Winner of the Best Business Enabler 2005 Category

MIAA supports LIXI

Welcome

The X in LIXI denotes XML but LIXI is much more than a technical standard, it is all about a business standard for e-Commerce and facilitating the efficient redesign of the lending landscape. When members get together in a working group to extend or update CAL [the Credit Application Language] they spend most of their time looking at the most efficient way to conduct the various transactions and the type of information required to flow through. The last step of the process is the generation of the CAL XML.

The interaction of LIXI members is the process that creates a viable e-Commerce infrastructure. Facilitating this interaction requires resources and willingness on the part of members to come together to discuss and design the way forward. To date, this process has been funded in the most part by volunteer time and to a lesser extent by membership fees.

Not long ago we all agreed that LIXI had reached critical mass and enough momentum to be a long term success. This is something everyone that has been involved in LIXI, in any way, should be proud of. We now have an accepted standard in the industry for transacting e-Commerce. However, success does not come without its own challenges – this critical mass has also increased the appetite and demands for the extension of LIXI to all the other areas of the lending chain and at a faster pace than in the past. This requires continued dedication on the part of the contributing members and an increase in the funding of resources to facilitate the working groups and generation of CAL extensions.

When LIXI was formed, the founding members did not want to create yet another overhead to the cost of lending transactions so they chose the membership fee model rather that a per application fee favoured in other markets. By keeping the membership fee modest and independent of the number of transactions processed, it was envisaged that everyone would become a Full Member of LIXI and participate in the evolution of lending in Australia.

What we see now is an almost exponential growth in the adoption of LIXI per number of lending transactions creating a challenge to sustain the development and maintenance of the standard to the member’s expectations. This is a serious challenge that your LIXI Board is currently working through. The Board is committed to the ongoing improvement of your standard and we will keep you informed as we work through the different options available to us. Our commitment to our members is to ensure your standard continues to be enhanced and your existing investment in LIXI standards continues to deliver benefits to your organisation.

Executive Officer