Client Can Bank On Solution Created By Mosaic, Stratus

Mosaic, which is based here and has U.S. headquarters in Deerfield Beach, Fla., is using Stratus' Windows 2000-based ftServer product as its fault-tolerant platform of choice for its Web-enabled ATM software solutions.

Mosaic's core product, Postilion, is the first full-fledged EFT switch running on Microsoft Windows 2000, said Chris Klein, executive vice president of marketing at Mosaic. It is also used for ATM driving and monitoring, POS credit/debit-card transaction processing, Internet/call-center payment authorizations, WAP and mobile commerce applications.

Postilion is designed to deliver customer-generated payment transactions in the EFT network from ATM processing through regional or national transaction switches.

The solution consists of Mosaic's software running on top of a bank's legacy system, with the Stratus server supporting the transactions. Both companies market and resell each other's products separately, but joining together made for a more powerful sell to retail banks, Klein said.

With retail stores, convenience stores and gas stations increasingly offering financial services, the Mosaic-Stratus solution allows banks to compete more effectively without having to rip apart proprietary legacy systems and start from scratch, he said. The solution is now being marketed to banks around the world.

One of the key drivers behind the solution is the 24x7 availability enabled by Stratus' ftServer product, Klein said.

"Big banks tend to be a little less open about new technologies, while retailers tend to be a little more adventurous," he said. "Banks were just hesitant because they're more of a mainframe legacy-type environment."

Phil Izzo, director of segment marketing at Stratus, said the company's Windows platform provided an entree into the banking market. A significant reduction in its server price over the past few years, coupled with the relative ease of the Windows environment, has enabled banks to purchase Stratus servers and use them for services such as advanced-function ATMs and automated check cashing.

"About four years ago, it would've cost between $300,000 and $1 million to implement this type of system," Izzo said. "Now, we're at a price point between $30,000 to $100,000. We believe that's the lowest-cost platform in the market today."

Izzo said the companies are also offering similar, pared-down solutions to smaller retail banks with a price tag at about the $20,000 mark.

In addition, Klein said while the initial focus is on banks, the solution is horizontal in nature. The Mosaic-Stratus solution has garnered the attention of Mosaic clients Arrowhead Credit Union and Honda Federal Credit Union.

Klein said the solution's competitive edge is found in the compatibility of each company's components, as well as in the Stratus ftServer's ability to address primary causes of system downtime and data loss such as hardware failure and recovery time, faulty device drivers, human error, and component and software revision incompatibilities.

The ftServer system runs Windows 2000 applications unmodified, integrates quickly into the IT infrastructure and requires little support for system management, Izzo said.

"We are trying to be very aggressive," Klein said. "And we're actually finding business to be very good because this is what these institutions are looking for,a way to keep their customer base by offering more services while saving on the cost side."