Private equity firm One Equity Partners has agreed to purchase payments software provider ACI Worldwide’s Digital Business Banking Solutions, which is an application programming interface (API)-driven solution for banking firms.
According to the Tuesday (June 7) press release, the new entity will operate under the name Dragonfly Financial Technologies. ACI’s solution allows blue chip banks to process “over $1 billion in daily payments,” the release noted.
The tech can reportedly initiate payments, collect money owed and manage modern businesses, and One Equity Partners’ purchase will allow it to add the technology to its own roster.
This comes as the U.S. online commercial banking sector is seeing more demand for API-driven automated digital banking and treasury management solutions. More banks have been adopting cloud-based IT ecosystems to boost functionality, minimize costs, leverage API-based integration and make for more interoperability among vendors.
ACI’s current Chief Administrative Officer, Johan Roets, will become the new entity’s CEO. He said his goal was to “bring focus, accelerate investment and foster growth for our banking customers with this market-leading online banking platform.”
“Banking is becoming more technologically complex and requires functionality across multiple corporate IT structures and industry vendors,” Roets continued. “It is an ideal environment to drive growth for the new company.”
PYMNTS wrote that clients have been demanding more, even from the commercial banking industry’s attempts to offer bigger, more advanced products.
See also: US Bank on Meeting the Evolving Digital Needs of Corporate Banking Clients
That comes as continuous innovation has been more critical than ever in meeting the needs of customers, with businesses asking for better, more flexible tools for a variety of areas like payments, loans and onboarding. The solutions should also be transparent, accessible and seamlessly integrated, according to customers.
The report noted how challenging it has been to change things in this way, and Rich Erario, executive vice president and head of global treasury management at U.S. Bank, said clients also need help implementing the new solutions.
As such, traditional commercial banks need an “ambitious roadmap” to help customers get the right experiences they want.