Information technologies

The rapidly expanding network of Finance & Credit Bank branches and offices, the Bank's reorientation towards the retail market and the accompanying development of a whole number of new banking products entailing a significant growth in the client base, have become the decisive factors behind the Bank's steadily growing need to develop information technologies.

In 2006:

 

• the Bank completed a transition to a new single automated banking system SR-Bank 4 for Oracle
• the Bank completed a transition to a single concept of managing the local network of the Bank and its branches based on the Active Directory Microsoft Windows technology using centralized enforcement and management of security policies on users' workstations.

• general system software: Windows XP operating systems on workstations and Windows 2003 Server
• software and hardware for building and managing the Bank's corporate network 
• software of the automated banking system.

• Deployment of software on the basis of the industrial database management system Oracle 9i, which provides sufficient speed and reliability of data storage and processing
• Possibility to restrict or grant data access privileges on the basis of Row Level Security, making it possible to restrict access privileges not at the application level, but at the level of the database management system
• The user works on the level of transactions and performs relevant operations. This makes it possible to minimize operational risks, maximize the speed of customer service, and introduce technological procedures for servicing banking products.
• Thanks to flexible configuration tools, this banking system makes it possible to introduce new banking products within very short timeframes. 

     The Bank uses the automated banking system SR-Bank 4 for Oracle along with data backup tools offered by the database management system Oracle 9i – the so-called standby server. In the event of main server failure, the standby server takes over with almost no data loss.

       In 2006, the Bank completed the first deployment stage of the Data Warehouse system. This system is expected to provide key functionality for the tasks of analytical and management accounting, forecasting and financial analysis.

       For its general system software, the Bank performs data backup using the backup servers of the corporate network, backup communication equipment and channels. 
 

Internet and telephone banking services 
     Customers of Finance & Credit Bank now have the opportunity to view their transactions and balances of card accounts and accounts opened in the automated banking system via the Internet. In 2007, we plan to supplement these services with the following:

• telephone banking services offering the possibility to receive information about account balances over the telephone, order an account transcript to be sent to the customer's email address and fax number
• Internet banking services based on a thin browser client, including one for mobile devices.

Information technologies development plans for 2007-2010:

 

• Completion of the deployment of the Data Warehouse system and development of analytical and management accounting, monitoring and financial analysis tasks on its basis
• Introduction of a contact center
• Introduction of an electronic document management system
• Building channels for communication with branches based on the MPLS technology and backup communication channels
• Introduction of a CRM system.
• Introduction of a system of centralized accounting of capital assets, staff records, payroll, and budgets.
• Introduction of a Help Desk system.

Other promising areas in the field of information technologies include:

• mobile banking whereby a front-office employee, equipped with a mobile phone and a portable PC, can provide the widest possible range of services to a customer
• selling banking products and services via the Internet
• development and deployment of an automated document management system (WorkFlow)
• creating a centralized system for automatic updates of system software at the Bank's branches using a WSUS server at the head office
• creating a centralized monitoring system for the Bank's corporate network.