr. Jackson. "It just takes a while to get traction."
