Tue 18 - Thu 20 November 2008 - Frankfurt am Main, Exhibition Grounds, Hall 5.1
The banking and insurance industries are faced with digital challenges – E.B.I.F. offers solutions for the financial sector
Wiesbaden, 15 May 2006 – Users and buyers from the banking and insurance sectors are eagerly awaiting the innovative information technology solutions for their industry which will be found at the European Banking & Insurance Fair (E.B.I.F.), Europe’s technology trade fair for the banking and insurance industries. The trade fair is scheduled to take place in Frankfurt from 14 to 16 November, and will be showcasing the latest trends in IT and fittings once again this year.
1,5 million ATMs worldwide, more than 230 billion electronic payments per year in Europe, and some 20 million users of online banking in Germany alone – the world of finance is dominated by machines. And not just on the customer side. The internal processes in the financial sector are also becoming increasingly automated, to the point that industry experts are even making reference to an “industrialisation” of the sector. In concrete terms, this translates into a need for the decision-makers in the financial sector to learn from highly automated sectors such as automotive development in order to meet the demands of their customers and investors.
Béla Steingassner, Marketing Manager in the Financial Services Sector for IBM Deutschland and the largest provider at the E.B.I.F., explains this as follows: “In particular, objectives such as achieving customer orientation, growth and cost efficiency force banks and insurance companies to optimise their internal administrative processes. The E.B.I.F. offers the perfect platform for us at IBM to present our new solutions directly to the industry’s decision-makers.”
According to industry experts, the increasing attention paid by companies in the financial sector to the capital markets – a result of the expectations of greater returns on the part of their investors – is the primary factor driving the increased utilisation of information technology. In addition, there is also a considerable need for optimisation in these financial firms when it comes to customer acquisition and retention, service quality, improved CRM and increased cross-selling for their existing customers.
Thomas Schütz, Managing Director of Messe Frankfurt Ausstellungen GmbH and organiser of the E.B.I.F., lists a few more important factors which will lead to increased investment in IT: “The increasing number of digital attacks and breakdowns is a challenge to the financial sector to invest more in securing its applications and systems. Another driver of growth is the technical implementation of regulatory efforts such as Basel II and Solvency II.”
Against the background of increasing requirements for new technologies, the industry association for information technology and telecommunications BITKOM foresees a rosy future. The association is expecting the IT sector in Germany to grow to €72.8 billion in 2007 (2005: €68.1 billion). Thomas Schütz agrees with this positive forecast: “After a few years during which the IT sector was undergoing a process of consolidation, the upward trend is now plain to see. Above all, it is specialised companies such as those exhibiting at the E.B.I.F. that will profit from the increased demand from the financial sector.”
More than 7,000 international users and decision-makers from financial and insurance institutions are expected, along with some 250 exhibitors, making this event Europe’s largest independent technology trade fair for the banking and insurance sector. This year the E.B.I.F. will once again be taking place within the framework of Euro Finance Week, the high-powered industry gathering of the European finance and insurance sectors in one of Europe’s most important financial centres.
9TH EURO FINANCE WEEK 13 - 17 November 2006
E.B.I.F. Trade Exhibition 14-16 November 2006
Finanzplatz Gala for the benefit of UNICEF, 17 November 2006
Concurrent with: IT forum 2006, Sparkassen Informatik 14 - 16 November 2006
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Press contact:
Michael Diegelmann / Henryk Deter
cometis AG
Unter den Eichen 7
65195 Wiesbaden, Germany
phone +49 611 20 58 55-12/-13
Fax +49 611 20 58 55-66
diegelmann@cometis.de
deter@cometis.de
