Headlines:
Indian Basel Software for Wells
Wells Fargo & Co. plans to use software from i-flex solutions ltd. of Bangalore, India, to help it calculate credit risk for compliance with Basel II capital standards.
The San Francisco banking company has licensed i-flex's Reveleus Basel II Solution. "By as early as this spring we will be able to use the analytical capability of this tool," said Nick Deshpande, who leads the Wells office in charge of the Basel II compliance project, which involves in-house as well as vendor technology.
Oracle Corp. of Redwood City, Calif., acquired a 43% stake in i-flex in December, and Wells is one of Oracle's largest customers. "Our long and ongoing relationship with Oracle" inspired confidence that the system would be up and running in time, Mr. Deshpande said last Tuesday. "Given how close the deadlines are, there's no room for any slips in the implementation."
Many of the companies that offer Basel II compliance software "are spread pretty thin," he added. "They either have too much business or too little business."
About 20 of the largest U.S. banking companies would be subject to Basel II, which uses complex formulas to determine required capital reserves.
Some legislative leaders, worried that Basel II's formula-based approach would let banks reduce capital reserves to dangerously low levels, have threatened to block implementation. But "we're going full force toward implementation unless the regulators tell us otherwise," Mr. Deshpande said.
NCR Has N.C., London Contracts
NCR Corp. of Dayton, Ohio, has new contracts with First Citizens BancShares Inc. of Raleigh, N.C., and PayPoint PLC, a London cash payment collection network.
A five-year contract announced Wednesday makes NCR the sole provider of ATM parts and maintenance services for First Citizens, which has $14.6 billion of assets. First Citizens' ATM network will run NCR's Aptra Edge software, which provides a uniform interface for machines from different manufacturers.
The banking company also extended from three years to five its license for NCR's check imaging software, ImageMark.
PayPoint agreed to buy 400 of NCR's EasyPoint ATMs. The contract includes ATM installation services and a multimillion-dollar maintenance contract, NCR said.
The deal, announced last Tuesday, was the first major win for NCR EasyPoint LLC, formed from the ATM manufacturing business NCR bought in January from Tidel Technologies Inc. of Carrollton, Tex.
