Torsten Mayer, vice president of FICO, a Germany-based analytic and predictive software development company, was recently in Nepal introduce his company’s products to banks and financial institutions (BFIs) here. FICO software are primarily aimed at helping banks combat money laundering and financial frauds and crime. The Kathmandu Post caught up with Mayer to speak about the state of compliance in the country and how his product would help the Nepali banking industry to improve it. Excerpts:

What is the purpose of your visit to Nepal?

I am here to introduce my company to the Nepali banking industry. We are focused on providing compliance and software solution to Nepali banks so that they can comply with national and international regulation and law. Our software will help banks to combat issues like fraud, money laundering, terrorism financing, corruption and tax evasion.

What is your company’s unique selling proposition (USP)?

Our expertise we gained over the 16 years of experience is our USP. We provide end-to-end solution to the banking industry and enable them to cover entire issues with a single piece of software. With our software, the banks do not have to buy different types of software and again integrate them. With FICO’s software, the banks will get 360-degree view on their client. The type of risk any client can bring to the bank will be discovered and displayed by our system. Likewise, our services come along with the software. We offer services like installation, training as well as maintenance for a very long period of time helping the banks comply with upcoming regulations too.

How important is FICOs’ compliance solution for banks?

It is one of the most important topics for the time being. Every state needs to combat tax evasion, money laundering and corruption in order to keep the economy working and stable and it imposes certain regulations on the banking industry to do so. The compliance solution offered by us will help banks comply with the regulation imposed by the government on the banking industry.

Different banks in different countries have to comply with unique types of laws and regulations. How will you make sure your software solution fits well in the Nepali banking industry?

Compliance is global issue and there is an institution called Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which drives the regulation globally; and hence, laws have been similar all over the world. Having said that, we need to adopt some nation-specific requirements and we will do that.

We have 1,100 customers across 90 countries, and in doing so we have entered into new countries many times. We are well prepared to come to Nepal.

Do you know about the state of compliance in the Nepali market?

I am aware of the Nepali market as I got some information about the market condition from our local partner. Nepal is not a very mature market in terms of compliance. Some banks have done something but we need to recognise that there is some gap between Nepal and other countries. But those gaps are not big enough and can be closed easily.

Is your solution compatible with the core banking software used by Nepali banks?

Yes we are aware of the software used by Nepali banks. And I want to assure the Nepali market the solution offered by us will be 100 percent compatible with the core banking software currently used by the Nepali banks.

How important is the Nepali market for you and what are your plans for Nepal?

Nepal is a very important market for us as almost all the banks here are mid-sized banks. We prefer mid-sized banks to be our clients as we offer products that fit pretty well in the budget of such banks. We see good chances of convincing the Nepali banking sector by our competences and our end-to-end solution as well as by the experience we have gained in various places.