Financial Leaders Gather at First Misys Africa Market Focus

JOHANNESBURG, March 7, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

With the African Continent's economy beginning to thrive Misys brings together the financial community to explore how new technology innovations can assist financial institutions to meet customer demands

Misys, the global leader in financial services software solutions, welcomed leaders from across Africa's financial services sector to take part in the company's first 'Misys Africa Market Focus 2013' held in Johannesburg from 5 to 6 March.

Bret Bolin, CEO of Misys, Erin Smith, Managing Director of Misys Africa, and local representatives from international research firm IDC, addressed a significant proportion of African financial institutions at the two-day event.

"Africa is a very important region for us," states Bret Bolin, CEO of Misys, "We are experiencing a great return on past investments there and are committed to accelerating future investments in our team, solutions and partner ecosystems to ensure that our current and future clients realise the full value from Misys solutions."

The forum was a unique platform where banks met to discuss the trends that have an impact on the current financial services market across Africa.  Recognised financial experts from across the region presented future-proof strategies that will help today's financial institutions take advantage of emerging market opportunities. Areas such as trade finance, payments, retail channels and global risk management were top priorities at the event, including much discussion on innovative ways for corporate banking products and services can be delivered via portal technology to customers. Industry leaders were able to network at the event and share know-how with their peers in the financial community towards the common goal of improving their businesses and customer experience.

"Visionary companies in Africa's financial sector are making all efforts to identify opportunities and invest in these to reinforce their competitive position," notes Erin Smith, Managing Director of Misys Africa. "This can only be achieved by strengthening institutional foundations and finding more efficient methods with which banks can meet their customer demands along with being agile in finance trading to be operationally risk proof. Building on our double digit growth in Africa in the last year and the evidence of multiple successful client implementation projects, we are in a privileged position to be able to provide our customers with this opportunity to share knowledge and drive future growth in the region."

Amongst the forum's key discussion topics are dedicated seminars on enterprise-level risk management, new payment channels for Africa's unbanked populations, and the impact of Basel regulations on local financial technology applications.

About Misys

Misys is at the forefront of the financial software industry, providing the broadest portfolio of banking, treasury, trading and risk solutions available on the market. With 1,800 customers in 120 countries our team of domain experts and partners have an unparalleled ability to address industry requirements at both a global and local level.

Misys is able to address all customer requirements across both the banking and trading book businesses. Misys is the trusted partner that financial services organisations turn to for help solving their most complex problems.

Find out more at http://www.misys.com

For further information please contact:

Daniel Mercado
Account Manager
Memac Ogilvy PR
+971-4-305-0320
Daniel.mercado@ogilvy.com

Edward Taylor
Global Head of PR, Misys
+44(0)203-3320-5530
edward.taylor@misys.com