Low-profile software company with global reach

In the late 1980s, HSBC Malta's predecessor Mid-Med Bank was looking to set up a framework to offer card services.

It turned to what was then still known as Eurocard for advice which put the bank's technical team in touch with a German, Reinhold Schäffter.

At the time, Schäffter and American Richard Stacks, two senior international banking executives, envisaged that technology would eventually reduce dependence on large mainframes, and developed a retail banking system for a card management solution by using industry-standard client server-based technology.

That technology was successfully installed at Mid-Med Bank in 1988, and Schäffter and Stacks eventually registered their company, named RS2 (the initials both shared), in Malta. Ever since, RS2 Software Ltd has focused on the development and implementation of card management technology which it registered here under the trade name of Bank-Works.

When the Iron Curtain came down in 1989, banks in the eastern bloc wanted to establish their own card set-ups, and RS2's business in that part of the world blossomed.

Ten years later, RS2 began to work on developing the technology further to cater for larger banks, and a high volume engine able to sustain three million transactions an hour began to be marketed to clients. Bank-Works' technology has now been delivered to over 300 clients, including banks and service providers, in 23 countries around the world. The software and affiliated services, like support and training, are continuously upgraded to meet the increasing demands of the hugely competitive financial services industry.

The success enjoyed by Bank-Works lies in its versatility and the fact that it allows for broad functionality, which RS2 chief executive officer Mario Schembri says is only offered by a handful of companies worldwide.

The systems modules include card issuing, merchant acquiring, transaction processing, clearing, settlement, reporting and internet services. The software provides for activities like application processing, risk management, online authorisation, client and contract management, card issuing and management, billing and statement production, merchant management and acquiring processing, and call centre services. It provides support for a range of diverse products including revolving debit cards, revolving credit cards, store cards, loyalty cards, corporate cards, purchasing cards, and instalment cards.

"The 'secret' of Bank-Works' success is that it is an end-to-end package and offers total solutions to clients," Mr Schembri points out.

"It employs CHIP technology and provides all technical and business requirements, including security concerns. We collaborate very closely with Oracle in this area."

Now RS2 has ambitious plans for its future and foresees going to the market soon.

Mr Schembri explains: "RS2 is working to expand its global footprint and is currently in the process of formalising the opening of an office in Amman manned by a four- to six-strong team to provide support and technical help to clients in the region. There are plans for RS2 offices to carry out the same function in Scandinavia and the US, so that our personnel are closer to clients who need immediate support.

"Despite its remarkable success, RS2 remains a low-profile, lean company. The 50-strong team is mostly Maltese. All testing, research and documentation is carried out in-house in Malta. As the company grows, Malta will continue to serve as its headquarters. We also intend to intensify our marketing initiatives, and up the tempo of our research and development into technologies like biometrics, for which there is growing demand."

Because Bank-Works is constantly upgraded, RS2 believes the time has come to upgrade its training facilities and plans to invest in a fully-fledged training academy for technical banking executives from around the world. Mr Schembri believes the academy will bring hundreds of people to Malta every year.

RS2 is busy selling itself all year round and plans to be present at trade fairs all over the world. With its software capable of handling volumes of over 400 million transactions a year, it is now tapping new markets like the US, where response to Bank-Works has been "hugely encouraging".