Core-banking software, by definition, is the software that runs the bank. But retail banks expect their core systems to do more than they did a decade ago. These days, banks want to be customer-centric, not product-centric, and at the same time they are more cost-conscious. They look to technology to reduce overhead and shave cost out of each transaction. As a core-banking software provider, Kirchman Corporation is busily evolving to address these needs.

Over the past five years, Florida-based Kirchman has focused the technology it develops on the strategies of the customers it serves. “We really try to understand what the bank is trying to do, their business objectives and their longer term plans for growth,” says company president Rachel Landrum. “As part of our core competency, we focus on trying to make banks more successful. Our challenge is to help them understand how the utilization of our solution can help get them there.”

Better customer management is part of the package. “We are a core-banking provider, but on a mission to reinvent core – to extend it from traditional, account processing all the way to the desktop of the bank and ultimately to the bank’s customer,” Landrum continues. “So we are including data collection techniques and storing information for CRM in a single accessible database.”

Other users like the fact that, with Kirchman’s approach, banks don’t need technical staff. “Whether it’s a small de novo bank or a multi-billion dollar holding company, we can provide a single programmer-less system,” says Landrum. “The bank doesn’t need programmers to maintain the system — we do that. Development and programming are part of the system.”

Kirchman Bankway is a networked solution built around a single database and based on a three-tiered architecture. It integrates ATMs, phone and Internet banking. As part of the evolution of Bankway and the expansion of its capabilities, Kirchman decided to port the mainframe-based system to Sun’s Solaris operating platform last year. "We think our alliance with Sun will provide our customers and prospects with a brand new, cutting edge operating environment in which to process Kirchman Bankway."

During its 35-year history Kirchman has established a strong base among small and medium-sized banks both in the U.S. and abroad. Among its customers are Union Planters, a super-regional US operation with assets of $37 billion and Komercni Banka, the largest bank in the Czech Republic in terms of volumes of transactions. On peak days, Komercni processes more than two million transactions.

“We have been serving community banks for a long time, that is where our strength is,” says Landrum. “But we certainly have the appetite to move upstream to work with larger organizations. We are keen to provide solutions that help banks grow their market share, reduce their expenses, empower their employees and become more successful. With the new Kirchman Bankway, we think we have the tools to do a lot of heavy lifting for them.”

At the high end of the market, it is often a matter of persuading banks to change well-entrenched beliefs and practices. “The challenge is in unwinding the solutions large organizations already have in place and convincing them they don’t need programmers,” concludes Landrum. “We have to persuade them that they can run this scalable solution and be successful with us as their programming arm. It’s a difficult marketing exercise.”

Learn more about Kirchman Bankway at www.kirchman.com, then click here for details on Sun’s midsize financial services solutions.