Tue 18 - Thu 20 November 2008 - Frankfurt am Main, Exhibition Grounds, Hall 5.1
Innovation for increased profitability
26 Oct 2004, Frankfurt - Finance houses need to become more profitable – at the E.B.I.F. they can find the tools to do the job.
New business activities, including pension provision and wealth management, current trends in the industry such as outsourcing and the creation of "banking factories" and innovative tools that improve sales activities at banks and insurers are all featured at this year's European Banking & Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.).
"Financial service providers can only achieve ambitious profit targets if they go on the offensive and really fight for customers," says Thomas Schütz, Managing Director of the exhibition organiser, Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen. "They are therefore concentrating on their core competence area – the selling of financial products – and are looking for partners who can deal with everything outside that area.”
For this reason, companies that have been exhibiting at the E.B.I.F. for many years now, such as IBM, Sun Microsystems and its partner Wincor Nixdorf, are showing what they have to offer in the field of outsourcing partnerships. Specialists in automation will show finance houses how they can set up optimum processes for their branches in order to relieve employees of routine tasks and allow them to concentrate on advising customers. More efficient ways of utilising and managing customer information are being presented by a number of suppliers, including Oracle – a partner on the Morse stand – and Uniquare Financial Solutions. A wide range of exhibitors are also demonstrating solutions to help finance companies prepare for new regulations such as the Basel II capital guidelines as well as the strict counter-terrorism rules on money laundering and international payments. Meanwhile, at the "British Pavilion" four renowned partner companies from the Intellect professional association are exhibiting for the first time at the E.B.I.F. The appearance of the UK-based Intellect association is, in the words of Thomas Schütz, "a real highlight of this year's show."
The number of exhibitors in relation to the previous year has actually dropped from 314 to 272. "This reflects the pressure that the German financial sector is currently facing. Exhibitions are like a seismograph for these types of things," as Schütz explains. "Even so, cost cutting needs to be followed up by increases in profits, and technology for the finance industry can help achieve the preconditions necessary for this." Schütz therefore remains convinced that this year's E.B.I.F. will send a strong, positive signal to the industry.
Next year, the show aims to attract even more visitors. This is because the E.B.I.F. and its specialist conference held at the same time will be held during the same week as the renowned European Banking Congress. For this reason the E.B.I.F. will be moved to November. The effects of this should benefit everyone involved: participants at the Euro Finance Week and the E.B.I.F. will see an increase in the political significance of the events. Similarly, delegates at the European Banking Congress can supplement their own agenda with information on the latest technological trends. The LinuxWorld Conference & Expo will also be held on the same dates.
Once again in 2005, the E.B.I.F. will be taking place in Halls 5 and 6. Visitors will be able to gain access to the conference events via the exhibition. This will save both visitors and exhibitors time spent moving between the two events. "This means that the topics covered by the conference and the innovations shown at the exhibition will be moving more closely together – undeniably a good thing," explains Thomas Schütz in relation to this change. "Since vision and real-life experience clearly belong together."
