Cash management products, the last bastion of personal computer-based banking software, have finally made the leap to the Internet. GonzoBanker had the opportunity to review five of the leading high-end products in today’s market.
The bottom line is – wow, the vendors have made a lot of progress in the past two years, but most of what you can see is still in beta release and is not available for general release.
Here is the rundown on the vendors reviewed:
Corillian. The High Priest of retail banking products is still playing catch-up in this market. Corillian has built a security base and minimal functionality to be released later this year but cannot deliver a full-featured working product. Too bad we still don’t have a high-end single solution vendor offering.
Politzer & Haney. Nice looking with the promise of future functionality. Unfortunately, to get the full treatment you need to stay with its legacy, PC-based product. P&H, the best known name in the PC-based world, is moving slowly and, we think, getting more and more behind in the race to the finish line.
Brokat. The clear leader in delivering a full-featured product. Unfortunately, many of the features are not for sale yet with delivery slated for later this year and into next year. The price of all the pieces is breath taking! Perhaps it’s the European pricing model that doesn’t seem to be in line with good old USA pricing.
Hamilton & Sullivan. H&S is the Mack Truck of the Cash Management world. It’s basic, it’s clean, it works, and it’s very affordable. We believe this is the best value proposition in the field. We couldn’t find any missing pieces, all were delivered and running for real in production in multiple banks. And most exciting of all, there is only one price for the software, regardless of the number of users. What a novel idea and a great bargain!
Magnet. The user interface wins our award for no BS, straightforward, easy-to-use and understand. You can give this product to your business customers and they can be using the most complex features in minutes. Good functionality available now, but some pieces are still slated for later this year. Yikes! This must be a dot com company with these financials! Losing more than it is collecting; hopefully it will make up for it with volume. If this is your choice, make sure you are comfortable with the company’s financial future before signing on the dotted line.
-cf