December 10, 2014

Accenture and Backbase Form Alliance in Financial Services to Help Banks Improve Customer Engagement through Digital Channels

NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM; Dec. 10, 2014 – Accenture (NYSE: ACN) and Backbase, a leading provider of customer experience management technology solutions, have entered into an alliance agreement in financial services to enable banking clients to improve customer engagement through digital channels.

Under the alliance agreement, the companies will leverage Backbase’s wide range of customer experience management technology solutions and Accenture’s banking industry expertise and capabilities, including digital distribution and marketing strategy and core banking services. The companies will focus on providing banks with an end-to-end solution to support their digital transformation strategy, helping them cost-efficiently optimize digital sales, increase customer loyalty and enhance operational efficiency.

The solution is based on Backbase Customer Experience Platform (CXP), a full-service digital channels management platform that helps banks organize, create and manage compelling customer experiences across any device and channel. The platform features a complete set of integrated customer experience management functions, including dynamic content development and digital marketing campaign creation across multiple channels without the involvement of Information Technology (IT) teams. The platform can be integrated with any existing banking IT systems, reducing implementation time, effort and risk.

“Leading banks no longer think of themselves as mere providers of financial products and services and enablers of transactions,” said Juan Pedro Moreno, senior managing director of Accenture’s global Banking practice. “They will be providers of solutions, playing a greater role not just at the moment of transaction, but before and afterwards as well, aspiring to be at the center of the digital life of their customers. We refer to this as the ‘Everyday Bank’ strategy, a vision that calls for a new way of thinking about the role of banks in the digital era. The alliance we have formed with Backbase will help banks implement this vision by enabling them to deliver superior, personalized, relevant, fast and frictionless services anytime and anywhere.”

“In their ambition to create superior digital customer experiences, banks are usually hampered by the fact that relevant information and functionality are often stuck in multiple legacy systems, making them difficult to integrate with,” said Jouk Pleiter, Backbase CEO. “Backbase CXP can be deployed over any existing system, and is able to pull any content, applications, or functionalities from these silos and combine all of it into fresh, new interfaces, or composite applications, without compromising enterprise security. Our platform, which is already used by more than 50 financial institutions around the world, combined with Accenture’s deep industry knowledge and global track record for delivering digital transformation projects, can help more banks pursue their ambitions and become truly customer-centric.”

About Accenture
Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more than 305,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world’s most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$30.0 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2014. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

About Backbase
Backbase is the maker of Backbase CXP, the award-winning customer experience platform that helps enterprises create omni-channel, customer-centric digital experiences. Backbase CXP deploys a new, omni-channel presentation layer over underlying infrastructure and IT systems, allowing enterprises to deliver personal, relevant experiences to customers on every device, in any context. Backbase CXP gives enterprises the tools and functionality they need to transform their tired online and mobile channels into engaging customer experiences, holistically managed from a single platform.

Industry analysts Gartner, Forrester and Ovum recognize Backbase as a leader in terms of customer experience, mobile and omni-channel focus, innovation, and time-to-value. Unlike most traditional IT portal vendors, Backbase has created a modern, business-driven solution that makes CXP management easy for digital professionals. This means lower costs, and more flexibility for optimizing all online channels without the need for IT support. Backbase CXP’s lean, widget-based architecture provides the flexibility and agility enterprises need to create modern experiences that truly empower business owners and customers.

The unique Backbase approach enables enterprises to drive self-service, fuel online revenues and turn their online channel into a full-service customer experience platform. Leading financials such as ABN AMRO, AIG, Al Rajhi Bank, Barclays, Fidelity, Gulf Bank, Hapoalim, Hiscox, ING Bank, Legal & General, Nationwide, Nordstrom, PostFinance and Swisscard have improved their online customer interactions and maximized online customer experience, retention and conversion, by leveraging Backbase’s technology.

Backbase was founded in 2003 and is privately funded with operations in New York, Atlanta, Amsterdam, London and Singapore. Backbase homepage is www.backbase.com.

# # #

Contact:

François Luu
Accenture
+ 33 6 60 53 84 28
francois.luu@accenture.com

Jelmer de Jong
BACKBASE
+31 (0) 6 230 260 12
jelmer@backbase.com