ACCRA, Ghana, Nov.
29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced
the successful completion of a new comprehensive state-of-the-art
data center at the fast-growing Fidelity Bank in Ghana.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121129/NY20640 )
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Fidelity Bank, which is widely known in Ghana for its innovative mortgage and rural
banking products, has evolved from a $100,000 start-up to a multi-million dollar
enterprise that is now preparing for a listing on the Ghanaian
Stock Exchange. Faced with growing pressure on its back-end
processes and technology systems, Fidelity sought an integrated
solution that would enable it to manage future growth as it kick
started its expansion program.
"We are at a critical period in the history of our bank where we
need to have in place the right kind of technology going forward,"
said Edward Effah, Managing
Director, Fidelity Bank. "With advanced technologies and enhanced
business intelligence tools, IBM is helping us to optimize our
ability to provide a wider range of services to our rapidly growing
client base."
The data center, which is housed in the bank's headquarters in
the Ghanaian capital of Accra, has
been designed from the ground-up with the latest advances in energy
efficiency, business continuity, resiliency, security and disaster
recovery.
Fidelity Bank is ISO certified – the first bank in Ghana to achieve this mark. The bank has been
voted the best Growing Bank three consecutive times in Ghana. Other recent awards include, Best Bank,
Customer Care 2010 and runner up in Short-term loans, Information
Technology and Corporate Social Responsibility.
Fidelity Bank has extended its footprint into Asia with the establishment of Fidelity Asia
Bank in Malaysia. This has also
opened up trade and investment opportunities between Ghana and the Far East.
To deliver the data center, IBM pooled together local and
international consulting expertise and leveraged best practice
examples from across the world, to deliver a customized yet
affordable solution. The new data center will simplify back-end
management processes and provide higher levels of service
availability, helping the bank to deliver a positive end-user
experience.
Growing demand for innovative banking services and wider product
portfolios is driving intense competition in the Ghanaian financial
sector, which the World Bank predicts will expand by more than 12%
in 2012.
"We are seeing increased momentum in the financial services
sector where our clients are looking for transformative
technologies that can help them leapfrog several generations of IT
platforms, lower operational costs, and automate more processes,"
said Joe Mensah, Country General
Manager, IBM Ghana.
IBM is actively expanding its operations across Africa as part of the company's continued
geographic expansion initiative. Recently, IBM announced details of
20 major banking deals throughout Africa including five of Kenya's leading banks: Credit Bank,
Co-operative Bank, Family Bank, National Bank of Kenya and National Industrial Credit Bank, who
turned to IBM to deliver world-class IT solutions that are
fine-tuned to their local markets.
Earlier this month, RAWBANK, the largest private bank in the
Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), announced an agreement with IBM to help transform its core
banking systems as it seeks to grow its customer base in the
largely unbanked Central African country.
"The focus for African financial institutions has been to
increase market expansion efforts and improve customer service
levels," said Bijen Ramdas, senior
research analyst with IDC Financial Insights, MEA. "Technology
investments being made by financial institutions in the region
address multiple key business metrics specifically focusing on
improving efficiencies, saving costs and driving customer
acquisition or retention."
IBM displaced several systems providers, including
Hewlett-Packard to supply Fidelity Bank with hardware, application
and systems software, storage and virtualization software
solutions. The deal also included post-implementation support by
IBM for the bank. The specific systems deployed in the new data
center include highly scalable IBM Power 750 servers running
PowerHA and PowerVM system software for computationally intense
core-banking applications as well as System x3850 servers for the
bank's general business workloads. For its increased storage
needs, Fidelity Bank also selected IBM System Storage DS5300
systems for core-banking and the IBM Storwize V7000 with x86
virtualization.
About Fidelity Bank
Fidelity Bank Ghana is owned by Ghanaian and foreign individuals
and institutional investors, including the Agricultural Development
Bank, Africa Capital LLC, and the Social Security and National
Insurance Trust (SSNIT), amongst others.
To learn more about Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd visit:
www.fidelitybank.com.gh
About IBM:
To find out more about IBM please visit: www.ibm.com
For more information, please contact:
Charles Moyela
IBM Media Relations
+233 2627 18756
Email: charlesm@ng.ibm.com
Kui Kinyanjui
IBM Media Relations
+254 721 676543
Email: mariekin@ke.ibm.com
Kristin Bryson
IBM Media Relations
914-766-4221
203-241-9190 (mobile)
SOURCE IBM