Allied Irish Bank (AIB) is to use business process management software from London-based Zarion to centralise compliance procedures at its retail service unit.
AIB will use Zarion's TouchPoint2 browser-based software to enable branch staff to fax or scan required documentation directly to its centralised compliance processing division in Dublin. The scanned items are then stored on managed servers at the bank's data centre.
All received documentation is routed through a defined, automated workflow process. E-mails and alerts are raised automatically at various points, resulting in faster processing as errors and omissions are picked up immediately. Automated service level monitoring is also provided by the system.
Brendan McGovern, IT delivery manager for the project at AIB, says centralising administration of a core compliance procedure has allowed the bank to remove an overhead activity from the branch network and brings a consistent level of service and enforcement. The bank can also now provide group wide reports for external reporting instantly.
Zarion, which is installing the technology at AIB, says key to the delivery of the system was Web Services, which enabled it to quickly exchange data between the existing business systems and its TouchPoint2 product.
The vendor also used Web Services technology to directly cross reference applications against a centralised customer database, updating and recording relevant information.
McGovern adds: "Using Web Services to overlay existing networks and hardware is not only very fast, but it also reduces the requirement for decentralised servers. Thin client solutions with centralised processing also creates easier ongoing maintenance for our IT division."