Absa has licensed IFS International's TPII product to manage a new network of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) at its recently acquired subsidiary in Tanzania, NBC. The software will be operated from Johannesburg, South Africa and will link with the ATMs via satellite links already developed for a long-distance branch automation project.
The prime contractor for the project will be ICL South Africa with TPII running on Clustered SUN E450 hardware, utilising Oracle's RDBMS and the UNIX operating system.
With the pioneering project to bring online banking to local branches in Tanzania well underway, the deployment of IFS' TPII represents the commencement of the second phase of the bank's customer-facing programme for its Tanzanian outpost.
"Absa realised that in order to establish modern banking trends and technology in Third World countries, it would have to render a service that is user-friendly and technology which is durable, robust, reliable and cost effective," says an Absa spokesman. "Conditions in the greater part of Africa are such that equipment is oftentimes subjected to harsh, unpredictable conditions, making it all the more challenging to identify suitable hard-and software vendors."