Bermuda Commercial Bank has invested in a new system that it says will allow its customers to benefit from the latest technology.

The bank, rejuvenated by its recent takeover by Permanent Investments Ltd., has licensed BankFusion Universal Banking, a product from Misys, a global application software and services company.

The bank has been using the Misys Bankmaster system for several years, but management chose to upgrade "to respond faster to clients and bring new products to the market in the fastest possible time", BCB said yesterday.

Misys said its new system gives BCB a cost-effective way to achieve a rapid return on investment through reduced hardware, software, deployment and operational costs.

Michael Cranfield, chief information officer of BCB, said: "We have always prided ourselves as being a leader both in terms of the variety of products we offer as well as the quality of these products. It is vital that we continually innovate and improve the way in which we operate to ensure that we meet the needs of our clients. We wanted to invest in a world-class system that enabled high quality service and BankFusion Universal Banking gives us the platform on which to grow our business and keep BCB at the forefront of technology."

The system will help to "bridge the technology gap between business and IT", BCB claims.

Horst Finkbeiner, chief operating officer of BCB, said: "Real-time systems and fully automated and integrated operations are core to our business model. We expect that BankFusion will deliver the sort of integrated, robust solution that we require and allow our people to focus on our customers."

Rick Salk, Misys Sales Director for the Americas, adds, "Now more than ever, banks need to operate in a highly competitive and demanding environment. We are seeing an increase in the demand for high quality systems that are not only more responsive to customer demands, but that can also underpin growth as the bank's business expands."