Unisys has teamed up with Barclays Bank and Lloyds TSB to launch a new outsourced payment processing organisation, iPSL (Intelligent Processing Solutions Limited).
Unisys is the 51% majority stakeholder in the company, with Barclays and Lloyds TSB each holding 24.5% interests. iPSL formally began operations on 3 December 2000 following an agreement struck between the partners in August, and is expected to generate some $1 billion in revenues over the next 10 years.
The company is launching against a backdrop of declining cheque volumes, making it less productive for many financial organisations to operate inhouse departments. Unisys and its banking partners believe that a combined operation will be able to deliver significant economies of scale and opportunities to share future technology costs.
Existing Unisys cheque clearing customers Girobank, The Co-operative Bank and National Australia Group (Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank) have given their backing to the venture and transferred their cheque processing operations to the new company.
David O'Brien, Unisys vice president and general manager, UK and Europe global outsourcing, who is acting chief executive officer of iPSL, says: "The creation of iPSL represents a ground-breaking deal for Unisys and its financial partners. The scale of iPSL justifies investment in leading edge technology and gives us the ability to compete aggressively in new markets."
John Smith, Unisys VP of UK global industries finance, says the new company forms a model for payment processing in the financial sector, with outsourcing playing a pivotal role. "This positions us as one of the major providers of outsourced financial services in the world," he adds.
He says iPSL has ambitious growth plans in cheque and remittance processing, plus the full range of back office support services. The company plans to expand its image based services, such as Image Archive, and extend its offerings to other volume processing areas in the financial services market.