N4Solutions further extends Portman Building Society's strategic Point of Sale Platform
N4Solutions (N4), the financial services point of sale (PoS) software specialist,
was appointed as a strategic systems provider by Portman Building Society and The
Staffordshire, following their merger in 2003. The objective being to create a fully
integrated Point of Sale of solution across all product areas and channels.
The next stage in the development of the vision is now underway; this will provide
a browser-based solution to support the provision of financial planning advice through
its Financial Planning Managers. Initially N4S will support face-to-face and call
centre sales, although the solution is capable of supporting fully integrated channel
distribution going forward.
The system covers all the associated need areas, from Life Protection through to
Estate Planning - from initial appraisal to detailed need analysis and solution
shaping. The N4 product is fully integrated with Marlborough Stirling's Officeweb
and Exweb quotation portal and the implementation also includes comprehensive disconnected
laptop operation allowing complete mobile support for Portman's Financial Planning
Managers.
N4 has already implemented its mortgage point of sale system at the Portman, to
meet the deadline for Mortgage Day compliance. The solution has been deployed within
the branches and the call centre to some 250 advisers across the Portman Building
Society, the UK's 3rd largest building society.
Commenting on the project, the Portman's Group Operations Director,
Tony Prestedge, said, "We chose the N4 system because it is a proven product out
of the box compared to rival products, and takes us where we need to be to realise
our vision of fully integrated distribution. N4 ensured we comfortably met the deadline
for the new mortgage regulations on 1 November 2004, achieving this from a standing
start within just six months. The next stage of the Mortgage development is also
underway and will further increase our ability to transact Mortgage business simply
and securely over the web with both consumers and intermediaries. The breadth of
their offering across Mortgage, Insurance and Financial Planning makes N4 a genuine
strategic partner."
Portman's Chief Information Officer, Phil McCabe, added, "Being
able to integrate the various elements of the strategic solution with our existing,
back-end systems is a huge advantage, as this protects our existing investment while
adding value for our staff and, more importantly, for our customers and intermediaries.
The underlying architecture of the N4 product set means we have a genuine strategic
partner not just in business function terms but also in technology terms. They demonstrate
genuine expertise in both areas".
Referring to the Portman partnership, Steve Jones, Chief Executive of N4Solutions
said "We are very pleased to be the point of sale partner for the Portman, they
have well thought through plans to further their distribution capability in terms
of service and channels, we very much look forward to working with them to realise
those ambitions. They are making full use of the N4 Mortgage product set and we
are delighted to be implementing the Financial Planning components in support of
their multi Tie proposition".
About Portman Building Society
The Portman Building Society has been established for over 150 years, tracing its
roots back to 1846, making it the third oldest building society in the UK. It is
the 3rd largest building society, with assets of over £15.5 billion and employs
over 2,000 staff at its head office in Bournemouth, administration centre in Wolverhampton
and across its branch network. With some 150 branches, the Society serves over one
million members.
