Report on credit risk IT solutions vendors released

Financial Insights, an IDC company, has released the report "Credit Risk Solution Vendors: Who's Who in Asia" to guide institutions in reconfiguring their credit risk initiatives.

An independent research and advisory firm, Financial Insights assessed the principal credit risk IT solutions vendors in the Asia/Pacific region. "Credit Risk Solution Vendors: Who's Who in Asia" provides a comprehensive analysis of nine credit risk IT solutions vendors namely Algorithmics, Fiserv, Misys Almonde, Moody’s Fermat, Oracle Reveleus, QRM, SAP, SAS Institute, and SunGard. The report covers credit risk offerings, solution architectures, product components and notable functionalities, pricing structures, representative references globally, among others. It also provides Financial Insights' assessment of the strengths and limitations of these vendors based on their value propositions, feedback from the banking community, and the research firm's observations.

Li-May Chew, CFA, Senior Research Manager for Financial Insights Asia/Pacific, said, "Now that the financial tsunami has hit the shores in Asia/Pacific, changing dynamics within the banking sector calls for a risk infrastructure that can assist financial institutions to deal with uncertainties, associated risks, and opportunities more effectively."

Financial Insights recommends that banks nominate a risk champion within the organisation and ensure that risk awareness pervades the entire enterprise in order to align strategies, policy objectives, and business processes with their credit risk framework. Aside from correlating vendor functionality offerings with their risk management requirements, banks also need to consider other factors such as extent of customisation preferred and future functionality requirements.

"The core commonalities of these vendors include a diverse client reach across geographies and financial sub-sectors, a wide and expanding footprint of global installations, and an integrated, scalable architectural framework. All nine vendors are worthy contenders. While Algorithmics, Moody's Fermat, Fiserv and QRM stood out for their distinct features and extensive functionalities, Oracle Reveleus, SAP, SAS Institute and SunGard boast a varied portfolio of clients. Misys Almonde, on the other hand, offers rapid web-delivery deployment and is deeply entrenched in emerging markets," added Chew.

For IT vendors, Financial Insights has the following recommendations: generate senior executive buy-in to ensure internal justification for purchasing the application; integrate products or offer the option of a holistic risk management suite; conduct research on target market and not dismiss new competitors; and be in the forefront of innovation.