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Below are the Editor's Notes, which introduce each new issue of IBS Journal, for the past 12 months in date order. To view all other Editor's Notes, news, case studies and in-depth features please visit the IBS Journal Archive or search our website.

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – May 2013

07 May 2013

The number of new players in the payments sector seems to multiply by the week. They are queuing up to try to dismantle long-standing value-chains. Just about all of the newcomers are focused on the C2C or B2C spaces, whether domestic or cross-border. While for most there will still be a bank account at either end of the chain, the part in the middle is up for grabs.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Clearing and Settlement, Internet / Online / Mobile Banking / Channels / ATM Branch, Payments

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – April 2013

04 April 2013

You'd think it was a buyers' market, but in these tough times it seems some vendors are trying to squeeze ever more out of deals with tighter terms and conditions. On occasions, seemingly innocuous lines can have a potentially major impact on lifetime costs. Not surprisingly, banks are digging in their heels and, in some instances, reaching an impasse.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – March 2013

06 March 2013

Hopefully no-one comes away from reading our Sales League Table commentary feeling too depressed. There is no escaping the fact that the figures from our annual snapshot of what has been happening show another depressed year and, worse still, a further slump from the doldrums of 2011.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – February 2013

06 February 2013

For a while, in mid-January, the banking software market mirrored what was happening in the UK retail space. Post-Christmas, another swathe of well-known retail chains went to the wall, with the most high-profile being music and DVD retailer, HMV. In parallel, a clutch of long-standing, autonomous banking software suppliers were acquired. In both instances, it was almost a case of, who is going to succumb today?

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) , Cash Management / Corporate Finance / Treasury

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – December 2012 / January 2013

03 December 2012

When a banking software implementation project fails, who is to blame? Finger-pointing is common, but in reality, the likelihood is that all parties – vendor, integrator and financial institution – contributed (some more, some less) to the unsuccessful outcome. Perhaps everyone should take a hard look in the mirror.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems, Problem Projects, Partnerships

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – November 2012

01 November 2012

This editorial was written ahead of the industry being dragged off to Osaka for the annual Swift shin-dig. Fine if you are a Japanese banker, not so good if you are one of the many attendees from Europe, a continent that will not see the show for at least five years. At least there should be plenty of places to sit for tired delegates, as the withdrawal of the Chinese banks from the exhibition will probably see the appearance of some large lounge areas.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems, Payments, Problem Projects

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – October 2012

01 October 2012

In recent months, there hardly seems to be any announcements from vendors on signing new core banking software contracts. Of course, there are hotspots of activity in the emerging markets of Asia and Africa, but the global snapshot is that more or less the same number of vendors are chasing the ever-decreasing pool of prospects. Our annual Sales League Table is a good indicator of the quantity of new deals up for grabs, and it paints a picture far from rosy: 431 in 2008, 405 in 2009, 352 in 2010 and 302 in 2011. It is hard to envisage the 2012 figures defying this downward trend.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – September 2012

03 September 2012

When a new top executive starts his or her tenure at a bank, technology is usually among the first things put under review. What are the projects under way and are they worth it? And, as the new broom sweeps clean, even the most hopeful of the core banking transformation initiatives may never see the light of day. Some of these projects, of course, are in such a mess by the time of the change-over that scrapping them is the only way forward.

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Labels: Back Office Systems, Core Banking Systems, Problem Projects

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – July 2012: IBS comments on the major IT problems at RBS

28 June 2012

Others have been there before and, unless they finally grapple with their legacy systems and processes, more and more banks could find themselves in a similar position to RBS – fire-fighting after a major, public computer problem. Read more >>

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Labels: Payments, Problem Projects

IBS Journal | Editor's note

Editor's Note – June 2012

01 June 2012

Presenting recently to a large group of Russian banks, the question inevitably arose: why has it proved so difficult to implement core banking systems in the country? While Russia is a rather extreme example of this situation, there are too many other countries about which the same question could be posed.