eMerge on T24 Using this knowledge. we have created a banking solution specifically for the microfinance sector eMerge on T24. Temenos has implemented eMerge on T24 for more than 60 clients – many with multiple sites – in 50 countries. Microfinance is entering a new era. To date. eMerge on T24 is a robust and scalable solution which allows customers to start small. Small-scale community lending programmes are consolidating and maturing into sophisticated financial operations. and dedicated investment. Established banks are recognising the value of microfinance in extending their reach to new customers – an estimated billion of whom are currently unbanked. 2 . yet ready to grow exponentially as the business expands. eMerge is a set of programmes added to T24 to expand its functionality in microfinance and SME lending. Temenos is uniquely placed to anticipate the needs of the sector. With experience of more than 10 years working in mass retail and micro-banking around the world.An emerging sector The microfinance industry has huge growth potential and there are real opportunities for those with the right systems in place. In a climate of rapid change and increasing competition. the successful players have to be forward-thinking and equipped with durable and agile technical solutions for any eventuality. The message is clear . Simultaneously. international banks are recognising microfinance’s potential in their mainstream businesses – providing services to largely unbanked communities. The products developed for MFIs tended to be localised and did not offer the functional and technical depth of a mainstream retail banking system. smaller. deployed in scenarios that differ from the mainstream financial industry. Tools that improve operational efficiency and provide quality business intelligence give financial institutions the best chance of survival. The challenge of growth Regardless of whether growth occurs organically. In addition to fulfilling the reporting requirements of shareholders. Temenos knows micro-banks need solutions that can grow as they increase their customer base. as a result of consolidation. or through acquisition. 3 . Gaining control The sector as a whole is becoming increasingly regulated. community-based MFIs developed their own systems or used a combination of portfolio tracking and accounting packages. The drive for efficiency In the past. generally.become one of the consolidators or be consolidated out of the market. In this increasingly competitive environment. larger players are swallowing up the smaller operations. Larger. these organisations must use technology effectively. short-term and low-value products. they need a system capable of delivering new. their systems have become unable to provide the functionality or information that is required for their new business challenges. to improve control and security to ensure proper steps are taken and clear audit trails are maintained. As MFIs have grown.Consolidate or be consolidated The microfinance sector is changing quickly. The result is that many financial institutions in this sector continue to use tools which are manually labour-intensive and not set up to deliver adequate management information. high-volume. Most create subsidiaries or special purpose vehicles to enter the market. and their legacy systems are not typically wellequipped for the nature of microfinance lending – that is. micro-banks are required to comply with central bank regulations and to the international regulatory framework in certain cases. new players in the sector also face some specific challenges. and ethical alternatives to investors. This in turn encourages more private investors to the sector. tailored products to customers quickly. Smaller microfinance institutions (MFIs) are developing from social lending programmes into sophisticated banking operations. Those willing to invest in excellent technical solutions can turn the current situation to their advantage. financial institutions must be ready to support their businesses as they expand and deepen. Many MFIs do not have the procedural framework in place in order to comply with regulation. There is a real need. The implementation of effective core banking software provides such a framework by increasing transparency and so improving the quality of management of the business. To gain competitive advantage. through the channels that they want. Equally. consolidated and evolved into banks. Meeting requirements globally and locally As MFIs consolidate and expand. They require systems with the capacity to be developed in order to support requirements in the longer term. their systems must accommodate various countries. There is an opportunity for banks to gain commercial advantage by demonstrating consistently high levels of customer service. 4 . while also accommodating separate accounting standards for each branch. MFIs need a solution that can handle several languages and time zones on a multi-entity basis. A professional approach Consumers in this sector are increasingly discerning. business unit or country. cultures and regulatory regimes. It is a tight retail model with low implementation costs. Being fully scalable and parameterised. additional T24 modules can be enabled. wholesale banking. used by over 600 financial institutions around the world. product and parameter settings. continually enriched by T24’s global client base. Temenos T24 is a technically advanced.and account-based lending • Flat interest methodology • A rich Customer Information File for individuals and other non-individual entities. The result is that the system’s growth is driven by some of the largest. Our world-class package. such as groups. 5 . a ‘Model Bank’ which is adapted to the operational and processing requirements of financial institutions in this sector.Staying ahead in a changing industry Temenos is the leader in banking software solutions. Additional facilities specially built for community banking are: • Peer. T24 can be configured to suit the needs of any banking institution. businesses or trusts • Full suite of best practice standard portfolio reports • Investor funds tracking to report on fund management • Workflow processing and cash-flow reporting • A product designer the bank can use to create new products • Report and enquiry tools • Comprehensive charges and interest set up • Management of loans written off • Potential customer status to store track enquiries and applications until they become customers • Multi-language system and multi-company capability • 24x7 processing and electronic delivery channels. such as trade finance. front-to-back core banking solution. most progressive banks in their respective fields. which allows access to all of the developments that are fed back into the T24 core system. modern system. eMerge on T24 offers full banking functionality on an open. allowing the bank to expand into new business lines. Broad functionality eMerge on T24 has been specifically configured to perform most functions required by microfinance institutions in an out-of-the-box solution. The core system handles: • Customer. as a released-based solution. Above all. including charges and fees • Limits and collateral structure • Information and reporting output • Payment formatting and maintenance. Through our experience of more than 60 microfinance implementations. we have developed eMerge on T24. As banking requirements develop. all of which are cross validated during the loan application process to ensure applicants meet the criteria of the product • Exception-based payments and batch-payment processing • Contract. eMerge is a set of code and routines that is added to the core code of T24 while preserving T24’s core features such as straight through processing and real time reporting.or relationship-based lending methodologies • Local reference fields for gender. it is constantly evolving. age and district of residence. foreign exchange dealing or any other specialised market segment. Workflow is automated with straight-through-processing. As such. eMerge on T24 is effective for setting up a new operation quickly and ideal for rapid market entry. In addition. eMerge on T24 allows clients to add servers according to how their business grows. The inbuilt security management system regulates access appropriately. the ability to get products to market quickly translates to real competitive edge in a rapidly changing sector. The connection of the front and back end reduces the need for manual processes and minimises the risk of error. Designed to enable n-tier architecture.branch. users require minimal training which reduces operational downtime. This keeps the clients’ options open now and in the future. although exceptions can be set. customers and transactions. nor does it tie the client to a single vendor. Beat competitors to the market Temenos architecture gives banks the ability to create new products rapidly. manage and use Implementation of eMerge on T24 is straightforward. Core functionality can be delivered via standard messaging to a variety of channels . eMerge can accommodate unlimited accounts. eMerge on T24 does not require a specific IT set up. spread over four or five months. financial institutions can customise new products internally and deploy them instantly without the need for development or testing of new code. spanning transaction capture. it supports XML by default and can be connected to standard industry middleware solutions if required. It is a comprehensive front-toback processing solution featuring real-time connection between all parts of the system. there is no need to invest in additional systems. eMerge on T24 can be implemented on virtually any platform or database. with the knowledge that they can expand at any time. A complete solution With eMerge on T24. Because eMerge on T24 is configurable via parameters. verification. delivery. Easy to implement. As the system is preconfigured. it is easy for the bank to maintain control over its system. Not only is this inexpensive. call centre. Clients are not dependent on Temenos’ resources for day-to-day running and maintenance. With one technology and one environment to support. The advantage of this is clear – microfinance institutions or banks entering the market can start small.Growing with the sector Temenos systems are built for massive scalability. Independent and future-proof As an open standards solution. Although the product is soft configurable. telephone and internet banking. 6 . Integral to the solution is the visibility of the back end in all procedures. typical implementation takes only 250 working days. position management and risk control. eMerge on T24 provides support for 24x7 global operations. eMerge on T24 is a business-ready solution. Spanish and Portuguese. 7 . with banking best practice processes built into the standard routines and workflow. region and country • A single installation of eMerge on T24. across all accounts and incorporating all transactions. It also enables banks to cross-sell additional products to existing clients and to attract new business. in turn. real-time view of information – this is important for networked institutions and banks running operations across different regulatory jurisdictions and times zones • ASP and facilities management enabled. puts best practice at the heart of operations and gives complete control over the business from day one. offices and country operations • Full support for 24x7 global operations with a single. To date it has been translated into languages as diverse as Vietnamese. by agent. eMerge on T24 offers a distinct advantage in its strong procedural framework and that is completely compliant. capable of spanning global business requirements for centralised processing and systems administration The system is multi-language. allowing all processing to be centralised • Secure user access. up-to-date information when dealing with customers who. Global and local capabilities Intermediary organisations and mainstream international banks entering the microfinance sector need to set up and maintain operations in very different countries and jurisdictions. meaning information can be shared and/or restricted across different departments.Focus on the customer eMerge on T24 is customer-centric rather than product-centric. analysis and reporting. The product has benefited from our many years producing industry-leading software. Users have a single view of customers. It is an international solution that operates across multiple jurisdictions and allows many countries and companies to be supported from a single installation. Their challenge is to meet local requirements while also having the ability to centralise and consolidate. across several time zones. allowing separate accounting standards for each office or country. The solution offers: • The ability for multiple companies to operate from the same installation while allowing independent close-of-business processing for each – it offers separate accounting standards for each office and each country • Global consolidation of financial information – for example. currently available in English. branch. bank. Farsi and Russian. benefit from a more consistent and coherent service. French. Bank representatives can access detailed. Implementing eMerge on T24 can lay the foundation for good corporate governance and transparency by fulfilling regulatory reporting requirements and maintaining a clear audit trail. It is fully compliant with regulatory regimes. and can be translated easily for local operators and customers. Establishing best practice With the challenge of regulation and the need to establish best practice. Customer information held within the core system enables a bank to categorise its customers by a wide range of demographics for segmentation. Management information Process workflow Syndicated loans Money market Futures & options Securities Swaps Trade finance Confirmation matching ATM interface Reuters interface Swift interface ARC CRM ARC internet banking T-Risk 8 . These modules are included: AC Account AZ All in one account CO Collateral DC Data capture DE Delivery EB Core FT Funds transfer FX Forex IC Interest and charges LD Loans and deposits LI Limits LM Loans and money market OF Open financial server OO Open interactive financial service PD Past due PM Position management RE Reporting ST Standard tables TT Teller jBASE Enterprise Edition Further Temenos T24 eMerge options are available over and above the basic package.Core functionality. or in the future. with room to expand eMerge on T24 offers broad functionality as standard. IM PC MC NR Image management Post closing accounting Multi-company Nostro reconciliation eMerge on T24 can support additional modules either at installation. As communications infrastructure improve. distributed data with report consolidation and Internet batch file transfer and email enables networks of organisations to grow in an organic way around their clients' requirements.Deployment TEMENOS eMerge is typically deployed in a distributed environment on a Windows NT Local Area Network (LAN). wherever they may be located. 9 . Combinations of host based wide area networks. users are able to take advantage of TEMENOS eMerge's core capabilities and link branches through fixed lines or remote facilities. It allows participants to start small. release-based solution. The microfinance market has huge growth potential. designed to meet the unique needs of this market. eMerge on T24 is a proven system. Their technical solutions. but sets no realistic upper boundary. product and service diversification and status and organisational change. in a constantly evolving. It offers rapid implementation and open-ended functionality. must be different. it can be configured for new business as the organisation grows. over the course of the last decade. TEMENOS T24TM is a registered trademark of the TEMENOS GROUP and revered to as ‘T24’. They must be able to support volume growth.Grow with the market Emerging retail markets differ from mature financial markets. TEMENOS eMerge TM is a registered trademark of the TEMENOS GROUP and referred to as ’eMerge on T24’. For these and many other reasons. too. customer base and challenges are different. Competitive businesses will have systems that take advantage of this. Solutions must be easy to implement and maintain. 10 . Their profile. Above all. eMerge on T24 has been selected by organisations looking to increase their capability in the increasingly competitive microfinance sector.