Meeting the Needs of the Web Banking Customer	Industry Financial

Web-based application harnesses power of Internet to help retail banking customers improve productivity and performance while maintaining highest levels of security

With the help of CoreTech Consulting Group, Inc., CoreStates developed its first Internet delivery service. Through its leading-edge Internet banking infrastructure, CoreStates had its first customer online, and was ready to meet the needs of web-based customers.

The strategic potential of the Internet to attract and retain a new generation of high-value, technology-savvy customers was of peak interest to CoreStates. This interest was intensified when one of the bank’s major wholesale customers, The Common Fund (TCF), a primary financial management resource for United States educational institutions, inquired about the bank’s plans for Internet delivery and offered to collaborate as a beta site. It was an opportune time to move forward.

A Complex Set of Requirements
CoreStates had extensive technology resources, but, according to Linda Weber, Senior Vice President for electronic commerce and delivery at CoreStates, "we had a difficult time determining precisely what internal infrastructure was needed to support multiple applications in different businesses." CoreStates Internet solution would require:

• Flexibility to support multiple applications
• Connectivity to legacy data systems, which were spread across a large number of platforms and architectures within the bank
• Ability to meet all the special security requirements that financial institutions demand
• Consistency and efficiency system-wide

CoreTech’s Internet banking experts began the project by working closely with the business units of the bank. "The business savvy we bring to an assignment like this is as important as our technical expertise," said Mark Warren, Manager, Microsoft Solutions at CoreTech. "We spend a lot of time with the projects internal customers in order to understand their needs, expectations and existing knowledge base. At the same time, we educate them about the potential of technology.

"It is a rare thing when people can bridge the business side and technical side," said Weber. "CoreTech was able to truly understand CoreStates’ business needs when integrating the technical aspects of the project. Because both sides played an integral role in the project, it developed smoothly and according to plan.

"Based on both the bank’s business requirements and its legacy of technical systems and skills, CoreTech recommended a Microsoft NT platform, using Visual Basic as the programming language. NT’s superior development environment allowed the bank to implement the functionality it needed to create compelling products and services, while Visual Basic, a language popular with CoreStates programmers, eliminated the need for extensive retraining or hiring of additional resources.

As the bank’s systems analysts built the first application, they worked closely with CoreTech’s Internet banking consultants to develop the architecture and protocols that would be used across all future web applications. These included "plug and play" Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) software components, and the development of common controls and functionality that make future enhancements and development more efficient.

Security was of utmost concern for CoreStates, and CoreTech’s recommended solution "was actually better than what The Common Fund had before with a VAN (value-added network)," says Development Manager, Ira Klein of CoreTech. The new protocol includes three layers of security, including 128-bit encryption, a user ID and password, and a "personal certificate" issued through VeriSign (the previous method required only ID and password security). The new security protocols, which will be put in place across all of the bank’s Internet banking products, render the system lock-tight.

The Common Fund Goes Live
The Common Fund (TCF) was an ideal beta partner for CoreStates. Since TCF customers include universities and colleges, most are well ahead of the Internet curve and have been online for years. They were ready to move from their VAN-delivered green-screen applications, which provided day-old transaction information, to an intuitive, web-based application that, in Phase One, offered a host of enhancements. Now TCF managers and members can initiate intrabank fund transfers and easily view previous day account information through a graphical, menu-driven interface.

Initial TCF users were encouraged to push the application to failure as part of the beta test, but were unable to do so. The high quality of software code and documentation resulted in an abnormally low number of questions, and due to built-in development tools, CoreStates’ technical staff addressed these questions immediately. Subsequent phases of the TCF application roll out will enable users to wire funds outside the bank and obtain same-day transactions and reports.

A New World of Benefits and Opportunities
CoreStates’ new Internet infrastructure provides the ability to deliver custom web-banking solutions while optimizing back-end operations. It also supports cross-marketing and product integration across all business groups. As a result, CoreStates can increase sales, expand markets and enable collaborative solutions within the firm.

"In using what we’ve developed here—the technological infrastructure, the protocols, and the development tools—we have tremendous flexibility to build a world-class retail banking environment," said Weber. Other aspects of CoreStates Internet advancements include online banking services that offer real-time transactions using the new Open Financial Exchange (OFX) standards over the web instead of through costly VANs. "This cost reduction alone would justify the expense of the entire project," she said.

CoreTech Consulting Group, Inc. excels in making new technologies work for companies, maximizing business benefit while minimizing disruption and risk. More information about CoreTech may be obtained by calling 800-220-3337 or via the World Wide Web at:
http://www.CoreTech.com

© 1999 CoreTech Consulting Group, Inc. All rights reserved

This case study is for informational purposes only. CORETECH MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

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