Automated Financial Systems Taps IBM Cloud to Expand Financial Services

Global lending leader doubles processing capacity to drive market expansion

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Nov 14, 2016, 09:30 ET

ARMONK, N.Y. and PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that Automated Financial Systems, Inc. (AFS), a global leader in commercial lending to top-tier financial institutions is utilizing the IBM Cloud to expand its loan processing capacity to support its overall growth and market expansion.

AFS, whose clients include two-thirds of the top 25 U.S. banks and bank holding companies, turned to IBM Cloud Managed Services on z Systems which extends the scalable and security-rich processing capabilities of IBM z Systems in a hybrid cloud environment, to establish a new hosting and recovery plan that supports the 24/7 demands of offerings such as AFSVision, the only real-time, linear lending system that manages the commercial lending lifecycle from loan origination to account servicing and reporting.

These newfound efficiencies have allowed AFS to expand existing client portfolios and onboard new clients into production much faster than ever before. IBM's delivery of a highly flexible operating environment allowed AFS to double its processing capacity, and run times for several critical AFS applications were improved with IBM Cloud Managed Services on z Systems – some by as much as 100 percent.

"Our decision to adopt IBM Cloud Managed Services on z Systems was made with the knowledge that IBM consistently has delivered for clients and evolved alongside them for decades," said Mike Bogdash, Managing Director at AFS. "The efficiencies that we've received from this platform has boosted our processing capabilities and makes it possible for us to implement a client into production much quicker."

To better protect its operations and encourage higher-quality customer service, AFS also has adopted an IBM business continuity and resiliency services plan that provides the financial software company with an alternative site recovery solution in the unlikely event of a disruption. Seventy percent of financial risk managers cited cyber risk as their top concern in a 2015 survey for an event that could affect global financial systems. Financial policy leaders also have emphasized that cyber risk needs to be viewed as a major priority rather than a limited technology issue, with financial services encountering security incidents 300 percent more frequently than other industries.

"AFS holds a commanding position in its industry while continuing to innovate its IT infrastructure in today's digitized world," said Martin Jetter, Senior Vice President, Global Technology Services, IBM. "IBM Cloud Managed Services on z Systems is designed to amplify mainframe efficiencies and offer new opportunities for AFS to respond to evolving client environments and achieve future growth."

About Automated Financial Systems, Inc.
Automated Financial Systems, Inc. (AFS) is the global leader in providing commercial lending solutions to top-tier financial institutions with more than $2.2 trillion in commercial and industrial loans being processed on our solutions for banks that include two-thirds of the top 25 U.S. banks and bank holding companies. AFS works with the world's financial institutions to build lending processes based on a straight-through model and on-demand technology and services. In doing so, AFS partners with client banks to understand their strategic goals and works proactively to achieve their business and technology objectives. AFS is headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia; its European subsidiary, Automated Financial Systems GmbH, is based in Vienna, Austria. For further information, visit www.afsvision.com.

About IBM Global Technology Services
IBM Global Technology Services offers end-to-end IT consulting and business services supported by an unparalleled global delivery network that is transforming its business to lead in an era of Cognitive and Cloud. As a cloud services integrator, GTS is managing the services and underlying infrastructure in an integrated and unified way. It is modernizing clients' IT environments to help them meet the increasingly complex customer demands. GTS provides clients with innovative technology solutions that help them to improve their business processes and in turn, profitability.

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SOURCE IBM