Integrated core banking systems provider, Temenos is one of the founding members of the newly launched industry association, Banking Industry Architecture Network, along with Microsoft, SAP, SunGard and SWIFT.

This independent body will drive the creation of SOA standards for the banking industry.

BIAN's principle objective will be to build a community that will share domain and technical expertise and to help banks move to a service-oriented architecture.

The association also counts banks themselves amongst its membership including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and Zürcher Kantonalbank.

Mark Gunning, group strategy director, Temenos, said: "The creation of BIAN marks a significant milestone for establishing the real and practical standards that are essential if the banking industry is to benefit from the huge potential of service-oriented architectures. We at Temenos have long believed in the benefits of SOA and have been building strong SOA compatibility into our products since 2003. Not only are we contributing to these new standards, but we will ensure that our products support these standards as they evolve."