Ericsson and IBM join forces to help financial services companies

Ericsson and IBM join forces to help financial services companies - Offer next generation Mobile Internet services Ericsson and IBM today announced they will work together to help financial services companies deliver Mobile Internet offerings that go beyond today's Business-to-Consumer services such as retrieving checking account information. The two companies will develop and implement technology that enables high-value, high-volume Business-to-Client services such as wealth management, account aggregation, mobile trading, and credit card and payment alerts. The alliance will combine the wireless telecommunications expertise of Ericsson with the financial services and information technology expertise of IBM. The two companies will develop and market a joint offering tailored to the needs of financial services companies. The aim is to give financial institutions a standard, highly scalable and secure end-to-end infrastructure for implementing robust, high-volume services across multiple financial channels. The companies' joint offering will combine Ericsson Mobile Internet application building blocks such as Ericsson Mobile e-Pay, Safetrader and WAP Gateway with the IBM WebSphere infrastructure family of products, including WebSphere Everyplace Suite, and the IBM eServer family of products. IBM Global Services will provide business innovation consulting and IT integration services. "The alliance between Ericsson and IBM is a powerful proposition. Given the depth of IBM's relationships with the world's leading banks and Ericsson's pioneering work in the mobile commerce space, we anticipate great interest among the financial community," said Remus Brett, manager, Financial Services Technology Practice, Datamonitor. "We firmly believe next generation mobile services are going to be critical for banks in the next two to three years. This alliance should enable banks to position themselves favorably regardless of future changes in networks, devices and payment technologies." "Many of the wireless projects underway at banks and financial services firms today are in pilot stage, involving only a few hundred consumers and undertaken on a one-off basis to gain first-mover advantage," said Dr. Mark N. Greene, vice president, Strategy and Solutions, IBM Global Financial Services Sector. "While many benefits have been realized, financial services companies now are faced with the challenge of delivering higher value financial services to hundreds of thousands of customers located around the globe. The IBM and Ericsson alliance will develop the necessary infrastructure for financial services companies to integrate Mobile Internet into their multi-channel strategy, allowing them to easily offer the next generation financial services to build customer loyalty." "The Ericsson and IBM alliance is an important step in realizing our strategy to create and drive Mobile Internet applications. It aims to bring a unique combination of expertise to the market to enable financial institutions eager to capitalize on the opportunities of Mobile Internet," said Lars Boman, president, Ericsson Internet Applications. "It will accelerate the uptake of Mobile Internet for financial services and will drive the development of additional applications and traffic volume for GPRS and 3G in this sector." Phone Conference Ericsson and IBM will host a teleconference to discuss today's announcement at 1 p.m. CET on Thursday, February 15, 2001. The dial-in number is +44 208 240 82 46, code IBM/Ericsson. A replay option will also be available for five working days by calling +44 208 288 44 59, code 699752. Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Vivienne Almqvist, Press Manager, Ericsson Internet Applications Phone: +46 70 526 2231; E-mail: vivienne.almqvist@bct.ericsson.se Andris Zvejnieks, Country Communications Manager, IBM Sweden Phone: +46 8 793 5187; E-mail: andris.zvejnieks@se.ibm.com Jennifer Atkins, Global Communications Manager, IBM Global Financial Services Sector Phone: + 1 914 642 5414; E-mail: jatkins@us.ibm.com About IBM IBM's Financial Services Sector is the world's leading provider of comprehensive, integrated e-business solutions to the banking, financial markets and insurance industries. Working directly with its financial services customers, IBM develops and deploys mission-critical industry- specific technology solutions. Those solutions comprise the full range of IBM capabilities including consulting, software, hardware, research and services. Additional information about IBM can be found at www.ibm.com/solutions/financialservices. IBM, WebSphere, WebSphere Everyplace Suite and eServers are registered trademarks of IBM in the United States and other countries. ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by BIT http://www.bit.se The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/02/15/20010215BIT00010/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2001/02/15/20010215BIT00010/bit0001.pdf