Microfinance Focus, July 15, 2011: Global banking software provider Temenos has launched a complementary go-to-market model using Microsoft technologies to bring modern banking infrastructure to microfinance institutions at a fraction of the cost.

Temenos and Microsoft Corp. have worked together to offer TEMENOS T24 (T24) on the Windows Azure platform and have successfully implemented this software offering in a network of six Mexican microfinance institutions (MFIs), which went live in May 2011.

This represents the first live instance of core operations being run on the Azure platform. Temenos also is now offering its cloud computing-based solution in Africa, to be followed by South and Southeast Asia, as well as other markets.

T24 on the Windows Azure platform enables financial institutions to move operations to a low-cost consumption-based pricing model. Banks no longer need to expend time and budget on provisioning and operating hardware resources -- running T24 natively on Windows Azure enables them to scale resources effectively and increase volume according to customer demand.

Temenos was also today selected the Microsoft Financial Services Partner of the Year at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.

Temenos Group AG is a Geneva based global provider of banking software systems in the Retail, Corporate & Correspondent, Universal, Private, Islamic and Microfinance & Community banking markets.