Italy's Banca Marche and IBM in Deal to Create 'Paperless' Bank Branches

Banca Marche and IBM announced they are working together to develop completely paperless branch designs for all the bank's branches in Italy. The five-year deal also calls for IBM to manage Banca Marche's complete IT infrastructure and to train employees on the new paperless systems.

The innovative project, dubbed "Intelligent Branch," will be able to integrate customer data from multiple sales channels -- internet, call center, etc. -- to allow tellers maximum ability to serve branch customers. The new technology will allow for quicker rollout of new products and services, as well as fully automating processes such as applications for loans and account openings. Once completed, this will allow Banca Marche employees to devote more time to managing customer relationships and more effectively cross-sell the bank's products.

"This agreement with a leading company like IBM," says Massimo Bianconi, Banca Marche General Manager, "will allow Banca Marche to offer more services to its customers, and to lead the Italian banking industry in developing open and innovative solutions."

The new branch designs are based on J2EE open standards and will be built using a Services Oriented Architecture approach that will draw heavily from IBM's repository of Information Frameworks, which are pre-coded banking processes developed through IBM's vast experience creating solutions with its customers in financial services. Other IBM products include: Rich Eclipse Client Platform and IBM software (Rational suite, WebSphere suite and Tivoli software).

"IBM is deeply committed to developing innovative solutions for its customers," stated Andrea Pontremoli, IBM Italy CEO. "IBM's collaboration with Banca Marche, a leader in the banking industry, will allow them to be more flexible and respond quickly to new market opportunities and challenges."

About Banca Marche

Banca delle Marche was set up in 1994 and resulted from the merger of Cassa di Risparmio di Pesaro, di Macerata and di Jesi, three savings banks counting each on more than 150 years of activity in their respective areas. Ever since its foundation, the Bank has aimed at being the main bank for the Region and to expand beyond its boundaries. In a period of dramatic changes in society, Banca delle Marche grew, consolidated its role, took up new challenges and supported not only economic initiatives but also cultural and social events in the Marche region.

About IBM

For more info about IBM Financial Services, please visit: http://www.ibm.com/industries/financialservices/doc/jsp/indseg/financialmarkets

Contact: IBM Michael Corrado IBM Media Relations (914) 642-3009 mcorrado@us.ibm.com