Corepoint Technologies, the company IBM formed to tackle the customer-relationship management market, yesterday introduced the beginnings of its vertical approach to the market with a product aimed at the banking and financial services industry.

Corepoint Banking Solutions helps meet the specialized needs of a bank's dealings with its customers. "Today, a bank would have to put together piecemeal a system that meets its requirements. It's expensive and time-consuming," says Scott Webber, Corepoint CEO.

Rather than just adding a few banking modules to a standard customer-relationship management package, Corepoint addresses every channel--from ATMs to call centers to bank branches--that may touch customers. It also covers specific banking processes, such as fund transfers and stop payments. Corepoint Banking Solutions, which builds on an existing IBM product, Visual Banker Enterprise Solutions, includes modules such as Branch sales, Branch teller, and Bank Contact Center, which combines with Corepoint's telephony, voice response, Internet, and host-connection infrastructure.

Corepoint Banking Solutions is available immediately. Pricing varies by implementation size and number of users; typical configurations include 100 branches and a 100-seat call center for $250,000, and 1,000 branches and a 1,000-seat call center for $1 million. Corepoint plans to introduce a handful of such highly verticalized applications within the year for other industries.