Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance has chosen Microsoft's BizTalk Server 2000 to deploy its first Web services application, FirstCheck, an online credit referencing solution designed to help businesses identify financial risks when dealing with new customers.
FirstCheck enables Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance clients to check the credit rating and payment performance of potential customers and partners within a secure environment. It replaces a lengthy phone and fax-based credit checking service.
Clients enter a credit check request online, and the request is delivered via XML to BizTalk Server. BizTalk Server sends a search request through Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance's Microsoft SQL Server to find the credit information stored in its database of client credit information. The results are then returned in XML almost instantaneously to the customer making the request.
Martin Walmsley, e-business development manager at Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, comments: "BizTalk Server enabled us to create the FirstCheck solution quickly and easily. Now, not only are we able to give our customers real-time credit references, we are also lowering our costs for these credit checks, as well as providing a service that has already begun to increase our customer base."