The Hindu Business Line : TCS Financial plans $50-m capital investment

Mumbai May 30 TCS Financial Solutions, the newly formed special business unit (SBU) for financial products within the TCS family, has earmarked up to $50 million (about Rs 205 crore) as capital investment for the fiscal year 2007-08.

The investments are in line with the company's policy of investing about 30 per cent of its revenues from the products practice back into the business, Mr N.S. Subramaniam, President, TCS Financial Solutions, told Business Line.

"In order to meet the demands of a robust order pipeline, the investments would be directed towards product development, infrastructure management, sales and marketing across our suite of offerings," Mr Subramaniam said. About nine products catering to commercial and retail banking, online trading clearing and settlement, and others have been put under `TCS BaNCS'.

Revenues up

In the fiscal year 2006-07, TCS' financial products division had clocked a 66.6 per cent rise in revenues to $170 million (Rs 697 crore) from $102 million (Rs 418.2 crore).

The process of consolidating the company's financial products business was kick started in October 2005 post TCS' acquisition of the Sydney-based Financial Network Services (FNS).

Mr Neville Roach, Chairman of TCS-FNS, and Mr Tony Ward, founder & CEO of FNS, will be a part of the executive management team spearheading the initiative, added Mr Subramaniam.

Operational efficiency

By bringing all the financial products under a single umbrella, the company believes that its operational efficiency will be buoyed and it will be in a better position to cross sell and up sell its offerings.

Elucidating the point Mr Subramaniam said: "If a bank that is an existing core-banking customer wants to use our treasury operations product, they can very much choose it as an additional module of the existing product, under the same licensing, terms and conditions."

Thus, the SBU will enable TCS to standardise different licensing models, terms and conditions that have evolved with its products and synergise them into a consistent licensing and support policy for its customers.