IBM, banks form financial services net

Electronic News, Sept 16, 1996

New York--IBM is planning an assault on electronic commerce. Last week, the company announced the formation of a banking services network in partnership with 15 American banks. IBM also launched a new server designed for network commerce.

The Integrion Financial Network will provide home banking, electronic commerce and other financial services to consumers and small businesses. Possible service offerings include bill payment and presentment, banking services and portfolio management. Customers may use any form of access, including the Internet, private networks and phone lines, to access the network. Some member banks will have pilot programs running by the first quarter of next year.

According to IBM, Integrion currently represents more than 60 million households. Member banks include ABN Amro, BancOne, Bank of America, Barnett Bank, Comerica, First Bank Systems, First Chicago NBD, Fleet Financial Group, KeyCorp, Mellon Bank, Michigan National Bank, NationaBank, PNC Bank, Royal Bank of Canada and Washington Mutual, Inc. During a press conference, IBM CEO and chairman Louis Gerstner said that each of the companies has invested several millions in the venture, and will share equally in expenses and profits.

Mr. Gerstner, along with several member bank presidents emphasized the role of open standards in the venture. James Dixon, president of NationsBank, said that Integrion had an "unparalleled opportunity to develop industry standards now as we enter the dawning of Internet banking." Mr. Gerstner added, "We will publish and build an open set of standards so that anyone can get these banks...all of the APIs will be open and published." Meanwhile, IBM also introduced two new families of network servers as well as several software offerings aimed at the Internet. The S/390 Generation 3 (G3) and S/390 Multiprise 2000 lines are both based on third-generation S/390 CMOS processor technology and include an open systems adapter permitting direct connections to Ethernet, Token Ring and ATM LANs. Both the G3 and Multiprise 2000 lines will be available by the end of the month, with pricing based on configuration.

IBM also announced the OS/390 release 2 operating system, along with Internet Connection Secure Server software and the Internet BonusPak II for OS/390. The Internet BonusPak and Secure Server enable secure Internet access and will be bundled with OS/390 release 2 at no extra charge by this December. OS/390 release 2 will ship at the end of this month.