Fair Isaac signs RZB to Debt Manager; agrees acquisition of Braun Consulting

Fair Isaac signs RZB to Debt Manager; agrees acquisition of Braun Consulting

Austrian banking group Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) is implementing Fair Isaac's Debt Manager product to standardise debt collection processes across its European operations.

The bank software will be rolled out across the bank's offices in 15 countries, starting with Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary. The implementation will be extended to other Eastern European countries over the next 24 months.

Fair Isaac says that by deploying the product across the enterprise, RZB banks will be able to achieve a group-wide view of their bad debt position. The system will link to each subsidiary's host banking system and will be used by staff to support the collection and recovery of overdue payments. RZB will also implement the Web-based version of the software in the near future.

Debt Manager will replace a number in-house manual or small systems used at individual banks within the group which have resulted in a wide array of collection procedures.

Hermann Bender, vice president of retail banking international, RZB, comments: "We require a proven debt management solution that is flexible enough to manage different products, strategies and legal frameworks in each country where we have a presence."

Bender says the implementation "is a milestone in the RZB group's development and brings widely spread parts of our organisation together".

Minneapolis-based Fair Isaac acquired the Debt Manager product when it bought out London Bridge Software in May this year.

Separately, Fair Isaac has agreed to buy Braun Consulting, a Chicago-based technology consultant, for about $40.3 million.

Under the terms of the agreement Fair Isaac will pay $2.34 in cash for each share of Braun, far more than the closing price of $1.28 for Braun shares on Monday. The net cash value of the transaction is approximately $30 million after assumption of the Braun balance sheet.

Fair Isaac says the acquisition will build on its marketing analytics offerings through the addition of Braun's customer management, product strategy and organisational consulting services. Under the deal, Braun's senior management team, including founder and CEO Steven Braun who owns 48% of the company's share, will transfer to Fair Isaac.

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth calendar quarter.

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