The squeeze on IT budgets and running costs is making outsourcing a more attractive option to some financial institutions, claims a new survey of 70 members of the British Bankers Association, carried out by the Management Consultancies Association on behalf of Navigant Consulting, which found 41 per cent of respondents expect to increase outsourcing levels. The expected deluge may not materialise of course, but a recent round of announcements suggests there may be something in it with Visa Europe and ICAP both announcing five-year deals, respectively with BT and Accenture
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The latter, one of the world’s leading inter-dealer brokers, is choosing Accenture to develop and maintain its EU credit-trading platform under a five-year application outsourcing agreement. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed but the need for
it, as volumes increase, is obvious. “It is designed to increase the capabilities and cost efficiencies of our platform in order to
drive growth in an increasingly dynamic and evolving global market place,” explains James Dawson, business manger for credit products at ICAP.
Visa Europe’s five-year extension to its managed services deal with BT will mean the migration of its transaction network
onto
BT’s 21CN next generation network. The IP-based network should give 4,600 member banks across 36 countries increased support. The platform will handle at least six billion transactions worth d1.3 trillion, according to this year’s figures, with room
for expected growth.
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