Scope International signs ‘knowledge partnership’ MoU with Cambridge Integrated services
Taking the IT revolution to the next level, Scope International, a 100 per cent subsidiary of UK-banking major Standard Chartered, today formed a ‘knowledge partnership’, with Cambridge Integrated Services, the BPO arm of Scandent Solutions, through an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in Chennai.
Under the unique ‘knowledge partnership’ the first of its kind in the ITES sector, which goes beyond BPO services, Scope would offer knowledge services to the banking and financial sector worldwide, with a primary focus on the US, European, and Australasian markets.
Informing this to the media, Jan Verplancke, Chief Information Officer and Group Head of Technology and Operations with Standard Chartered group said that Scope’s infrastructure and proven expertise in transaction processing for wholesale and consumer banking had attracted wide interest in the banking vertical. “Scope has carefully chosen Cambridge as its knowledge partner,” he said in this regard.
Talking on behalf of Scandent Technologies, the company’s CEO, Christopher A Sinclair said that with the liaison with Scope International, financial service firms would now be able to lower the risks and costs of moving into outsourcing and also gain a competitive advantage from improved quality of services, and with greater efficiency.
Under the new MoU, it is learnt that Cambridge, would directly interface with all customers and be responsible for all Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and Statements of Work (SOW), as well as in providing the sales and delivery engines which would be supported by Scope’s superior know-how in the banking industry. Additionally, it is said that Scope would designate as consultants, some of its key employees to the Cambridge Banking BPO Strategic Business Unit to assist in its formation and growth. All the transaction processing staff would thus be on the payroll of Cambridge Integrated Services.
On the other hand, Cambridge’s workforce assisted by Standard Chartered’s mature off-shored operations would provide banks an ideal solution to increase their profitability and focus their resources on growth and continued success.
During the first phase of the 3-year MoU, Scope would also provide infrastructure for about 350 seats mounting to 1000 to 1500 seat in the medium term.
The MoU signed today is seen as a landmark agreement in the wake of about 80 percent of the world’s large banks outsourcing their operations, and about 50 percent of midsize and smaller banks benefiting from this trend, which was noted in a study conducted by Deloitte.
As may be pointed out, in the last four years alone, financial services firms have reduced their expenses by $8-$12 billion through outsourcing and off-shoring, saving an average of 37 percent of each process outsourced. These savings are critical as banks struggle with cost pressures such as technology investments to merge disparate systems resulting from multiple acquisitions, compliance with new regulatory requirements, and the migration to more online banking processes.
