It is all about communications between banks and their commercial customers, together with suppliers who happen to be the banks' clients, according to  Tony Murphy, director of banking and supply chain management for Sterling Commerce Ltd.

He said the company's system can help both banks and their customers. The company's software enables banks to link into its customers' data to better sculpt their services to individual customers.

"Once they're in possession of detailed information about customers, it'll be easier for them to decide on loans and pricing. As of now, the program has mainly been marketed to foreign banks. Several Thai banks are studying the package, though," he said.

Sterling Commerce's Multi-Enterprise Finance Gateway (MEFG) product has already made inroads at Thai industry.

The company has sold to local banks and Thai corporations in several industries.

"Right now, eight of the country's top 10 banks are our customers in terms of general IT solutions services. Around 40 per cent of them may be using the company's MEFG service in the next two years," Murphy said.

Some local banks are considering using financial supply-chain management for their customers in the automotive and consumer products businesses. With retail banking growing more competitive, local banks plan to develop their IT systems, said Kanokvipa Viriyaprapaikit, president of Stream IT Consulting Ltd, Sterling Commerce's local partner.

Since the country's financial crisis in 1997, the bank industry culture has undergone changes. Banks now pay greater attention to fee-based income and not just interest earnings. By upgrading their IT banks will be better able to expand and control risks, she said.

"IT solutions service providers are no longer mere clients where banks are concerned; they're their technology partners,'' she said.

Somruedi Banchongduang

 The Nation