Voca and Perot Systems share a special relationship that has been fostered over the last five years by the high-level of commitment shown by Perot Systems to help Voca achieve their strategic initiatives.

This was clearly visible when Voca senior leaders, Steve Grigg, chief operating officer and Nick Masterson Jones, IT director, visited the Perot Systems campus in Noida in November to say thank you to the Consulting and Applications Solutions (CAS) team for their hard work and successful rollout of the new Voca platform.

“The IT program to overhaul our old system has been an amazing achievement for us,” said Grigg in his welcome speech to the CAS audience. “This was no ordinary IT program. It is one of the largest and most complex IT programs ever undertaken in the UK and represents a fundamentally different approach for the banking industry. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your commitment and hard work in making this possible. I look forward to continuing our relationship.”

Perot Systems began working with Voca in December 2001. The opportunity to build and expand that relationship into a first-time onsite–offshore model came in September 2004, when Voca approached Perot Systems about developing a new application system.

As part of the three-day celebration of this achievement, Voca senior leaders and more than 130 CAS associates took a trip to the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve & National Park, located in the foothills of the Himalayas—300-kilometers from Delhi.

The teambuilding activities included a jungle safari and trekking through 8 kilometers of wild forest to reach a famous temple at a hilltop. By the evening the group returned to the resort for the gala party, which included music, food and dancing.

“During those three days, we were able to strengthen our relationship with Voca as a true partner,” said Ashok Waran, senior vice president for CAS Banking and Financial Services Vertical. This is a mutually beneficial relationship, which is based on trust. It brings transparency in the operations and openness to each other’s ideas. This trip helped further facilitate that process and also motivated our account teams to continue delivering the same high level of service that has been provided over the course of the relationship.”

As one of the largest automated clearing-houses in Europe and funded by UK’s 12 largest banks, Voca is responsible for bulk clearing of electronic payments between bank accounts and processing direct credits, direct debits and standing orders. In one year, it processes more than five billion financial transactions and more than 80 million payments on a peak day. The peak volume is expected to increase to 100 million payments per day in next four to five years.