buyer s guide Service Bureaus

Transcription

1 buyer s guide SWIFT Service Bureaus 2012

2 Reliability, Quality, Expertise As the World s Largest SWIFT Service Bureau We Deliver! 6000 financial instit & corporation 30 countries 16 local offices 6 data centers 2

3 Global or Local Trust Your SWIFT C a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 Our Experience Means Fast and Trouble-Free Integration for Your SWIFT Connection Global + Local Operations to Support Your Business As the world s largest SWIFT service bureau, we have the global and local infrastructure to support your business wherever it is on the planet. Our 16 offices around the world support our regional data centers, local project teams, and local support experts - and are available on a 24/7 basis. Your Single-Source Provider for Value-Added Services In addition to the highest quality SWIFT connection, we offer a wide variety of value-added services that easily integrate with your operations. Message transformation, transaction (compliance) filtering, reconciliation, and archive are just some of the services we provide. Quality Makes Us Best-of-Breed We are one of only ten services bureaus in the world to achieve SWIFT s highest designation of SWIFT Ready Connectivity Best Practices label. Our service bureau in Switzerland has been designated a Center of Excellence, and we are one of only six services bureaus recommended by SWIFT for Corporates. With our global operations, we are one of the few who can offer a global SLA (service level agreement) Local Fundtech Contacts: 3 > Americas communications@fundtech.com Tel: Uncompromising Reliability With over 25 years of experience, we understand your uncompromising need for a reliable and secure SWIFT connection. We have maintained 99.9%+ availability for over a decade and adhere to the industry s highest standards of security and back-up. > UK & Ireland Jeremy.Goddard@synergy-fs.com Tel: +44(0) > EMEA christoph.stiefel@bbp.ch Tel:

4 onnection to the #1 Service Bureau Expertise That Gets the Job Done Right Our project management and implementation teams around the world have an average of 10+ years experience with SWIFT. With over 600 implementations, they have worked in just about every kind of environment, from small to large, and in every geography. Our experience ensures that your integration is fast and easy in as little as 12 weeks from start to finish. Organizational Strength That Gives You Peace of Mind We are a financially strong company with over 1,300 employees worldwide. Fundtech s clients include 30 of the world s top 50 global banks, hundreds of small banks, and thousands of corporations of all sizes. We have the financial and organization resources to manage integration projects of any size and complexity. > Asia-Pacific eli.shoshani@fundtech.com 4 Tel: +65 (975) BANKS Core Trade Finance Payments SWIFT Messages: FIN InterAct FileAct Browse CAPITAL MARKETS Securities Processing Fundtech Connect Service Bureau CORPORATIONS Treasury Management and ERP Systems Value Added Services: Transaction Filtering Message Conversion Reconciliation Archiving For additional information go to

5 Contents SWIFT service bureaus (SSBs) are still considered to be the most accessible way for corporates to join the SWIFT community. Corporate treasurers report that this is because using an SSB is cheaper, with less upfront investment, and is also quicker to get up and running. SSBs take away the pain of having the technical expertise in-house, making it less resource intensive, and is effectively like having SWIFT experts on tap, instead of the treasury team having to take on this burden. SWIFT now has over 900 corporate users, which is approximatley 200 more than at the end of 2010, and reports that almost seven out of 10 use an SSB. However, SWIFT may inadvertently be throwing a spanner in the SSB works with the launch of Alliance Lite2, expected to go live in July. It promises higher message volumes and more automation options. Will corporates turn back to direct SWIFT connectivity? Joy Macknight, editor, 2012 buyer s guide to SWIFT service bureaus SWIFT for Corporates: In With the New With Alliance Lite2 on the horizon, how will the launch of SWIFT s newest access model affect treasurers connectivity decisions? Status Update: Checking Your Message Flow Status messaging provides corporates with full visibility over their financial messages and payment instructions sent via SWIFT. But how does the whole process actually work? Expert Opinion Six corporate treasurers talk about the business reasons behind using SWIFT to connect to their banks, why a service bureau was the best connectivity option and, importantly, how they achieved buy-in from senior management for the project. The Future is in the Cloud Cloud technology and dashboards are the new buzzwords in the world of treasury. How can these technologies provide the increased visibility that every treasurer is looking for? Case Study: ITV Improves Integrated End-to-end Treasury Processes SWIFT connectivity was key to ITV s long-term goals to future proof its treasury infrastructure. The company decided to outsource its connectivity to Bottomline s service bureau. Get Set: Establishing a SWIFT Service Bureau Service bureaus have been by far the most popular way for corporates to connect to SWIFT. But will this remain so as SWIFT introduces significant changes to its connectivity criteria and options? Directory of Service Editor-in-chief: Neil Ainger neila@gtnews.com Editor: Joy Macknight joym@gtnews.com Publishing Manager: Mia Leaning mial@gtnews.com Art and design: Miss Jones Design donna@missjonesdesign.com Sales Director: Anne-Marie Rice annemarier@gtnews.com Account Manager: Tom Leitch toml@gtnews.com Account Manager: Amy O Brien amyb@gtnews.com gtnews, an Association for Financial Professionals company headquartered in London, is the leading global knowledge resource for over 50,000 treasury, finance, payments and cash management professionals. Online, gtnews is updated weekly and provides subscribers access to an archive of almost 8,000 global treasury articles in addition to special reports, commentaries, surveys, polls, news, ratings updates and whitepapers. Access to gtnews.com is free of charge to those who register, and we never sell names or addresses, so our readers privacy is assured. 3

6 SWIFT for Corporates: In With the New With Alliance Lite2 on the horizon, how will the launch of SWIFT s newest access model affect treasurers connectivity decisions? Words: Rebecca Brace The number of corporations opting to connect to SWIFT may not be a tidal wave, but it is a steady flow. As of February 2012, SWIFT had 919 corporate users, up from 726 at the end of While this falls somewhat short of SWIFT s stated goal of 5,000 corporate users by 2015, the figures are continuing to grow. For those companies choosing to connect to SWIFT, what are the biggest drivers? Eileen Dignen, managing director, sales and market development, Americas at SWIFT, says that treasurers are primarily motivated by the search for efficiencies and cost benefits and are looking to consolidate their connectivity methods by moving from proprietary one-to-one connectivity methods to a more efficient standardisation of connectivity - one-to-many. This was certainly a key consideration for Intel when the company set up a SWIFT connection in We were dealing with several banks and knew we d be dealing with several more in the future, explains Don Davis, Intel s treasury project manager. We found it was faster, cheaper and better to connect to SWIFT than it was to maintain several proprietary connections. Other benefits may also come into play when companies make the move to SWIFT. Dignen points out that a one-to-many connectivity model allows the standardisation of posting to other treasury applications. Meanwhile, unlike proprietary bank systems, a SWIFT connection offers companies a bankneutral way of connecting to their banks and arguably makes it easier to change bank relationships if required. At a time when counterparty risk continues to be a particular concern, this flexibility is certainly a welcome benefit for companies looking to make the move to SWIFT, even if it is not the primary goal. While companies may have common objectives when they connect to SWIFT, there are a number of different connectivity options available, and these are continuing to evolve. The next generation of the entry level Alliance Lite offering, expected to go live this summer, has been making waves in the industry, and Dignen describes the newest addition to the SWIFT connectivity suite as a great improvement over what we have been offering. Supporting higher message volumes and additional services, Alliance Lite2 may have significant benefits over its predecessor, but how will its arrival impact on corporate treasurers connectivity decisions? 4

7 Getting Connected Corporations looking to connect to SWIFT have three options: 1. Setting up a direct connection to SWIFT in-house. 2. Connecting via a SWIFT service bureau or member concentrator. 3. Using Alliance Lite, SWIFT s web-based solution for low volume users. The service bureau continues to be the favoured option, with 69% of corporates connecting to SWIFT this way. Meanwhile, 23% of SWIFT s corporate users are using Alliance Lite, and only 8% have a direct connection - some of which connected to SWIFT before the introduction of service bureaus or Alliance Lite. One company that opted for the service bureau route is Intel. We had some discussion with other corporate SWIFT users, recalls Davis. Some folks that set up a direct connection in-house felt that it was quite painful to set up and maintain. We took their advice and looked at service bureaus. Although Davis considered several service bureaus, the company already had a hosted treasury management system (TMS) with SunGard and consequently the decision was taken to use SunGard s service bureau. The service bureau has emerged as the most attractive corporate connectivity option for a number of reasons: while by no means cheap, it tends to be less expensive than a direct connection, avoids the need for in-house SWIFT expertise and typically has a shorter implementation time. At the same time, service bureaus do not have the volume constraints associated with Alliance Lite, which is intended for users who send and receive no more than 200 messages per day. But while service bureaus may be the most popular method of connecting to SWIFT, they are not the only option available. There are large corporates whose treasury departments look and act much like a financial institution, and therefore need the features and functions of a direct connection, says Dignen. Alcatel-Lucent, for example, has a direct connection to SWIFT, primarily because the group incorporates a corporate bank. Because of Electro Banque, we already had the SWIFT server in our office so we didn t see any advantage in changing that, comments Xavier Hourseau, information system and operation director at Alcatel-Lucent s group treasury and Electro Banque. We have in-house knowledge of SWIFT and with the number of MT101s we send a year, a service bureau which charges fees per payment could be quite expensive for us. At the other end of the spectrum is Alliance Lite. Launched in 2008 as the entry level connection model for low-volume corporate users, and dubbed SWIFT on a USB stick, adoption of Alliance Lite has been held back to a certain extent by the volume limitations it imposes. Companies which cannot justify the cost of a service bureau or direct connection might still have message volumes in excess of Alliance Lite s limits. Tim Canty of Canty Treasury Management recently performed a cost-benefit analysis of the various SWIFT connectivity options for a corporate client. I dismissed the direct corporate membership option early on as it was too expensive, and had quotes from SWIFT service bureaus as well as looking at Alliance Lite, says Canty. It was a very fine margin as to whether they should go down the Alliance Lite route - they were just at the point of it being worthwhile for their message volumes, but with organic growth over the following year they would probably have gone over the threshold. Meanwhile the costs of the two service bureaus outweighed the monetary savings the company would have made from discarding its proprietary e-banking systems and any resulting full-time equivalent [FTE] hours saved (as well as other less easily quantifiable benefits such as the single pipeline and achieving a bank agnostic system). So for the particular client I was doing this analysis for it wasn t worthwhile. Latest Developments For companies in this situation, the upcoming release of Alliance Lite2, which will reportedly support higher message volumes than its 5

8 predecessor, could be worthy of consideration. While the full technical details of the new solution have not yet been released, the industry response has so far been largely positive. Alliance Lite2 is definitely an improvement on Alliance Lite in terms of the volume limits and challenges that the product had to start with, says Tom Durkin, global head of integrated channel solutions for Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA Merrill). If Alliance Lite2 lives up to industry expectations, it could be much more attractive to treasurers than the previous model. Dignen comments: We are hearing from corporate treasurers that they want to have their connection and relationship directly with SWIFT, and before Alliance Lite2, the product set was not as complete to be able to offer this. In this case, the introduction of Alliance Lite2 could pose something of a threat for SWIFT service bureaus. With its enhanced capabilities and higher transaction limits, the next generation of Alliance Lite will take this connectivity model one step further into the space currently occupied by servie bureaus. The vendors are getting a little concerned about Alliance Lite, says Durkin. SWIFT has basically come up with a product which competes with every SWIFT service bureau out there, so it s going to be interesting to see how the market develops. Marcus Hughes, director of business development for Bottomline Technologies, agrees that Alliance Lite2 will put some pressure on the service bureaus, particularly those that do not provide any services other than SWIFT connectivity, and predicts that it will drive consolidation in the service bureau market. This is arguably no bad thing. The bureaus have almost been a victim of their own success, says Hughes. There are too many small bureaus out there just providing connectivity, and I think it has been recognised that they are a point of risk for large multinationals linking to large banking groups via a tiny bureau. In order to address these concerns, Hughes says that SWIFT is responding to concerns from corporations and banks by making it harder to be a service bureau. Alliance Lite will drive the whole concept of the certification of SWIFT service bureaus, comments Durkin. We are a big supporter of this project and I think certification can go deeper to make sure everyone s on a level playing field. Plug-and-play Another issue which may have an impact on treasurers connectivity decisions is the plug and play factor. On the whole, connecting to SWIFT is not a fast process: a direct connection can take up to six months to set up. For treasurers connecting via a service bureau, the process may only take a couple of months. However, getting banks on board is among the biggest challenges, according to Kurt Vandebroek, senior vice president (SVP), product development for SunGard s AvantGard. While this task can be undertaken by the bureau if required, this can prove difficult in practice as banks are not always keen for vendors to come between the bank and the corporate customer. Vandebroek observes that the extent to which corporates are looking for a plug-and-play model has a geographical element. We have two service bureaus, including Syntesis in Europe. They have about corporates in the French market, and those French corporates do the full on-boarding themselves. In Europe we see much more ownership of that process by the corporation, whereas in the US, we see a tendency that the corporates truly want to buy a plug-and-play solution where the vendor also takes ownership of the bank on-boarding process. Demand for a plug-and-play solution was one of the factors that led to the introduction of Alliance Lite in Alliance Lite was designed to be plug-and-play, yet we have learned that while corporates were looking for this ease of implementation, their product ALLIANCE LITE2 According to SWIFT, Alliance Lite2 will support higher message volumes and more automation options than its predecessor, as well as supporting all SWIFT message types (MT and MX). It will also be offered with additional services including automation assistance, training and support. There is no need for existing users of Alliance Lite to migrate to the new product straight away but for those who wish to do so the process is straightforward. User requirements for Alliance Lite2 are a Windows PC, Internet Explorer 8.0 or 9.0 and the Alliance Lite2 USB token. As well as offering Alliance Lite2 as a standalone connectivity option, SWIFT is planning to offer it to existing customers as a backup facility which could be used in an emergency. Alliance Lite2 is currently in the pilot stage and is expected to go live in July this year. needs outgrew the capabilities of Alliance Lite as their business grew, explains Dignen. This drove SWIFT to continue to listen to the industry, and develop Alliance Lite2, which is also designed for ease of use and implementation, as well as enhanced services. This suggests that for treasurers connecting to SWIFT, the convenience of plug and play is of secondary importance compared to considerations such as functionality and security. Yes, we would like it to be as easy as possible to connect to the network, comments Davis. But we still want all the authentication and all the security that SWIFT gives us, and we don t want any of that relaxed to make it a little bit easier. Indeed, while optimising the implementation process is clearly important, it is worth asking how meaningful the concept of plug-and-play is when talking about SWIFT. I don t think you really see plug-and-play in this space, says Durkin. The technology is evolving in regards to what can be done, but I think that focusing on plug-and-play really minimises the importance of what we re doing with payments today. Although standardisation remains a hot topic, service providers are beginning to recognise that standardisation in payments can only be taken so far. This may already be leading to a shift in focus. I ve taken a different approach lately, concludes Vandebroek. I think we re getting to the limits of standardisation and we just have to embrace variance from now on and start being smarter in terms of how we manage it. 6

9 Status Update: Checking Your Message Flow Status messaging provides corporates with full visibility over their financial messages and payment instructions sent via SWIFT. But how does the whole process actually work, what happens when messages fail, and how can corporates ensure they select the best SWIFT service bureau (SSB) for their individual needs? Words: Ben Poole Status messages inform SWIFT users of the progress of their messages over the network. However, there are different levels of sophistication adopted, depending on the specific business needs of the end user. At a non-sophisticated level, there are basic SWIFT users. These users accept that SWIFT is a highly resilient and secure network that is trusted by all major banks, and that SWIFT has never lost a message. Therefore some users assume that the payment instruction or SWIFT message will arrive at its destination as intended and that the instruction will be executed. That is enough for some, but not for others. real-time visibility, of their cash balances at their banks and to check whether a payment has been received or made. This visibility is more important than ever today, according to Marcus Hughes, director of business development, Bottomline Technologies. Cash visibility is probably the number one driver for corporates and non-bank financial institutions. When they look at SWIFT, they want that standardisation of visibility into their transactions and balances, particularly on the payments they are making and receiving, he explains. Some users have to have greater oversight because they need to know the status, as there may be something important going on. For example, they may have a short space of time to make an acquisition, or the payment instruction may be of a particularly high value. Essentially there are two forms of status message used over SWIFT: business messages and technical messages. The business messages will probably be the most familiar to corporates: in the cash management arena these are the MT 900 and MT 910, covering debit advice and credit advice. Then there is the MT 942, an intraday update, and MT 940 for prior-day information. These are the messages that corporates might require for good visibility covering, and in some cases Corporates can go to the next level, in terms of technical messaging, if they require more information. ACK and NACK messages are basically confirmation messages that SWIFT has received your messages, which can then be passed back to the sender of the original messages. A NACK message means that the message from the corporate has been received but cannot be processed. It may not be properly formatted and cannot be sent on to the intended destination. The message will not get to your bank to make a payment and instead is stopped at SWIFT. The NACK message allows SWIFT to alert the SWIFT service bureau (SSB), who then lets the original corporate sender know. Conversely, an ACK message means that the message from the corporate has been received by SWIFT and been sent on to the destination bank. 7

10 Following the Basic Flow Corporates, through an SSB, can send a file over the live area network (LAN) of that bureau. This could be a secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) or a linked line, for example. There are a wide range of connectivity options depending upon the requirements for specification and degree of security that the corporate wants. Usually the SSB will help advise the corporate on this. That file then enters the bureau s infrastructure. The SSB may then validate the file to check that it is properly formatted, and the message will then be routed to SWIFT. The bureau then receives either an ACK or a NACK from SWIFT. The ACK or NACK can then be made available to the corporate so that they will know the status of the message, its receipt by SWIFT and whether or not it can be processed. SWIFT will forward the original file to the addressee of the message. For corporate treasurers, this will most likely be to a bank to make a payment. It could also be, in the funds world, a counterparty to buy or sell funds, or a request for a custody statement. A whole range of SWIFT messages can be handled on this basis where the status can be tracked. For the last leg of the journey from SWIFT to the bank, SWIFT can offer delivery notifications. These are technical messages, which are used mainly when banks only have their SWIFT interface open for a short while. For example, if you were in the UK and you wanted to know if your bank in Indonesia had downloaded its SWIFT messages for the day, then you would ask for a delivery notification from SWIFT. This would confirm whether the bank has downloaded its SWIFT messages and therefore whether it would execute your instruction. A short while later you would (hopefully) see an MT 900, for example, to show that your account with that bank had been debited and that they had executed your payment instruction. These are sometimes called zero series messages. The Corporate Experience Status tracking can take several forms with SWIFT. An SSB will offer a range of services in that environment to meet the needs of its customers. In the most basic scenario, the corporate user can view the SWIFT messages on the network, and items such as ACKs and NACKs, remotely via the internet. The corporate may not necessary know what they are looking at but, depending on the level of involvement the corporate wants, some SSBs can translate this information into client speak. In a more sophisticated bureau offering, the corporate gets to view the status more easily. This is where an SSB can offer more robust data transfer and data transformation options. Examples of solutions here include Bottomline Technology s Transform Connect and IBM Sterling Connect:Direct. These robust and secure connections can provide more reliable visibility and a more detailed trail than you would find merely accessing the information online in the basic offering. These more robust solutions allow corporates to reconcile their messages at each step, and all of the data can be uploaded into the treasury management system (TMS) or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, allowing SWIFT status messages to be viewed in the corporate s own system. If the corporate uses more than one TMS or ERP solution, it is advisable to implement a payment hub that links all of their systems. Again, this is an area where some SSBs can provide a solution. Some can host the payment hub for the corporate in the cloud, or the corporate can host the payment hub themselves. The payment hub is another example of how corporates can gain the visibility they require over the status of their SWIFT messages because all the information is aggregated in one area. Sophisticated Solutions Some SSBs can arrange for corporate users to receive alerts on the message status. For example, setting up alerts for instances of failure allows the treasurer to manage the process by exception. Corporates do not have to receive all of the information generated all of the time. When going through the implementation process with an SSB, the corporate can set out the circumstances in which they need to know about certain message status types. The bureau can then ensure that they receive this information quickly, as well as send reminders if nobody on the corporate side has opened the update message. When an SSB passes information back to the corporate about a message failure, the detail of this alert can vary according to the requirements of the corporate. The alert may simply be along the lines of payment number xxxx has a problem. Alternatively, more detail around the nature of the issue can be provided. In addition to setting this level of detail during the implementation, corporates also can set how they want to receive the alert. While an may suit some, others may prefer that 8

11 Does the SSB have a 24 hour, seven days a week service desk available for corporate clients? Beyond this, there are some fine points that should also be addressed. What corporates should look for when they are selecting an SSB to work with is their global reach, together with local expertise, says Christoph Stiefel, senior sales manager corporate market, Fundtech/ BBP. For global reach, this could mean asking if the SSB has more than one data centre and where they are situated. Local expertise is also important, as many markets will have a local flavour when it comes to data formats and legal requirements, for example. It is also advisable to ask what experience the SSB has with corporates. Most service bureaus work in the banking area and are not at all experienced with corporates, says Stiefel. SWIFT itself has published a recommended list of service bureaus for corporates on its website. This is a good starting place when looking for an SSB that will be able to handle your status messaging needs as a corporate. Everyone on this list should have good experience in rolling out commercial payment and bulk payment messaging infrastructure for corporates. Qualifying bureaus on this list need to have a certain number of corporates with a certain number of banks. any alert appears on the SWIFT payment hub, where it will only be visible to users with the relevant privileges. An alert could be sent by the SSB as a pdf or an XML message, for example. The format should again be set by the corporate in the implementation process to make sure that they are receiving the best fit for their systems and processes. Another service some SSBs offer is a watchdog arrangement where the corporate will only receive a status message that meets the criteria of a few select instructions agreed with the SSB. These could be high value payments or messages addressed to particular counterparties, for example. Solutions such as these add granularity to the corporate s experience. Cannot Compute: What Happens When a Message Fails Should a message sent from a corporate fail, the response will depend on whether they have detailed monitoring, what the failure is and where the failure has occurred. Generally it is important for the SSB to have a service desk that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in order to advise their corporate clients on any message failure that has occurred and provide help with any message reformatting that may need to occur. Some SSBs will help catch invalid messages before they go to SWIFT with a reformatting validation service. They can liaise with their corporate clients to ensure that the correct message type is sent on, thereby avoiding waiting for a NACK message to be sent back. This service could also be used to enrich the original data sent by the corporate, for example to correct an incorrect bank identifier code (BIC). Checklist for Evaluating SSBs Asking the right questions during the evaluation phase can help ensure that you end up partnering with the best SSB for your status messaging needs. We have covered some of these already: How resilient and robust is the SSB s infrastructure and transmission technology? How much control does the corporate have over the status messages they receive and the level of detail in these messages? Can the status messages be easily uploaded into the TMS/ERP system? It may also be advisable to ask the SSB to put you in contact with a corporate client that has already gone through a successful implementation, to see how they are finding the status message experience. While the SSB will most likely select their best case study for you to talk to, first-hand information from a fellow treasurer will give you a greater insight into the day-to-day operations than any amount of marketing from an SSB will. The SSBs themselves need to be able to respond to different budgets and requirements that exist among the wide variety of treasuries, so try to speak with a treasurer from a similar size or industry to your operation. Conclusion The entire status message process can appear daunting from the outside in, but the reality does not have to be that way. A good SSB can provide the corporate treasurer with the power to control what information they receive and how they receive it, and to act as a translator to turn seemingly meaningless acronyms and IT jargon into actionable data. At a time when visibility over cash management and payments is more critical than ever, working in partnership with an SSB can give treasurers clarity over the status of their financial messages and payment instructions. 9

12 Expert Opinion 1. Why did you decide to use SWIFTNet connectivity? 2. Why did you decide to use a SWIFT service bureau (SSB)? Chris Armato, Managing Director, HedgeServ As a fund administrator, it is necessary to interface on behalf of our client base with numerous custodians and prime brokers. Integrating and maintaining multiple electronic banking (e-banking) systems with each of these entities drive up administrative costs and increase operational risk. Since all of these institutions are SWIFT-enabled, we decided to use this guaranteed delivery mechanism to communicate wire transactions. Maintaining, monitoring, and using one system improves efficiency and decreases operational risk. This functionality is a critical piece of our middle office service as HedgeServ continues to expand its treasury and collateral management services. When analysing the best scenario to integrate SWIFT, partnering with an institution that specialised in this service afforded numerous benefits. Using a SSB enabled us to quickly come to market with a scalable secure application while adding maximum value and keeping operating costs reasonable. Kenneth Westerberg, Vice President, Corporate Cash Management, Metso Metso operates in more than 50 countries and uses several banks. Prior to SWIFT connectivity, we didn t have centralised automated access to all bank accounts. Due to this, some of the local subsidiaries reported account balances during the monthly reporting cycle. In treasury, we wanted to achieve daily access to bank statements to improve cash visibility. In addition to responding to treasury needs, we foresaw that SWIFT connectivity could benefit our shared service centres (SSCs). In treasury, we are still communicating with some of our banks using various bank-specific channels, which complicates things. For people working in the SSCs, the target is to use only SWIFT connectivity. Once the SWIFT roll out is complete there will be only one channel and one process for all banks. We knew that implementing a SWIFT connectivity infrastructure was not going to be something treasury would be willing to invest in. It would have been too big an investment to do it ourselves and we didn t have the technical experience either, so we wanted to acquire the connection as a service. We have outsourced many other parts of our IT activities and it makes sense to acquire SWIFT connectivity as a service as well. Vincent Moreno, Corporate IS - Finance Manager, Thales Global Services As part of our project to centralise banking communication flows within the Thales Group, Thales opted for SWIFTNet for its ability to simplify secure exchanges between banks both domestically and internationally. The SWIFTNet network has enabled us to streamline our inter-bank transactions and how the data is exchanged. The quality of the service level agreement (SLA) was a key factor in our decision, as well as, the significant reduction in operating costs. In addition, mandatory maintenance of SWIFT applications requiring internal expertise would generate significant maintenance costs with little added value for the group. 3. Which SSB do you use and why did you choose that one? HedgeServ decided to partner with Expertus first and foremost because it is an accredited SSB and SWIFT service solution partner. Expertus worked with our organisation to integrate SWIFTNet connectivity within a short timeframe and continues to enhance the offering with its suite of products. The ease of integration coupled with their robust disaster recovery plan, gives HedgeServ peace of mind as we continue into the future. Expertus also is constantly looking to customise and expand their offering which is extremely important to HedgeServ as we continue to market this service to our client base. We considered several service providers and selected Tieto because of the value-added services offered. Some of the other suppliers on our shortlist provided just the basic service, but nothing additional. We were impressed with Tieto s value-added approach and because we already had a long-standing relationship with the company, we felt confident that we could rely on it to deliver something that would continue to work even with the high transaction volumes that we deal with. We selected SunGard s SSB for four main reasons: the SLA associated with its SSB; references from existing customers (BNP service bureau); the cost of its services and the clarity of its contracts; and the quality of services provided in the past when SunGard maintained our in-house SWIFT infrastructure. 4. How did you achieve buy-in from management? Was it difficult? Once management weighed the benefits discussed above against the operational risks and administrative costs involved with using numerous banking applications achieving buy-in was immediate. Management was extremely confident and realised the benefits greatly outweighed any typical concerns when analysing a systematic integration. As HedgeServ continues to grow, partnering with an institution that shares the same ideology made absolute business sense. Getting buy-in from management was very easy. In fact, the management team was encouraging us to streamline treasury and cash management processes. They were aware of the benefits of SWIFT connectivity and was very supportive of this initiative. The management objectives were to secure bank flows and reduce costs. The main difficulty was to confirm that moving to a SSB did not generate any security risk for the group in relation to the bank exchanges. 5. Do you have any tips for other corporates at the start of the process? I believe the most important consideration when analysing SSBs is whether they are an accredited service solution partner and what is their track record providing customer service. Also do they provide a secure scalable easily integrated environment, which affords your institution the ability to evolve over time? When looking for a partner HedgeServ followed the same criteria we expect our client base to look for: who are the people? What is the technology? What are the synergies between the organisations? The project takes time even if SWIFTNet connection is easy to set up with a SSB. Agreement negotiations with your banks require more time than you would expect. Banks have different ways of implementing SWIFTNet projects in terms of contracts, service fees, technical details and message formats. Finding the right people from within your own organisation to sign the agreements can also take some time. Therefore, this is not something that can be completed in one or two weeks. Initiate discussions with your banks about the documentation and technical issues at the very beginning of the implementation. The main points to be validated before starting such a process are: is there a sufficient volume of bank exchanges to be treated to amortise the cost of the SWIFTNet connection? Is the implementation of a SWIFTNet connection supported by the current IT system in place, or do you first need to consider a complete review of your treasury solutions? List the advantages and disadvantages between an SSB solution and an in-house connection. Last, be accompanied by SWIFT experts from the very beginning of the project. 10

13 Expert Opinion William Ismay, Director, Banking, Smith & Williamson Ulla Huotari, Cash Manager, Group Treasury, Kemira Cormac Maguire, Head of Treasury Operations, Smurfit Kappa Our approach is one of seeking continuous improvement and we were engaged in reviewing our end-to-end processes to identify areas with scope for transformation. We discussed our aims with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). Its innovative forward-thinking approach set out the benefits that we could achieve by implementing the RBS SSB solution. The business case was compelling enough to warrant further evaluation, after which we agreed that this was an excellent fit with our internal programme. Kemira established a SSC for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) in the beginning of Local companies in the region were using different banks and various procedures to communicate with those banks. When the SSC was introduced the need to streamline processes became evident. In the first phase Kemira initiated a bank selection process for central and southern Europe. During the early stage of this process it became evident that bank connectivity also needed to be reconsidered. Kemira uses a multi-bank software, currently used in the Nordic region. However, the use of this software could not be scaled beyond the Nordic region. As a result, SWIFT was selected as we wanted one global bank connectivity channel. We are looking forward to extending the usage of SWIFT to cover all regions. In 2010 Smurfit Kappa began initial internal discussions on a road map for single euro payments area (SEPA) and cash management. There was also a short-term goal in France to change the communication channel we used at the time due to channel redundancy. A decision was made to go for a SAP solution using a Hanse Orga tool which would involve replacing all our local electronic banking (e-banking) systems with an integrated solution for receiving bank statements, approving and releasing payments and monitoring all cash forecasts. Smurfit Kappa currently has a multi-bank solution where our banking business is spread across our core relationship banks. One of our objectives was to implement a bank independent solution. We decided that SWIFT was the best solution for us. We felt that acquiring the knowledge required to set up and maintain direct SWIFT connectivity in our own environment would have increased the pressure on our small team, as well as increasing our operating costs through having to employ a qualified engineer. Outsourcing to an established SSB provider, who could assist with setting up the end-to-end service, ensured that we did not have a need to become experts in SWIFT at any stage of the process. We chose the RBS SSB, which is a white-labelled solution powered by Simplex. We were attracted to the fact that we would be contracting directly with RBS and that the support team in terms of set up and production is led by RBS staff. Contracting with the bank offered the reassurance of knowing who we were dealing with and overcame many of the due diligence issues. The support model of always contacting RBS removed the uncertainty of who to call if there was ever a problem. RBS described Simplex as being a long-established SSB provider with an excellent track record and many customers in both the corporate and financial institution (FI) space. Simplex built an open architecture platform that could be customised to our individual needs and that additional applications could be added at any time. This gave us the confidence to proceed. We had already secured executive support and sponsorship to invest in the business-wide transformation project. The brief was to deliver a strategic future proof and scalable solution using the best tools available. Therefore, for us this was not as painful as we know it can be for others. Just because a level of funding had been pre-approved did not remove the need to undertake a detailed evaluation of the potential solutions and clearly demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) that would be achieved. Armed with these facts and having adhered to the internal process, the final executive approval was provided quickly. The key to succeeding is to start the planning process early, gain cross-departmental support for multiple areas to use the core infrastructure and plan the incremental stages to achieve the end result. Asking for all the money up front is unlikely to be successful; planning and funding the project in stages and achieving some quick wins that clearly demonstrate the benefits increases the likelihood of securing funding for the future stages. It is important to select a provider that can offer a flexible platform, as this will provide a choice of how and where you can undertake activity. This can also reduce the need to make changes to your internal systems. It soon became clear that a SSB was the only realistic option for Kemira to connect to SWIFT. Establishing its own dedicated SWIFT connection requires a lot of resources and knowledge, and it is also quite expensive. Resources in the company s IT are limited and tied up with other projects in the short term. In addition, we lacked the special technical competencies. The SSB approach provides the fastest way to get a SWIFT connection up and running. Because the schedule was quite tight in terms of the time allotted for the project, Kemira assessed only two SSBs. We chose the Tieto SSB, as it has experience in serving several corporate customers and were recommended by another Finnish company. We also value the fact that we have a local player as a partner. We appreciate the fact that it is easy to arrange meetings in order to clarify what can sometimes be quite complicated details. The business case was quite clear. We have one common enterprise resource planning (ERP) system that serves almost all of the countries that Kemira operates in. Until now each company has had a mandate to choose its bank connectivity and thus the set-up varies from country to country. We realised that significant savings could be gained by consolidating banking relationships and bank connectivity into a single multi-bank gateway. In addition, Kemira treasury is able to gain visibility into liquidity. The advantages are very clear and management is fully supportive of the project. An initial in-house study and building a business case are critical to determining whether SWIFT is the right solution for you in the first place. Management support is also crucial and particularly needed when rolling out the service. We are ourselves in the early stages of implementation. Signing agreements with the banks takes time, so initiate parallel contract negotiations with your banks as soon as you have signed the agreement with SWIFT. For a corporate to join SWIFT, there are three options: direct connectivity, Alliance Lite or through a service bureau. Option 1 we immediately ruled out due to cost and because corporates already using the direct connectivity option seemed to be switching to an SSB option. Alliance Lite was a new offering from SWIFT which became available when we started looking at the various options, and although initially very appealing there is volume restrictions in using this as an option. We felt the only real option for a corporate hoping to channel all their payment traffic via SWIFT was to use the services of an SSB. In analysing the SSB there seemed to be many geared up for the bank pass-through type model where the banks internal systems generate the SWIFT messages which are then routed onto the SWIFT network. One of our key goals was to try and streamline the payment standards for the groups onto one common payment standard. As we are multibanked this is not possible and even in the migration of banks to SEPA XML standardisation the market is a long way from reaching maturity in this respect. Some of our banks we discovered do not support FileAct for bulk payment transmission and we needed to implement a host to host solution. Smurfit Kappa choose a hybrid service model provided by Fides Treasury Services. As our project was a combined payments and cash management project, we were able to illustrate to management that we could reduce trapped cash in the organisation and improve our cash forecasting capabilities thereby saving interest margin. On a very conservative estimate of cash forecasting improvements we proposed the project would be cost neutral. However, we believe we can significantly improve our forecasting over time and have further interest margin savings. Three pilot countries saw benefits in streamlining their process and volunteered for the first phase without any pressure from senior management. As a guide to other corporates, you should understand that SWIFT provides an integrated solution for dealing with your banks. The solution can streamline your current processes by eliminating e-banking solutions. Do not expect to reduce costs of connecting with your banks as banks will also charge for SWIFT connectivity. It is important to start with FIN messages only and learn how SWIFT operates and how the documentation process works. Use one bank as a test case for your ultimate solution. Select a bank with a lot of experience in connecting with corporates on SWIFT and which can supply the project team to your organisation. Think carefully about the SSB you choose. Your choice will be key to the ultimate success of the project. 11

14 The Future is in the Cloud Cloud technology and dashboards are the new buzzwords in the world of treasury. What do SWIFT service bureaus (SSBs) offer and how can these technologies provide the increased visibility that every treasurer is looking for? Words: Heather McKenzie The latest flavour of the month in technology - cloud computing - should be familiar to users of SWIFT service bureaus (SSBs), whether they know it or not. Put simply, cloud computing is the delivery of computing (software or hardware) as a service rather than as a product. Shared resources, software and information are provided to users computers and other devices as a utility over a network (either a dedicated leased line or secure internet connection). This, in essence, is also what an SSB does. The services offered by a bureau typically include hosting or operating SWIFT connectivity components, logging on, or managing sessions or security for SWIFT users. Jeremy Goddard, chief executive officer (CEO) at Synergy, a UK-based SSB operator that is owned by Fundtech, says most of the recent activity in terms of new customers signing on to the bureau has been from corporates rather than banks. A properly deployed SSB implementation always has been the benchmark for a secure, resilient cloud-based solution, says a Synergy white paper. An essential component in any treasury automation project is a connection to SWIFTNet [SWIFT s secure IP-based network]. At one time, this involved the adoption of a proprietary system delivered by one banking partner or the implementation of a direct connection. Direct connection to SWIFT was seen as costly and burdened with the overheads of maintaining a costly infrastructure. Now, a much greater variety of options for SWIFTNet connectivity are available. Increasing numbers of corporates are selecting the service bureau option as delivering the required security, resilience and performance at a sensible price. Hosting applications in the cloud isn t a route taken by all bureau operators. Markus Hautala, director at Helsinki-based Tieto, an IT services company that operates an SSB for corporates, says the firm has so far focused on advanced SWIFT connectivity bundled with tailored message processing. We don t provide any applications hosted in our cloud that a corporate would use to reconcile its payments or accounts payable [A/P]; we don t provide dashboards that treasurers would use to monitor account balances or payment statuses. Tieto s customers typically host their own applications on in-house enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and treasury management systems (TMS). According to my understanding this is more or less the case with many of our competitors in the SSB space. Hautala says Tieto provides a web interface for customers to monitor files exchanged over the SWIFT network, but treasurers don t often need that functionality. Our customers mostly use the web interface for entering manual payments, he adds. However, his view is that cloud computing is the future and we are already offering messaging services from the Tieto-cloud. We will see applications move to the cloud as well, but we re not there yet and nor are many of our competitors. Other companies are providing cloud-based multi-banking services but do not operate SSB services. I believe that within the next few years we will see global bank connectivity being embedded in cloud-based financial administration applications to offer holistic solutions for customers, he says. In many cases corporates aren t yet using cloud-based services on a larger scale for financial administration. One reason might be that they are concerned about security and reliability, and therefore want to retain their independence. Another reason is the complex IT infrastructure that these corporates operate and, due to ownership issues, IT departments are not inclined to promote the cloud approach. It is also to a large extent a matter of supply and demand. So far larger corporates have had to configure on-premise applications to meet their specific needs as there hasn t really been enough of a supply of innovative cloud-based solutions that would have met their needs, according to Hautala. Improving Visibility Along with the cloud, dashboards are also a bit of a buzzword in the service bureau world. The increased focus of corporate treasurers on financial transparency has led them to seek better visibility of their cash positions and tighter integration with their banks. SSB operators offer dashboards as a way of improving visibility and therefore liquidity management and working capital management. A dashboard is a software-based control panel for one or more applications, network devices or industrial machines. Dashboards display simulated gauges and dials that look somewhat like an automobile dashboard. What, exactly, do corporate treasurers want to monitor? Opinions vary, possibly based on what each bureau operator has to offer. Bert van Brabant, head of service bureau at Atos Worldline, a Brussels-based electronic payment (e-payment) services company, says: The mission of our clients is to make payments in time, to get in collections in time, to optimise the companies cash assets and to lower the cost of making payments. There is only one valid monitoring a treasurer is interested in and that is business monitoring via individual debit or credit advices, interim and/or end of day balance reports allowing for liquidity monitoring and cash balance optimisation. On day two detailed account statement reconciliation will cover the rest. Atos Worldline shields the treasurer from any other technical complexity of monitoring flows over SWIFT, whether this complexity is about standards, message transmission statuses or any other technical or operational element, he says. Therefore we continuously perform positive checks: if a message or a bulk file of messages remains unconfirmed or non-rejected within a minute after it has been sent out by the client to the service bureau, there might be 12

15 a problem requiring our immediate attention and our client to be informed. For most clients we provide web-based interfaces to our SWIFT gateways at the very beginning, allowing the client to monitor over our shoulder. In most cases these interfaces remain in use for back-up message entry purposes and quickly fall out of use for monitoring. He says this is because clients become confident with Atos operations and services. Synergy s Goddard says the firm is often asked if it provides a dashboard for monitoring. We would consider the front-end software that we use and that customers use to look at queues of messages as sufficient. Customers are most concerned about reliability; they want to know that the service is reliable and that they can almost forget about it. Users will not pay attention to the service unless there is a problem, and that is when they would need monitoring and dashboards. We always considered that a problem, even if it is at the user s end, is also our problem. We believe it is up to us to help our clients to solve a problem because we are providing a service, not just a technology solution. While some firms have spurned dashboards for the time being, other SSB operators have embraced the technology. SunGard, for example, which completed its acquisition of European SSB operator Syntesys in January this year, provides a monitoring dashboard where clients can log-in and see the status of the system and of their connections with different back-office solutions. SunGard acquired Syntesys to bolster its AvantGard Ecosystem Communication Hub (Echos) by expanding the service bureau capacity and locations as well as adding a suite of SWIFTReady services, a move that reflects Hautala s prediction that SSB operators and cloud-based providers will merge. SunGard s AvantGard Echos provides managed connectivity and integration for corporations, financial institutions, and trading partners. The services provided include data normalisation, transformation and enrichment of messages via SWIFT or other financial messaging networks. Kurt Vandebroek, senior vice president (SVP), product management, SunGard, says the dashboard enables users to follow the lifecycle of each message or file that passes through the communication hub. Our vision is that the functional user should get an update on their instructions in the functional application that they are using. It is important that we not only provide a monitoring dashboard but also provide the right status information that users can integrate into their functional back-office application to show the functional user the statuses of the transaction, he says. A functional user is, for example, someone in the treasury who has to execute an foreign exchange (FX) deal; that user should be able to see the deal has been settled and whether the payment has been made and the confirmation matched, etc. Therefore a user can see the status of the transaction in a standardised way in the ERP or TMS solution, as well as in the dashboard. The main use of a dashboard is for exception management or if the back office application doesn t have the ability for tight integration. I think tight integration of SWIFT into the treasury workstation is key, so you can avoid creating different solutions, says Vandebroek. SunGard is looking at ways to expose the dashboard information to treasury applications, so users do not have to undertake a separate log-on. This will mean it will look like a seamless, integrated package where users can just click on a particular transaction and the dashboard will open up immediately. The company is also working on integrating SWIFT s Accord matching service into Echos. One of the first value-added offerings Montrealbased Expertus launched after SWIFT opened its network to corporates was a dashboard for exceptions processing, says Jacques Leblanc, president and founder. Corporates are looking for straight-through processing [STP] and an easy, fast and low-cost way to send payment instructions. Automating payments processing and providing a dashboard for exceptions processing address these needs. 13

16 Leblanc describes Expertus service as a payment platform in the cloud. New technology is not the core business of corporates and it can be very expensive, he says, which is why a platform that provides connections into ERP and TMS systems is attractive because corporate treasuries do not have to build expertise in particular applications. Monitoring Capabilities Synergy s Goddard outlines a number of areas that clients want to have monitored. First are the communication lines between the client and the bureau. Synergy monitors the line and any backup lines right up to the client firewall. The next level of monitoring is of the inflows and outflows of the messages. The number of messages in particular queues will be monitored, and alerts will be sent out if there is a build-up of messages that suggests a possible problem. The amount of traffic is also monitored and bureaus will provide clients with reports. Some of these clients, says Goddard, will use the reports to reconcile their statements from SWIFT. Synergy uses the reports to monitor bureau capacity. Other monitoring involves reliability, such as uptime of the service, with particular attention being paid to the mid to late afternoon when different clearing systems have their cut-off times. If a message is stuck in a queue it can have a financial impact on the corporate, he says. Some of the most advanced monitoring capabilities are being developed by Bottomline Technologies. Marcus Hughes, business development director at the company, agrees with SunGard s Vandebroek that treasurers want to monitor the entire cash lifecycle. The company is working with Tieto on a range of solutions, particularly with regard to electronic invoicing, on SWIFT s network. Treasurers and those working in accounts receivable [A/R] and A/P can use the platform hosted by Bottomline to manage the lifecycle of payments from preapproval to final settlement with a full audit trail. We can also provide the same comprehensive approach in the cash balance signed. Information is visible in a range of dashboard and other solutions for monitoring and controlling payments, cash management, and invoicing activities, he says. Hughes admits that dashboards have become a buzzword: People really just want to see the numbers and clever bar charts are okay, but it is more important to deliver the numbers quickly. With many companies reducing the number of treasury staff and chief financial officers (CFOs) and CEOs paying more attention to the treasury, visibility has become very important, he says. Bottomline can send out alerts to users via SMS or and the user can click on a link that will take them directly to the dashboard, so they can investigate the problem. The company s monitoring tools also enable users to check payment instructions before they are sent out. Instructions can be checked for errors, such as invalid International Bank Account Numbers (IBANs), but can also check whether a recipient is in a sanctions blacklist. Hughes points out that funds can be frozen for a long period of time if the sanction is violated, something companies cannot risk at a time of tight liquidity. Dashboards can also give access to a history of the payment instructions, which can be used by auditors if they want to do an investigation. This is particularly useful for companies that have many subsidiaries around the world, says Hughes, as the head office can monitor the activities of local treasurers more easily. Many of the advances being made with cloud-based monitoring tools have been made possible by advances in technology. Standards enable corporates to send payment instructions in their preferred file format and have those transformed by the bureau operator into the required format for the banks. Previous approaches to monitoring payments were developed before the technology was ready, says Hughes. With developments such as the cloud, companies can do a lot more and treasurers can better track payments and know where everything is. 14

17 CASE STUDY ITV Improves Cash Reporting and Integrated End-to-end Treasury Processes ITV is the largest commercial television network in the UK. It is the home of popular television from the biggest entertainment events, to original drama, major sport, landmark factual series and independent news. It operates a family of channels including ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 and CITV which are broadcast free-to-air on analogue (ITV1 only), Freeview, digital satellite (Sky/ Freesat) and cable. ITV is also focused on delivering its programming across multiple platforms including itv.com, video-on-demand on cable television and other closed platforms, mobile devices and games consoles. ITV Studios produces and sells programmes and formats in the UK and worldwide, and comprises of ITV s UK and international production operations, international distribution, home entertainment, publishing, merchandising and licensing. >>> 15

18 CASE STUDY ITV operates a business service centre to support its different companies and subsidiaries such as ITV Studios and ITV Broadcasting. With domestic and international operations, it has the challenge of managing multiple bank accounts in approximately 10 currencies. It had a highly complex treasury infrastructure. There was a great deal of manual processing and the confirmations process was timeconsuming. International bank statements were sent by the different entities to the treasury department but this could be on a weekly or monthly basis. ITV decided to introduce a physically pooled operational banking structure with zero balancing in the UK, alongside an in-house bank (IHB). To achieve its goals, ITV required a more integrated and secure method of sending payments, receiving confirmations from counterparties, accounting, and receiving statements from its banking partners. It had selected a new treasury management system (TMS) from City Financials (etc) which would be connected to the SWIFT network. The SWIFT connectivity was key to ITV s long-term goals to future proof and expand the capacity of the proposed treasury infrastructure over time. Solution ITV evaluated three outsourced SWIFT service bureau offerings before selecting the SWIFT Access Service from Bottomline Technologies. Karen Fagan, treasury back office manager, ITV, explains: The outsourced service bureau approach offered many advantages over managing the SWIFT infrastructure in-house. We chose the SWIFT Access Service from Bottomline Technologies as right from the start they demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the challenges faced by corporates that want to connect to SWIFT and their solution was already used at several of the UK s largest corporates. Bottomline had an existing relationship with Barclays Corporate and City Financials and were able to clearly explain exactly how the service bureau would work alongside our proposed treasury infrastructure. Bottomline s SWIFT expertise was evident throughout the project from helping ITV with the initial SWIFT application through to testing and go-live. The decision to use Bottomline s service bureau was made in September 2010 and zero balancing and SWIFT connectivity went live in January It allowed ITV to receive MT940 s from various banks over SWIFT, which are concatenated by the service bureau and uploaded automatically into the TMS, where balance reporting and treasury account statement reconciliations takes place. ITV has also gone live with a new system from Trintech, which is used for reconciliation of operational accounts. By automating the process of receiving the statements over SWIFT, ITV is able to reconcile daily and use more up-to-date data. For foreign exchange (FX) and money market trade confirmations, whenever a deal is entered into etc a MT320 or MT300 is generated and sent via the service bureau over SWIFT to the counterparty bank. At the same time the counterparty sends ITV their MT320/300 message. The messages are captured and automatically reconciled in etc to ensure that they match and the deal is confirmed; otherwise it is flagged up for further investigation. etc will then only release the payment for processing once the confirmations are matched. Results and Benefits ITV treasury was aiming to achieve more integrated and streamlined treasury processes enabled by using what it considered to be the best available in treasury systems on a costeffective basis. This was achieved by selecting a combination of vendors and designing the architecture from scratch, to effectively combine the various new components with ITV s suppliers to achieve its objectives. The treasury project has enabled us to automate time consuming manual processes such as accounting and reconciliation and free up our resources to focus on resolving exceptions. By adding SWIFT connectivity to our TMS we have benefited from greater operational efficiency and lower levels of risk. It has allowed us to develop and roll out better treasury controls while improving the ease and convenience with which we make our payments, says Fagan. We have the scalability to increase the volumes processed without a significant impact on the ITV back office treasury department, and we now have a more complete view of cash balances across all bank accounts. ITV is already planning to leverage its investment in SWIFT connectivity by using Oracle Lockbox to identify receivables from the MT940 statements, and automatically post these to the debtor s account. ITV has also requested all overseas entities to report electronic cash balances over SWIFT on a daily basis which will give ITV even greater visibility of its true cash and liquidity position. Fagan comments: I would advise other corporates who are considering SWIFT to use an outsourced service bureau. Having service providers such as Bottomline Technologies, Barclays Corporate and City Financials who have already worked together on other corporate treasury projects is hugely beneficial. This was evident during the implementation process as the project managers involved knew each other and had a ready understanding of what needed to be done, resulting in lower project risk and a smoother implementation. We see Bottomline as a strategic technology partner and we are already leveraging their proven payments products. We are planning to work with Bottomline to bring the same high level of automation to the management of non-treasury payments, such as the BACS run for vendor, payroll, expenses, SEPA [single euro payments area] payments, international payments and faster payments. This will enable ITV to eliminate further manual processing whilst increasing efficiency, she concludes. 16

19 Get Set: Establishing a SWIFT Service Bureau Service bureaus have been by far the most popular way for corporates to connect to SWIFT, allowing them to get the benefits of multibank interoperability via an established outsourcing process with accredited partners. But will this remain so as SWIFT introduces significant changes to its connectivity criteria and options? With the introduction of Alliance Lite2 and the phasing out of member concentrators, the market is going to change. Words: Neil Ainger There have traditionally been three ways for corporates to connect to SWIFT. They could set up a direct connection internally, which very few corporates chose to do because of the complexity and high support costs in terms of technology and qualified staff; they could use Alliance Lite, the web-based solution for low volume smaller corporates; or they could go down the other outsourcing course and connect via a SWIFT service bureau (SSB) or member concentrator. All this is set to change, however, with the announcement by SWIFT at the turn of the year that it is to phase out the member concentrator model, and its introduction of Alliance Lite2, which is currently being piloted and is expected to go live in July this year. This second iteration is intended to support higher message volumes in the cloud, more automation and the MT and MX messaging standards. More training and support is available too, says Juan Martinez, head of cloud services at SWIFT. We have designed packaged services to make the whole on-boarding process easier and more transparent for customers, representing a major improvement over what we have been offering in the past. These two key changes could alter the previously dominant position of SSBs, which have up until now accounted for 69% of corporate connections to SWIFT. It could also possibly lead to a tightening of the rules surrounding bureaus to improve SWIFT s operational resiliency and security, triggering a consolidation process among the smaller SWIFTReady vendors that do not offer a full service end-to-end capability and cannot perhaps meet more stringent requirements. Bigger vendors should be able to meet the stricter rules and continue to offer corporates a fully outsourced and managed SSB connectivity option. SWIFT is not commenting on the potential impact elsewhere of the ban on accepting any new member concentrators, imposed on 1 January 2012, with the model likely to be phased out totally within two years, or the second coming of Alliance Lite. Although Filip Versluys, head of partner marketing at SWIFT, did say that the body reviews its criteria and framework for working with SSBs and other partners on an on-going basis. Our focus is on ensuring that SWIFT customers receive the best possible service and that operational risk is mitigated, he says. To date, we have not introduced major changes in the criteria for SSBs since last year. The connectivity changes elsewhere will, however, inevitably alter the procedures for SSBs and the traditionally very complicated on-boarding process. Already SWIFT s shared infrastructure PDF documents online, covering policy, terms and conditions, and its operational requirements for shared infrastructure providers have been updated as of 24 February 2012, although, in the main, this has so far only involved deleting references to member concentrators. According to Bas Rebel, a manager with Zanders treasury and finance solutions, the document flow will change but electric forms (e-forms) can still be used. The technical set up and connectivity testing is presently done in a joint effort by the company, the SSB and the bank(s) [although the bureau traditionally does most of the work and indeed sells itself on this], he says. This technical process will change dramatically and should be highly automated and configurable in future to make it more cost effective. This will, in my opinion, be at the expense of the SSBs. If it is easier to connect direct via the cloud for the smaller firms and financial institutions that are the target audience for Alliance Lite, then why would they continue to go to a SSB? Indeed it was only because Alliance Lite1 was not meeting their needs - with its pricing/transaction limits and message format limitations - that these smaller players turned to SSBs in the first place. For the record, SWIFT s definition of a service bureau is a user or non-user organisation that has been admitted under the shared infrastructure programme as an authorised SSB to provide services to users regarding the day-to-day operation of their 17

20 SWIFT connection. The services offered by SSBs typically include hosting or operating SWIFT connectivity components, logging on or managing sessions, or security for SWIFT users. The value-add services mentioned towards the end of the definition, such as security provision, will become even more of a selling point for SSBs than they have been in the past. Applications, not just infrastructure will no doubt be a key marketing message for many vendors. The launch of Alliance Lite2 will make it easier for more customers to connect directly to SWIFT, says SWIFT s Versluys. In parallel we will, however, continue to work with service bureaus as enablers of connectivity and value added services. For larger corporate users, who don t want to do down a proprietary bank route, the SSB approach is still likely to be an attractive option, while many smaller players - the original target audience - may reconsider using Alliance Lite now it is being upgraded. The value-added services referred to Versluys, such as monitoring/ reporting, deeper treasury integration and so forth, will appeal to bigger corporations. Some could also use different combinations of services to suit their needs, as sometimes happens at present, with a bureau providing connectivity, onboarding and processing power, while Alliance Lite2 perhaps plugs into a treasury management system (TMS). Mixing and matching could become more common, depending on corporations needs. Unrelated to the above and specific only to members, SWIFT has decided to revisit the member concentrator model too as part of this overhaul, explains Versluys. No new member concentrator applications will be accepted from now on. And existing member concentrators will only be allowed to offer shared infrastructure services for a certain period of time under the old shared infrastructure programme [most likely, two years at most], until they migrate to a new partnership model with SWIFT. Beefed up SSBs, which survive the consolidation cull among smaller vendors struggling to meet stricter rules, could step into the breach here as Tier 1 banks - the most common member concentrators - depart the model. If the new partnership model effectively means converting into bureaux themselves then the Tier 1 banks could spark more SSB competition and a rush for quality. The Benefits of SSBs Many large early corporate movers only converted to the SSB approach after finding the cost and complexity of direct connection too high. Most new corporations now select a bureau approach to help them take advantage of the multi-bank SWIFTNet platform, which allows them to switch banks more easily, important for risk mitigation purposes, and to enhance the visibility, flexibility and ease-ofuse of their cash management and payment operations. Outsourcing connectivity to SWIFT and its bureau partners, also means that treasuries are not trapped into a single proprietary bank system or responsible for meeting systems and standards upgrades, with all the associated technology cost and expensive in-house qualified staff that that requires. Additionally, corporations do not have to meet SWIFT s operational requirements themselves which are enforced by site visits and service level agreements (SLAs) and, importantly, an SSB deal relieves the compliance pressure with the body s complicated on-boarding procedures and extensive documentation. It remains to be seen if the changes afoot really do ease the paperwork, which can take two to three months at present, so a shortening of the procedures would be welcome. The benefits of SSBs are obvious and they will not disappear because of these inherent full service advantages to some customers. BBP Fundtech s Christoph Stiefel, senior sales manager for the corporate market, agrees that the administrational on-boarding process has recently been improved and made much easier and less complex than it was in the past, but even if this is the case outsourcing the procedure will still be attractive. Only about 8% of corporations have a direct SWIFT connection at the moment - these may move to an SSB approach as member concentrators disappear - and just 23% of SWIFT s corporate users currently use the Alliance Lite1 option, proving the present popularity of SSBs. About 150 SSBs are currently registered with us, confirming that they are compliant with SWIFT s operational requirements, says Versluys, although not all of them have received the full SWIFTReady accreditation, which includes onsite inspections, data centre visits for business continuity and resiliency purposes, security requirements and so forth. In addition, and specific to the corporate segment, certain service bureaus are listed under the SWIFT for Corporates programme because of their proven track record of successful implementations in the corporateto-bank space. These SSBs for corporates, listed as partners on SWIFT s website, are: Atos Worldwide. BBP/Fundtech. Bottomline Technologies. Broadridge Financial Solutions. SunGard. Syntesys (recently acquired by SunGard late last year to increase its European presence). The Syntesys acquisition announced last year was about getting a European data centre estate for reasons of extra resilience and compliance with local laws, explains Kurt Vandebroek, senior vice president (SVP) of product development for SunGard s AvantGard. It wasn t a volume-led buy, but rather to acquire the technology and infrastructure that we wanted [and could see synergies with]. The acquisition of the Syntesys will contribute a suite of SWIFTReady services and outsourcing capabilities and, according to the president of SunGard s corporate liquidity business at the time, Scott Coffing, the combined entity will deliver managed SWIFT connectivity, together with services such as electronic bank account management [ebam], statement aggregation and payments management. The big SWIFT for Corporate vendors are likely to be the winners if smaller SWIFTReady - but not fully qualified software and services providers - do exit the SSB market and instead target the Alliance Lite2 cloud apps segment. The big technology vendors are already good options for corporations looking for an end-toend outsourcing partner rather than specific add-on modules, and the changes underway could just reinforce this point. According to the SWIFT for Corporates webpage these partners have a proven track record of assisting corporates to do business with banks worldwide using the SWIFT network and can offer: project definition; an implementation with banks; connectivity and message formats; system integration; and the running and monitoring of your services. Member concentrators, typically a financial institution and privileged vendors like SunGard, could formerly offer the same services and direct linkages - allied to an insider s viewpoint - as they were certified as core SWIFT members. Banks and large SSB technology vendors will, therefore, battle it out more fully in future for the business of Tier 2 and 3 banks and corporations in huge SSB operations. As ever, those who win the most volume in the changing SWIFT landscape will be able to take advantage of economy-of-scale efficiencies and prices to win yet more processing business. 18

21 Whether SSBs will maintain their previous dominance in the face of a raft of Alliance Lite2 cloud-delivered services and eased on-boarding processes is the real question, but as the service is not up and running until July 2012 it is only possible to speculate for now. Not All SSBs are the Same For a number of years not all SSBs have been alike. Some solely provide the connectivity module, while others offer a fully managed outsourced solution, including hosting the infrastructure and supporting technical operations (typically denoted by a best practice label). This may now change, although it is too early to say for certain as the new market brought about by SWIFT s changing connectivity options and criteria has not had a chance to fully develop yet. At present many SSBs develop value-add services and applications, such as data enrichment, transformation, reporting or light treasury applications, that overlap with existing systems in the treasury back office. It is up to a corporate to select the best SSB to meet its needs, but SWIFT does offer its service bureau for corporates programme to try to help treasurers navigate the options. As previously mentioned, this is a list of accredited SSBs with a proven track record of successful implementations in the corporate-to-bank space. Among other criteria, these starred SSBs have to show they have successfully completed several corporate-to-bank projects and must support FIN and FileAct within a SWIFT Corporate Environment (SCORE), among other more advanced things. For SSBs that go above and beyond the minimum requirements, SWIFT also offers the shared infrastructure label programme, which helps users identify providers that host and operate their own connectivity, as well as meeting the levels of service quality, security and resiliency that are higher than the mandatory minimum requirements. The best practice labelling and other myriad badges have never really taken off, however, so it is to be hoped that the new changes being introduced by SWIFT may lead to the market providing more clarity. As Marcus Hughes, director of business development at Bottomline Technologies, states: I expect the imminent launch of Alliance Lite2 to close some of these less accredited or module-orientated corporate-specific service bureaus down; or at the very least to see a consolidation of SSBs. If SWIFT is to get anywhere near its highly ambitious target of 5,000 corporate users by an unlikely prospect - then it must get this changeover right and effectively turn more SSBs into sales agents with Alliance Lite2 vendors offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) options, proselytising to the corporate masses. SWIFT needs partners, but they need deeper relationships with them too [in order to deliver better technology, more access, standardisation and so forth], adds Hughes. They have, after all, cut the internal headcount don t forget, placing more of the onus on external cohorts. Vendors will become an extension of the sales force of SWIFT one way or another, says Zanders Rebel. How SWIFT will organise this, and if vendors will like effectively becoming resellers, I don t know, but I think it will happen. How it will affect their relationships with banks and other telecom network companies is up for debate. What matters, however, are the consequences for corporates treasurers that seek greater efficiency, integration and cross-border non-proprietary assistance in running their operations. If the elimination of member concentrators, easier on-boarding and the advent of Alliance Lite2 mean easier, cheaper access with reinforced business continuity, then so much the better. 19

22 Bank Communication and Treasury Automation Specialists Bank Communication Cash and Liquidity Management Message Translation Regulatory Compliance Core Banking Solutions Axletree Solutions delivers securely hosted and highly scalable Bank Communication and Treasury Automation Solutions for Banks and Fortune -listed Corporate Treasury Clients.

23 Axletree Solutions Axletree Solutions is a leading provider of bank communication and treasury automation solutions to banks and Fortune listed corporations worldwide. Founded in 2002, Axletree Solutions is headquartered in North Brunswick, New Jersey, with offices and data centres in Pennsylvania, Uruguay and Nassau, Bahamas and serves customers in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Bahamas and the Caribbean Islands. Axletree brings over a decade of experience in rapidly deploying hosted solutions to customers worldwide. Today, we are among the top 10 service bureaus worldwide in the SWIFT domain recognised for our expertise, stateof-the-art infrastructure and customer service as stated by SWIFT s Best Practice certification. Additionally, to further automate and enable straight through processing (STP) for our customers, Axletree provides best-of-breed Products and Services a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 hosted cash and liquidity management, message transformation, regulatory compliance and core banking solutions that seamlessly integrate with SWIFT messaging. Our solutions and services are delivered based on years of acquired best practices in implementation combined with top of the line resources, global technical support and state of the art infrastructure to accelerate your business benefits of efficiency, lower risks and costs. Axletree s data centres are SAS 70 Type II and SWIFT audited for compliance with the highest standards of data security, resiliency and is backed up by hot disaster recovery centres to ensure data redundancy. SWIFT Service Bureau Axletree service bureau solution offers you an economical way to connect to the SWIFT network. Customers worldwide rely on the hosting and support services of the Axletree service bureau to exchange their financial messages safely and reliably. Axletree s project management team consisting of SWIFT certified experts can rapidly deploy the solution and also provide you with 24x7x365 global technical support. SWIFT Consulting Services SWIFT Consulting Services can be a potential solution to organisations that host the SWIFT infrastructure internally but are unable to dedicate staff with specialised SWIFT knowledge, resources, or time. Axletree s team of SWIFT-certified professionals can design, implement, upgrade and provide ongoing maintenance for your SWIFT infrastructure. Message Translation Further enhance STP with message/format translation. We can integrate your back office applications with SWIFT messaging solutions; manage the transformation to and from SWIFT messaging formats, and the enrichment and reconciliation of acknowledgements. Regulatory Compliance Regulatory compliance solutions are tailored to meet the requirements of the US Patriot Act and Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC). These solutions offer an automated way to filter and review customers transactions for sanctioned party violations and help detect suspicious activity. Axletree provides integrated OFAC, FinCen 314 A, anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) solutions to customers who wish to manage their compliance risks associated with SWIFT transactions. Core Banking Banks can now take advantage of a complete service offering of core banking integrated with SWIFT messaging through Axletree s secure hosted model. The core banking solution is a web-based suite of integrated banking applications for payments, accounts, cash management, loans and deposits, trade services, and for corporate treasury multibank trade services application. Cash and Liquidity Management Cash visibility is critical for optimal liquidity and risk management. Axletree s Cash and Liquidity Management (CLM) is a web-based, cost effective solution. CLM provides treasury with insight into multi-bank, multi-currency global cash positions and also reconciles bank statements with actual balances. Contact information 2 King Arthur Court Lakeside West, Suite A-1 North Brunswick, NJ info@axletrees.com Tel: Website: 21

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25 BELLIN Founded by a treasurer who was unable to find the appropriate tools for his treasury, BELLIN provides corporate clients with a company-wide webbased treasury platform designed for mobile treasury. Our philosophy at BELLIN is that we don t just like treasury, we love it. BELLIN is a global leader in providing treasury software and services to over 15,000 users in 120 countries. Our team of consultants consists of many former treasurers who can find treasury solutions to suit your corporation s needs. a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 Our product, tm5, is custom-made to get treasuries connected, whether you run it internally or opt for our software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. As an all-in-one treasury product, tm5 is guaranteed to amaze you with adaptable modules such as cash and risk management and netting. The load-balanced treasury approach that we apply allows subsidiary companies and the central treasury access to real-time financial data and processes at the click of a mouse. Our solution also supports domestic and cross-border payments that are not limited to specific banks or countries. With BELLIN Backstage, the new information platform exclusively for users of tm5, BELLIN further expands its service offering and takes another important step towards getting treasury connected. Products and Services SWIFT service bureaus (SSBs) are set up for connecting corporates to the worldwide SWIFTNet platform. Additionally, they do conversion and administration, which can be time-consuming and costly. BELLIN goes far beyond this. As one of the market leaders for fully integrated and web-based treasury management systems (TMS), our application tm5 is based on a global approach, which we call load-balanced treasury. This means that every group company worldwide is using one platform to perform their local treasury tasks. This way, every company or any organisational unit can collect the statements from any SWIFT-connected bank with one click. The transactions from these statements are available in the cash management component of your treasury application instantly and can be directly handed over to your financial system for further processing. The overview on value or booked balances is accessible instantly after statements are available for anybody who has the proper access rights. This guarantees transparency on balances and bank account management, and includes signature rights on bank accounts, documentation, process details and any other information required for compliance and risk management purposes. But SWIFT does not only enable the easy collection of statements. Payment initiation is also part of the tm5 offering. Since we are living in a complex world, the integrated access to SWIFT supports this approach in many ways. Our fully-integrated solution, which ranges from cash management to contract management, netting and forecasting, provides global treasuries with a realtime overview of every inflow and outflow worldwide. It includes a complete payment factory and enables your individual group companies to transmit single and file-based payments as FIN or FileAct in multiple formats to their local operating banks. We call this possibility four-dimensional payment processing. It enables multi-bank, multi-country, domestic and cross-border payments from a turnkey solution. As one of SWIFT s partners, BELLIN enables optimised connectivity and enriched services, including file conversion and the building and handling of messages and companion files. But we do not restrict our application to the handling of files and the sending and collecting of messages; we support process optimisation in your company, the sharing of authorisation and release controls on a global basis, enabling mobile payments (m-payments) through purely web-based technology and other possibilities that have been out of reach until now. BELLIN is not just a SWIFT enabler. As one of the first software providers offering corporates to make use of our own SWIFT code established for this dedicated purpose, we have decreased the workload required to implement SWIFT access to the minimum possible. It is now time for those companies who have not considered SWIFT as a possibility to have a deeper look into what BELLIN has built for corporates. In addition to connectivity and related services, BELLIN also offers hosting services, meaning our solutions can be hosted on-site or as SaaS in our own secure private cloud optimised for BELLIN software. Follow us with tm5 to the next level of payment processing and integrate treasury and payments into one platform available to every group company worldwide. Combine this setup with any local enterprise resource planning (ERP) and bookkeeping system in your corporate group, enable straight-through processing (STP) in perfection and start considering flexible and mobile environments for your treasury by using our solutions, experience, consultancy and service-oriented offerings. Contact information German Headquarters Tullastraße Ettenheim sales@bellin.de Tel: Website: 23

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27 Bottomline Technologies Bottomline Technologies provides cloud-based payment, invoice and banking solutions to corporates, financial institutions and banks around the world. The company s solutions are used to streamline, automate and manage processes involving payments, invoicing, global cash management, supply chain finance (SCF) and transactional documents. Organisations trust Bottomline to meet their needs for cost reduction, competitive differentiation and optimisation of working capital. Embracing SWIFT, Common Global Implementation (CGI), and other recognised industry standards, our proven range of solutions allow customers to manage and leverage SWIFT connectivity and meet complex business needs driven by cost pressures, standardisation goals and the ever changing regulatory landscape. Products and Services a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 A strategic SWIFT partner, Bottomline has over 9,000 customers in 77 countries and employs over 1,000 people. More than 3,000 customers access the company s payment and invoice automation capabilities through convenient subscription-based services and we are widely recognised for our financial stability and strong growth allied to strategic global bank partnerships. Bottomline is the trusted payments supplier of choice for corporates and non-bank financial institutions. Serving the full range of corporate industries alongside financial services, insurance, health care, technology, communications, education, media, manufacturing and government, Bottomline provides products and services to approximately 70 of the FTSE 100 companies, 80 of the Fortune 100 companies and 15 of the top 25 global banks. Bottomline Technologies is one of SWIFT s most highly accredited and trusted partners in the world. We are SWIFT s Regional Partner for the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands and were the first SWIFT service bureau (SSB) to be awarded SWIFTReady Connectivity Best Practice, a prized accreditation still held by only a handful of bureaus globally. SWIFTReady accreditations act as a guide for newcomers to SWIFT to the range of potential service providers in order to identify trusted SWIFT partners who maintain the highest standards of reliability and security, with a proven track record of successful SWIFT implementations. For all the advantages of transmitting the entire range of messages over the SWIFT network and accessing all SWIFT services and solutions, without the drawback of having to implement and support your own environment, then look no further than our SSB. More than 125 customers connect to SWIFT through our bureau, while we have also supported over 300 SWIFT interface implementations. Our bureau clients include two of the largest volume SWIFT corporate users in Europe. Bottomline s SWIFT Access Service has customers from many industries: telecommunications, oil and gas, power, automotive, retail, packaging, food and beverages, etc. We also provide SWIFT connectivity for a wide range of bank and non-bank financial institutions such as foreign exchange (FX) and payment service providers who rely on our resilient, outsourced multi-bank connectivity for their low cost and efficient multi-currency payment offering. Bottomline s SWIFT Access Service facilitates connection to SWIFT services, including TARGET2 and the Bank of England Enquiry Link. Whether for FIN messages, CREST, SWIFTNet Funds, or to transfer files over FileAct, any organisation can achieve benefits from using the fully managed services offered by Bottomline. At Bottomline we have integrated a growing range of cloud-based value-added solutions with our bureau, allowing customers to quickly implement multi-currency payment and cash management solutions, with secure access and lower cost of ownership. Bottomline s SWIFT Access Service customers can access our Bacs, Faster Payments and cheque production services, delivering a unique depth and variety of payments options. By participating in new initiatives like SWIFT s CGI programme, we are developing common standards around ISO which make it easier for large corporates to integrate with multiple banks, as part of a global payments factory. We also provide anti money laundering (AML) and reconciliation services and partner with SWIFT on a joint electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and SCF initiative. In addition to our compelling SWIFT credentials, Bottomline have deep experience of multi-currency payments and e-invoicing and enjoy strong partnerships with major banks, giving us domain expertise in global transaction banking and their connectivity requirements. Our payment and invoicing services enable corporate customers to reduce costs and operational risks, while improving the visibility, efficiency and control of their financial processes and working capital management. We have extensive experience of integrating with disparate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This ensures customers have a highly secure and scalable payment solution, linked with their ERP systems, for the validation, enrichment, approval and release of multiple payment and collection types in the formats required by different banks and clearing systems. Similarly, the automated gathering of statements and intraday updates from multiple banks ensures our customers have real-time visibility of cash, enabling easier cash forecasting and liquidity management from a single, secure platform. Using Bottomline s SWIFT Access significantly reduces the cost of connecting to SWIFT and our multi-site infrastructure, operational experience, value-added services and accreditations offers a compelling proposition to corporates considering SWIFT. Flexible additional support options are available, but Bottomline provide 24x7 coverage for critical problems as standard. Contact us today to find out why other corporates such as BAE Systems, ITV and SABMiller have entrusted their SWIFT connectivity to Bottomline, or download these case studies from Contact information Bramah House Bermondsey Street London SE1 3XF UK info-london@bottomline.com Tel: + 44 (0) Website: 25

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29 EastNets EastNets is a leading provider of global compliance and payment solutions and services with over 1,000 customers in 120 countries. Founded in 1984, EastNets has over 25 years of experience serving financial institutions, corporates and government agencies around the globe. EastNets is headquartered in Dubai with 16 offices across continental Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Through its fully-managed SWIFT service bureau (SSB), EastNets provides SWIFTNet connectivity and add-on services for over 280 corporates and financial institutions, offering them a high standard of outsourcing by having SSAE 16 and the SWIFTReady Connectivity Operational Assurance label. In addition, EastNets provides anti-money laundering (AML), anti-fraud, payment and transaction management solutions, and SWIFT plug-ins to add value to SWIFT connectivity for improved risk protection, transparency and cost controls. What our customers are saying: Through the EastNets en.service Bureau, we were able to be on the SWIFT network and do live-messaging in a matter of a few weeks. EastNets Service Bureau customer Products and Services EastNets SSB offers corporates or financial institutions, either, on SWIFT or considering joining SWIFT, the ability to focus on their core business competencies, while outsourcing their SWIFT connectivity and infrastructure. With the en.service Bureau, organisations can free up their internal resources, cut down costs and offload the risks and liabilities of maintaining and managing their own SWIFT infrastructure to EastNets SWIFT-certified service bureau. Global Market Leadership and Coverage Today, en.service Bureau hosts the SWIFT infrastructure and connectivity of more than 280 corporates and financial institutions worldwide and has over four geographically distributed service bureau locations. The en.service Bureau is audited by SWIFT on a regular basis ensuring that its network and physical environments adheres to SWIFT guidelines and policies. Designed to maintain a high level of security and resiliency, en.service Bureau maintains a live disaster recovery site for each of its prime site locations, ensuring that all services remain available and uninterrupted, at all times. Value-added en.service Bureau Offerings Catering to the needs of small to large institutions, en.service Bureau offers solutions and services that integrate seamlessly with SWIFT including: SWIFT Alliance Application Service (SAAS) Corporates can outsource their SWIFT connectivity and share access to EastNets messaging interface server application, SWIFT Alliance Access (SAA). SAAS customers will use the SWIFT web platform user interface to perform SWIFT messaging tasks. Fully-managed Hosting Solution (FMHS) Corporates can outsource their SWIFT connectivity and host their SWIFT messaging interface servers (SAA/SAE) on the en.service Bureau. en.service Bureau will be responsible for maintaining and managing the hosted messaging interface servers, while performing system health checks and upgrades. Gateway Connectivity Pack (GWCP) Corporates can outsource their SWIFT connectivity to en.service Bureau, minimising the investment required for purchasing and maintaining the mandatory SWIFT connectivity components that are essential for establishing a prime connection to SWIFT. GWCP customers will retain their messaging interface servers (SAA/SAE) at their premises. Disaster Recovery Connectivity Pack (DRCP) The DRCP offering is tailored for customers that have a direct connection to SWIFT but are seeking a disaster recovery solution for better resiliency. Integration services With this service, EastNets offers a cost effective way for automating your business transactions in an outsourced environment, supporting MT FIN messages, FileAct, and new ISO messaging (XML-based). Customers can now model, manage and integrate their payments, trade finance and securities business process flows with SWIFTNet standards on middleware technologies. Anti-money laundering (AML) Recognising the importance of meeting regulatory requirements and fighting money laundering activities, the AML module allows en.service Bureau customers to stop suspicious transactions from taking place in real time. en.service Bureau AML uses en.safewatch Filtering, a SWIFT-certified product, which has been installed in over 350 banks worldwide and has been granted the SWIFTAlliance Plug-in label for its seamless integration with the SWIFT environment. Corona Reconciliation, powered by SmartStream With EastNets partner SmartStream, en.service Bureau users have the option of benefitting from Corona, a fully-managed online service designed to provide small to medium-sized firms with affordable and rapid access to its market-leading reconciliation solution. FIN and XML, traffic monitoring and reporting With EastNets en.reporting plug-in, SWIFT users can benefit from one central view to investigate, monitor and report all their FIN and XML traffic within one environment and receive alerts when events do not occur as planned. Duplicate detection With EastNets en.duplicate Detection plug- in, SWIFT users can save significant time and money by preventing, in real time, duplicate transmission of payments or other FIN messages sent to correspondents. It also prevents duplicate instructions received from correspondents from being executed. Contact information Roy Sudeepto Sales Director - North America 450 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1509 New York, NY, US info@eastnets.com Tel: Website: 27

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31 Expertus Expertus is a Montreal, Canada-based company with expertise in payments and payment solutions for corporate and financial institutions. In addition to being a long-established SWIFT regional partner in North America, the company has been accredited SWIFTReady services since a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 payments, filtering against sanction lists, message transformation, exceptions and investigations (E&Is) and cash management. Expertus is THE expert in payments. From its very debut in 2001, Expertus has been a global leader in payment solutions and has provided financial institutions with targeted software solutions and consulting services that reduce operational costs and risks. Expertus is a dynamic and growing company recognised for its flexibility, innovation, effectiveness and professionalism. It services the North American market with a cost-effective SWIFT service bureau (SSB) with its unique software-as-a-service (SaaS) model for low- and high-value Products and Services Managed by SWIFT experts, Expertus Service Bureau offers SWIFT connectivity as well as added value functionalities, including software-as-a-service (SaaS), payment initiation, E&Is, message filtering, regulatory reporting, message transformation and cash management. Our cloud approach also enables easy integration of our solutions to your enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other systems. Expertus Service Bureau offers a world-class data centre with the highest level of security, scalability and reliability. Monetis Global Payment Solution (MGPS) is Expertus flagship product. It is a fully customisable suite of applications designed to meet the constant evolving business and regulatory requirements for domestic and international payments. Furthermore, it is designed to assist financial institutions and corporations to centralise and consolidate their global payment processes in a modular approach. re-useable platform to deliver services to its customers across multiple channels, whether processing single high value fund transfers or bulk payments. MCPP currently supports all types of low/non urgent and high/urgent payments for both, international and domestic. Furthermore, the treasurers are able to easily track payments and investigations, as well as filtering against sanction list. Being a service oriented flexible product built on Expertus framework, it can be deployed inhouse or in the cloud (SaaS) through Expertus Service Bureau. MGPS is a complete solution that can be deployed step-by-step or module-by-module depending on your short-, mid- and long-term needs. MGPS is offered in SaaS as well as inhouse deployment models. Monetis Corporate Payment Platform (MCPP) is a fully customisable suite of applications designed by Expertus in order to meet the always evolving business and regulatory requirements. It integrates easily to any ERP or back office application, such as SAP and PeopleSoft, along with consolidating view of all banking accounts worldwide. In addition, MCPP allows the continuous processing of both real-time and batch transactions electronic funds transfers (EFT) on a single robust and secure platform. It provides banks with a consistent, reliable and Contact information Charline Juneau 2055 Peel Street, Suite 260 Montreal (QC), Canada H3A 1V4 charline.juneau@expertus.ca Tel: Website: 29

32 enabling true global multibanking Fides the Corporate Service Bureau 320+ corporate clients globally SWIFT Member Concentrator Hybrid SWIFT Service Bureau multiple networks multiple formats broadest reach simplest rollout highest commitment true one-stop-shop

33 Fides Treasury Services Fides is the leading provider of corporate multi-banking services to more than 320 corporate clients in North America, Europe and Asia. Fides has been dedicated to providing multi-banking access to the corporate sector since 1985, connecting and servicing clients through SWIFT and other networks. Our unique hybrid access and member concentrator model, combined with a broad range of conversion, validation and security services provide the true one-stop-shop for global corporate multi-banking. Fides is a member of the Credit Suisse Group, but operates an independent corporate service bureau, connecting the world s market leading a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 corporates to their global banking network and managing integration with the global providers of treasury management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Fides has partnerships with Reval, Wall Street Systems, IT2 Treasury Solutions, e5 Solutions Group and other leading software providers and consultancies. Products and Services The Corporate Service Bureau As every corporate is differently organised and structured, the requirements for the ideal cash management solution vary the same way. At Fides we aim to combine our extensive bank consultancy experience with the right components of our service portfolio to find the ideal solution to meet your requirements. If our existing portfolio should not exactly match your requirements we have a team of specialised programmers and IT infrastructure specialists to develop customised reporting and payment solutions to meet your demands. Turnkey Multi-banking Solutions Fides is driven by the vision to connect corporates with all their banks globally in the one format, through the one channel, following the one security policy of their choice. This means that a corporate can send Fides all its instructions and receive all its statements in the format compatible with its TMS and ERP systems. Fides takes care of conversions to and from the bank formats. Fides consultants will also advise regarding which network best services the client s needs (SWIFT, EBICS, Banklink, host-to-host etc), ensuring the most efficient and cost-effective channel is used. Greater Reach for True Global Multibanking Fides extends the global reach of SWIFT for Corporates (SCORE) with its unique hybrid SWIFT service bureau (SSB) model. Customers can connect with their main banks through their own corporate BIC, hosted at Fides, and to other non-score banks via the classic transaction forwarding model of Fides. This benefits the client by offering faster rollouts, broader reach, simpler access to banks, and greater overall flexibility. Ease of Management of SWIFT for Corporates Fides holds through its membership in the Credit Suisse Group a privileged position within the SSB community by being able to provide the SWIFT member concentrator model. By subscribing to this model, the corporate can benefit from integrated SWIFT invoicing and full outsourcing of bank identifier code (BIC) and service administration. As a member concentrator Fides also assumes responsibility for the corporates SWIFT compliance. Full-service Outsourcing and Valueadded SWIFT Operations With Fides the clients not only outsource the provision of technical connectivity and maintenance to SWIFT and other networks, they also outsource the related banking operations such as: Extensive validation and quality control services. Repairing and/or enrichment services. Extensive security features. Regulatory and fraud risk filtering. Bank relationship management. Undertaking and rollout services. Investigation services. Integrated advisory. Specialised programming for workflow improvements. Customised Solutions Fides offers fully customisable solutions to ensure that clients meet their objective of 100% cash visibility, including statement converters, bank proprietary solutions and a multitude of connectivity options to satisfy the security needs of the client. In addition, and also in conjunction with, to providing solutions for TMS and ERP users, Fides also provides its own middleware solutions to cater for the statement reporting and payments needs of smaller corporates or to integrate Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliant payment authorisation processes into the transaction flow. Contact information sales@fides.ch Tel: Website: 31

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35 GXS GXS provides a wide array of products and services for corporate treasury management including solutions that address SWIFT network connectivity, corporate-to-bank integration, enterprise resource planning (ERP), treasury management system (TMS) integration, payment visibility and invoice automation. GXS corporate treasury solutions enable you to improve global cash visibility and to optimise working capital. GXS delivers solutions that augment and extend business-to-bank (B2Bank) connectivity and integration for corporate treasury organisations and financial services firms. GXS has been providing corporate-tobank connectivity solutions for more than 20 years and counts more than 70% of the Fortune 500 corporations as customers. Products and Services Financial services is one of GXS s fastest growing industry segments as a growing number of commercial banks, insurance firms, payment processors and global custodians seek to enhance the flexibility and agility of their integration capabilities. GXS offers cloud-based services that simplify how corporations connect to their financial institutions and counterparties. With experience in the cash management, commercial finance, group benefits, payment cards and securities trading sectors, GXS typically reduces not only the cost but also the speed and quality of integration projects. Based in Gaithersburg, Maryland, GXS has direct operations in 20 countries, employing more than 2,300 professionals. To learn more, see read our blog at follow us on Twitter at and join us on LinkedIn at company/gxs. Eliminating Barriers in Global Corporate-to-Bank Communication When it comes to the methods you use to exchange and process financial transactions with your banking partners, the SWIFT network is the recognised global standard. Corporate access to the SWIFT network enables your business to reduce the costs, time and resources required to interact with your banking partners. However, for many corporate treasurers, the investment required to link to and maintain a connection with the SWIFT network - both financial and administrative - can be costly, time-consuming and problematic. The GXS SWIFT Service Bureau GXS allows corporations to quickly, easily and cost-effectively gain access to the SWIFT network without taking on the administrative burdens or costs of managing its associated IT infrastructure. As the leading provider of global B2B integration services, GXS delivers a powerful combination of technology, people, and process to provide corporates with a single secure gateway to communicate financial messages such as payment instructions, bank statements, foreign exchange (FX) transactions and securities holdings reports with their worldwide banking partners. With the GXS SSB offering, your organisation can: Simplify complexity Gain a single access point to all of your banking partners and eliminate the need for multiple bank connections. Reduce the risks inherent in cross-border transactions as a result of differences in currency, technology, channels, culture and language. Reduce costs Use the GXS SSB to connect with the SWIFT network, eliminating the need to invest in infrastructure, maintenance and personnel to support your SWIFT messaging needs. Increase flexibility Use multiple SWIFTNet message standards including FIN, InterAct and FileAct depending upon your specific needs. Moreover, GXS provides translation capabilities so your organisation can work with the formats, protocols and standards you prefer while still accessing the value of your SWIFT connection. Augment security and reliability Confidently link with your banks using the same stringent security levels that banks rely on to communicate with each other. Moreover, you ll have one standard, secure method to connect with multiple banking partners. Enhance payments visibility Complete domestic and international financial transactions faster and more accurately by consolidating payments and reporting information to ensure transaction messages are processed, verified and delivered accurately. Reduce errors and processing delays with little or no human intervention. Expand your international reach Achieve secure access to any of the more than 10,000 SWIFT correspondents across more than 200 countries via a trusted, reliable, global network partner. With a global presence in major financial centres around the world including the US, UK, France, Switzerland, Brazil, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Japan, GXS helps you address concerns of doing business globally. Increasing the Value of Your Investment GXS uses a well-documented, proven, implementation and testing methodology designed to help your organisation navigate the increasingly complex web of processes needed for B2Bank connectivity. In addition to offering secure access to the SWIFT network, GXS offers the value-added services that have made us the leading business-to-business (B2B) provider in the world: Network protocol mediation Choose from a wide variety of secure internet protocols. Message transformation Any-to-any transformation services convert messages to and from standard and proprietary application formats. Data enrichment GXS offers aggregation and de-aggregation of data from multiple, disparate sources along with enriching and validating data. Corporate client and bank on-boarding GXS can manage the end-to-end implementation process with our proven seven-phase onboarding methodology. Non-SWIFT connections Establish direct internet-based connections to financial institutions which do not support SWIFT Corporate Access or who prefer a direct connection. Contact information 9711 Washingtonian Blvd, Suite 700 Gaithersburg, MD 20878, US swiftinfo@gxs.com Tel: North America: Europe, Middle East and Africa: +44 (0) Asia-Pacific: Japan: Website: 33

36 SIMPLEXGTP FLEXIBLE. AGILE. GLOBAL. GAIN THE ADVANTAGE The Simplex Global Transaction Platform TM can help your organisation gain the competitive edge in today s challenging marketplace. The demands for increased global transparency and risk visibility, better liquidity management and greater operational efficiencies are all answered by the Simplex GTP. Described as a paradigm shift in the evolution of financial messaging, the Simplex GTP represents the most advanced payments solution in the world, providing premium global transaction services for banks, financial institutions, corporates and the securities industry. To discover how Simplex can deliver measurable competitive advantage to your organisation, visit simplexgtp.com.

37 Simplex From its position as a leading European consultancy for financial services technology and business process re-engineering, Simplex launched the first independent SWIFT service bureau (SSB) in the UK. Building upon this, the company now provides a sophisticated global transaction processing platform based on best-of-breed solutions. Simplex, a founding member of the TWIST corporate standards body, is a trusted global transaction platform provider and is the major whitelabel managed services payments provider to some of the largest global transaction banks. a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 Together with Swiss solutions partner Sterci, Simplex boasts a seamlessly integrated technology application suite with an installed base of over 320 banks, financial institutions and corporate customers in 20 countries with a global reach spanning four continents. Simplex Liquidity Manager (SLM) is the most recent addition to the Global Transaction Platform (GTP) and delivers powerful cash management services to the corporate treasury. It allows the corporate to replace multiple proprietary and legacy bank systems with a single integrated solution, reducing operating costs and enabling a consolidated view of international multi-bank cash positions within a single window. Products and Services The Simplex GTP provides a comprehensive range of managed services to banks, financial institutions, corporates and the securities industry. Unlike other fragmented cloud or hosted offerings in the marketplace, the Simplex GTP provides a seamless integration of managed business solutions, bringing together transactional banking, multi-bank connectivity and full data integration and reconciliation. This consolidated view of data delivers essential market insight, allowing GTP users to optimise working capital and reduce risk. different technology components - delivering a cohesive and comprehensive business solution to the GTP user. This hosted platform architecture ensures full interoperability with legacy and proprietary data, delivering speed of deployment and increased efficiencies to the user without the expense of changing existing Treasury or Enterprise systems. The Simplex GTP is a proven and trusted platform provider, relied upon by some of the world s most demanding corporates and financial institutions. Global Reach Simplex s award-winning solutions allow clients to take control of their liquidity management with a global multi-network solution. The wide reach of GTP delivers international transformation capabilities, such as crossborder single euro payments area (SEPA) Credit Transfer (SCT) and Direct Debit (SDD) functionality, whatever a client s location, network or message format. Processing costs are dramatically reduced through automated reconciliation and exception management. Risk mitigation and regulatory compliance are assured by means of quality data management, business activity monitoring and anti-money laundering (AML) sanctions screening. Unique Benefits The Simplex GTP financial messaging integration model allows clients to manage cash balances, positions and transactions globally. Extending far beyond SWIFT-only services, the Simplex GTP incorporates connectivity to a global network matrix which includes SIC, SECOM, Fedwire, FIX and a raft of other proprietary channels. The extensible ipad deployment model of the Simplex managed platform allows for the smooth integration and harmonisation of Contact information Becket House 36 Old Jewry London EC2R 8DD UK info@simplexgtp.com Tel: +44 (0) Website: 35

38 Tieto SWIFT Service Bureau Multi-banking through a single gateway Tieto

39 Tieto Tieto is the leading IT service company in northern Europe providing IT and product engineering services. Our highly specialised IT solutions and services, complemented by a strong technology platform, provide our local and global customers tangible business benefits. We are a trusted transformation partner and close enough to understand the individual needs of each and every customer. With about 18,000 experts, we aim to become a leading service integrator creating the best service experience in IT. Tieto has a long history in supporting business critical processes with cloud-based shared services. Our customers exchange close to one billion business-to-business (B2B) messages annually using our service, which makes us one of the leading business integration service providers in a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 Europe. We have, together with our customers, received several international awards for our work in electronic invoicing (e-invoicing) and business integration services. Tieto is an active member of many European and global financial cooperation organisations playing a central role in the areas of trade and financial services standardisation and facilitation. We also invest in evaluating and researching the areas of banking standards and corporate connectivity, as well as other industry developments and their future impact on corporations. Products and Services Are you interested in gaining better funds visibility and improving cash and liquidity management? By streamlining your bank connectivity you can - the Tieto SWIFT Service Bureau (SSB) helps corporations reach all their banking partners through a single channel. It is Your Service Your corporation is unique - the way it is organised, to what degree it is centralised, and how the processes and the IT infrastructure have been designed. All of which will have an impact on your level of expectation from a bank connectivity partner. At Tieto, we go the extra mile to understand your circumstances and how our services can be customised to meet your specific needs. If you are looking for increased operational efficiency, better risk management and business continuity assurance or just simply cost savings, Tieto can help you. Multi-banking Through a Single Gateway Tieto SSB is an advanced bank connectivity service that allows corporate customers to globally centralise their bank connectivity. It covers the entire operational bank messaging needs for globally operating businesses - including payments, foreign exchange (FX) confirmations, trade finance and other bank messaging. The service can be flexibly integrated into any corporate business system and includes an interactive browser-based access for example to initiate urgent treasury payments. Corporations with a financial shared service centre (SSC) or harmonised business systems can access the service through a single interface, while those with several business systems can connect using parallel interfaces and multiple message formats. This allows corporations to further simplify their bank connectivity and gain additional benefits, such as improved visibility of all cash positions and improved automation. This leads to better cash and liquidity management, as well as easier regulatory compliance and simpler bank connectivity auditing. A Flexible Solution Whether you are looking for an on- or offpremise integration solution, Tieto will be able to assist you. Depending on preference and IT policy customers can select from a variety of integration options for connecting to the service. The options range from standard connectivity (e.g. SAP integration package for SWIFT) to tailored integration provided by Tieto. In addition to the integration capabilities provided within the Tieto SSB, Tieto will also be able to assist you with on-premise integration. Tieto is a long-term partner of all major enterprise resource planning (ERP) and middleware providers, including SAP, Oracle and Microsoft, and our expertise covers wide range of services including consulting, system integration, application management and infrastructure management. You can easily connect to the service without modifying your business systems. This is enabled by value-added services included in the solution such as message reformatting and data enrichment. The additional benefit is that these services allow flexible and controlled migration to new financial messaging standards such as ISO adopted by the single euro payments area (SEPA). In addition to the integration capabilities, Tieto will also be able to assist you with on-premise integration. Best-in-class In 2011 Tieto SSB received SWIFTReady Connectivity Best Practice label. The label is the highest form of certification awarded by SWIFT and an evidence of adherence to highest operational standards in terms of availability, security, access control and resiliency. Contact information Aku Korhosen tie 2-6 P.O. Box 38. FI Helsinki, Finland Contact: Markus Hautala, Director markus.hautala@tieto.com Tel: Website: 37

40 BBP BBP was founded in 1984 and is a subsidiary of US-headquartered Fundtech, one of the global leaders in financial technology. BBP is headquartered in Baden, Switzerland, with subsidiaries in Geneva, Paris, and London/Nottingham. Since its founding 25 years ago, BBP has specialised in the development and operation of financial messaging solutions. The company has built a reputation as a dependable partner for banks, financial institutions focused on capital markets, corporates of all sizes. corporate customers in over 30 countries trust BBP and Fundtech with its highly secure, reliable and highly available SSB solution. BBP SSB is ISAE 3402 (previously SAS 70 Type II) certified and has achieved the SWIFTReady Connectivity Best Practice label. This is highest SWIFT accreditation for SSBs, and BBP is one of only 10 in the world. In addition, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (SFMSA) audits BBP on a yearly basis. BBP is also a SAP service partner with Special Expertise in SAP and SWIFTNet integration. In 1994 BBP began operating what has become the world s largest SWIFT service bureau (SSB). More than 340 banks, financial institutions and Products and Services SWIFT Service Bureau BBP, through its own SSB, offers both national and international companies rapidly deployable and cost-efficient outsourcing solutions to connect to the SWIFT network. Through the BBP SSB you can take advantage of transmitting the entire range of SWIFT messages and services over the SWIFT network and other services and solutions, without the drawback of having to implement and support your own environment. Comprehensive Implementation Services BBP supports the customer throughout the whole lifecycle of the implementation of SWIFTNet connectivity. The implementation starts with the requirement analysis and definition, followed by the SWIFT registration process. A seamless integration into treasury, cash management and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, IFS, Hanse Orga, IT2, SunGard, Wallstreet Systems, ITS, Coprocess, SimCorp, StepStream, etc) ensures a high degree of automation. Daily Operations Services With the operation of the SSB, BBP offers corporate customers an outsourced solution, which provides direct connection to SWIFTNet. The necessary infrastructure, on which applications are operated in the name of the client, is located in the same premises as the Swiss National Bank interbank clearing systems. The recovery centre (active-active mode), the redundant system of the SSB, is located 32 meters underground at a different location. BBP is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the SSB (including the recovery centre and testing environment). Value-added Services and Solutions In addition, BBP offers value added solutions and complementary services such as: Authorisation module Large and international corporations, in particular, have additional needs for internal control and compliance (e.g. additional controls outside of the operational business units, which are responsible for the treasury and payment process initiation). BBP s optional authorisation module supports these additional control processes and needs. In this module, customers have the possibility to define which transaction types (e.g. MT 101) can be sent to which banks (BIC) and bank accounts. If such a transaction is not compliant to the defined rule, it will be filtered and requests an additional approval (foureyes principle) outside of the operational business unit (e.g. from compliance or internal controlling, etc). Compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) Two modules enable customers to implement the requirements of embargoed and money laundering legislation. Both compare the data to be checked with sanction lists such as Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), World- Check, Info4C, PEP Check and other countryspecific lists. Two modules are available: the transaction filter module checks transactions and requests, and the name matching module checks customer information data. Reconciliation solution In terms of business processes, settlement and reconciliation directly follow the trade initiation and confirmation stages of the transaction chain. Once a trade has been confirmed, it must be settled. The settlement and reconciliation messages relate to one another and identify the main parties involved in sending and receiving messages. Long-term message archive provides a simple and efficient solution for complying with the requirements defined by article 957 et seq of the Swiss Code of Obligations (OR) and the Business Records Ordinance for the storage of business-critical data. Queries against the interbank archive are conveniently and efficiently processed online using the same GUI functionality, which is currently available for the monthly archive. The archive application allows online message retrieval for 10 years and exclusively supports readonly access, the modification of data is not possible. Data conversion, aggregation and mapping services BBP s Transformation Engine is a unique middleware application specifically designed for the financial messaging industry. The conversion engine allows converting proprietary messages into SWIFT and other standard messages and vice versa. Contact information Bäderstrasse 29 CH-5401 Baden Switzerland christoph.stiefel@bbp.ch Tel: Website: 38

41 Fundtech Fundtech was founded in 1993 and is a leading provider of financial technology solutions to banks and corporations of all sizes around the world. Fundtech s SWIFT service bureau is the world s largest, with over 340 financial and multinational corporate clients. a buyer s guide to SWIFT SERVICE BUREAUS 2012 Our service bureau also offers global 24/7 support and is certified by SWIFT, audited by US banking authorities and SAS 70 Level II compliant. Clients choose Fundtech because we are a best-of-breed provider. The SWIFT service bureau (SSB) is one of our core businesses. As such, we partner closely with our clients, providing the expertise they need to implement successfully a secure, reliable and cost-effective SWIFT connection. Products and Services Fundtech s SSB provides all applications and services required to create the most secure and reliable SWIFT connection. It can save your company as much as 70% in up-front capital and ongoing operations costs compared to an in-house solution. Key Features Fully outsourced and managed global SWIFT connectivity service Hosted in the US, UK and Switzerland. A unified, integrated processing architecture FIN, FileAct, Interact, Browse services. Standard SWIFT communications - SAG, SNL, HSM, etc. Experienced service bureau operations Over 340 financial institutions and corporations. Certified by SWIFT More than 10 years of SWIFT experience. Value-add options Compliance filtering (CoFi). Integration to back-office treasury and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Data transformation services. Reconciliation. Archiving. support service. In the US and western Europe, we supply and support customers directly. In South America, Middle East, Asia and eastern Europe, customers are also serviced through a network of resellers. IGTplus: SWIFT-certified interface At the heart of our service bureau is IGTplus, a SWIFT-certified interface used by hundreds of companies around the world to connect with SWIFT s FIN, FileAct, InterAct and Browse services. The solution includes web- and client-based tools that enable anyone at a company s site(s) to easily distribute, receive and manage messages. SWIFT-based standards, such as SWIFTNet 7, and valueadded services, such as OFAC scanning are already built-in, and IGTplus is set-up to work with upcoming ebam requirements. Treasury management system (TMS) and ERP system integration In addition to being able to handle standard SWIFT messages through IGTplus, Fundtech s data transformation technology can translate any non-standard messages or files into specialty formats required by a back-office system or bank, thus enabling straightthrough processing (STP) of all transactions with any back-office system, enhanced cash visibility, payment consolidation and overall better treasury management. SWIFT Expertise and Service Our experienced project management and implementation team has on average 10 years of experience with SWIFT and global banking and treasury operations. This allows us to develop the most cost-effective solution for our clients and provide ongoing support for SWIFT updates, new corporate requirements and review of best practices. Global Customer and Technical Support Fundtech offers a global, 24/7 production Contact information 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA USA communications@fundtech.com Tel: Website: 39

42 Synergy Financial Systems An accredited SWIFT service bureau (SSB) and service partner, we have been operating in the UK, since 1992, and have gained an impressive customer base with an excellent track record for delivering quality services at highly competitive rates. Synergy is expert at providing resilient and secure hosting services to corporate clients and financial institutions. As a subsidiary of Fundtech, we have six worldwide data centres around the world (with options for cross-border resilience), forming the world s largest SSB, supporting 340 corporate and financial organisations in over 30 countries. Products and Services Why Choose Synergy? Synergy has extensive experience in understanding the requirements of chief financial officers (CFOs) and corporate treasurers to integrate the SWIFT connectivity into the organisation s enterprise resource planning (ERP) and treasury management system (TMS). We will advise and assist you in automating the flow of inbound and outbound messages and maximise the return on your investment. Through Synergy s secure and reliable hosted service, your organisation can access SWIFT services, and we will take responsibility for setting up and monitoring complete SWIFT message flows (including communication lines). Our two UK data centres are secure and fully resilient, and provide protection against both external infrastructure problems and potential internal system issues. Your management overhead and operational workload are substantially reduced. Synergy allows you to focus on your business while we focus on the secure SWIFT connectivity. Value-added Bureau Services and Products Browser-based Clarity Suite We have extensive experience in developing world class SWIFT messaging solutions and help corporate treasurers to benefit by using Synergy s web-based SWIFT message management applications, collectively known as Clarity Suite. We are able to offer an organisation comprehensive management of SWIFTNet traffic - message creation, routing, archiving, transformation along with extensive searching and reporting facilities. Clarity Suite provides support for: FIN and MX messages. Sophisticated management information system. Message repository for message investigations. SWIFT traffic reconciliation. Message transformation service enables mapping of data to be changed to SWIFT format. FIN and FileAct services. Corporate workstation. Synergy takes responsibility for the setting up and both day-to-day and annual maintenance of the SWIFT environment. Why Choose a SWIFT Service Bureau? Automation of payments and reconciliation processes bring substantial advantages to corporate treasury teams. A rapidly increasing number of organisations are finding that outsourcing their SWIFT connectivity to Synergy provides all the benefits of SWIFTNet without the overheads and compromises inherent in a direct connection. Outsourcing the hosting of your SWIFT connection to Synergy s SSB will save you money without compromising security, resilience, investment protection or cost. Cash securities and foreign exchange (FX) reconciliation The reconciliation module, delivered as part of the Synergy SSB, automates end-of-day and intra-day cash reconciliations, and helps corporate treasurers to reconcile cash, securities and FX transactions faster and with greater accuracy. Anti-money laundering (AML) A comprehensive AML solution, which automates the checking against sanctions and compliance lists, further enhances the Synergy SSB. CREST and Bank of England (BoE) Synergy offers cost effective and reliable connectivity to the UK CREST system and to the BoE BTender and Enquiry Link Services. Contact information 42 New Broad Street London, UK EC2M 1JD jeremy.goddard@synergy-fs.com richard.bryant@synergy-fs.com Tel: +44 (0) Website: 40

43 Broadridge Financial Solutions Broadridge is a premier global outsourcing provider. Our global SWIFT service is the cost-effective alternative to in-house SWIFT messaging, integration and automation. Our customers benefit from a SWIFT-recognised service provider using SWIFT s own communication solution together with Broadridge s optional value-added message and management solutions, professionally hosted in our highly secure data centres based in Europe and the US. Corporations can now reduce significantly their treasury processing costs and risk by centralising their treasury group s payment and collection activities - both domestically and cross-border - through a single payments service that handles financial message processing for all of their banking relationships. The Broadridge service allows corporations to communicate with any financial institution or corporate organisation on the SWIFT network through a single portal to optimise cash and liquidity management across domestic, regional or global operations. By using Broadridge s service, you will be partnering with an international outsourcing leader to: Increase the operational efficiency of your business while reducing risk through standardised, guaranteed messaging and improved workflow control. Grow your business globally with the highest standards of service and support from a truly international service provider. Minimise your operating costs and your time to market for mandatory market changes. With direct access to the SWIFT network via a user-friendly web-based browser, you don t need any in-house SWIFT expertise or additional software. We can also integrate with your existing treasury management systems (TMS) if you d prefer. Broadridge s service includes the SWIFT Transaction Manager, a web-based workflow and management control function which enables users to monitor the full lifecycle of their messages and create, release and re-route messages in a controlled straight-through processing (STP) environment that minimises exposure to processing errors and delays. Contact information The ISIS Building, 193 Marsh Wall, London E14 9SG, UK info@broadridge.com Tel: +44 (0) Website: exalog Streamline your financial transaction processes with exalog applications As a web-based treasury management system (TMS) provider, exalog proposes a complete single sign-on offer to its customers which includes multi-bank connectivity. exalog s platform connects to all banks worldwide in real time via: exalog s certified SWIFT service bureau (FIN/FileAct). Other channels (EBICS, FTPs). Yearly, it processes over 80 million account statement lines and 70 million financial transactions. exalog s web-based TMS, Allmybanks.net, features all the functions to manage a company s cash flow at a worldwide level: Centralised transaction management (payments and collections). Management of banking authority limits (with the 3SKey digital signature). Cash flow analysis and budgeting. Debt and net cash reports. Accounting reconciliation. Regarding bank connectivity, exalog offers SWIFTNet value-added services: Reception and transfer of all banking formats. Data conversion: from in-house formats into SWIFT, XML or domestic formats. Interfacing with enterprise resource planning (ERPs) systems. Delivery and non-delivery message management (ACK/NACK/PSR). exalog also assists its customers with bank connectivity tests and administrative tasks, such as undertaking and security officer management. Who we are Created in 1984, exalog is specialised in treasury management and electronic banking. It has been a certified SWIFT service bureau (SSB) since More than 10,000 companies with 20,000 users in 47 countries use exalog s applications daily. We provide them with technical assistance from Europe (Paris and Madrid), US (New York City) and Asia (Phnom Penh) in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. We also offer banks white-labelled applications dedicated to their own corporate customers. Contact information contact@exalog.com Tel: US: ; EMEA: Website: 41

44 SWIFT Service Bureaus Directory Allied Engineering Group Verdun - Rashid Karameh Str Assaf Centre - 8th floor PO Box Beirut Lebanon Tel: AnaSys Rautistrasse Zürich Switzerland Tel: Akshay Software Technologies Unit 214, Building 2, Sector-I, Millennium Business Park, Mahape, Navi Mumbai India Tel: Atos Worldline River Ouest 80 Quai Voltaire Bezons France Tel: +33 (0) Axletree Solutions 2 King Arthur Court, Lakeside West, Suite A-1 North Brunswick, NJ US Tel: BankServ 4 Royal Mint Court London EC3N 4HJ UK Tel: Barclays 1 Churchill Place London E14 5HP UK Tel: BBP Bäderstrasse 29 CH-5401 Baden Switzerland Tel: BELLIN Treasury Services Tullastrasse Ettenheim Germany Tel: BNP Paribas 16, Boulevard des Italiens Paris France Tel:

45 Bottomline (SMA Financial) Bramah House, Bermondsey Street London SE13XF UK Tel: IBM (Sterling Commerce) New Orchard Road, Armonk, New York US Tel: Synergy Financial Systems 42 New Broad Street London EC2M 1SB UK Tel: Broadridge Financial Solutions The ISIS Building, 193 Marsh Wall London E14 9SG UK Tel: +44 (0) Decillion Level 13, 59 Goulburn St Sydney 2000 Australia Tel: Diamis River Ouest 80 Quai Voltaire Bezons Cedex France Tel: EastNets 450 Seventh Avenue, Suite 1509 New York, NY US Tel: ECS Financials 50 Main Street Suite 1000 White Plains, NY US Tel: Jason Informatique Lotissement Farandole Pradet (Le) France Tel: Nile Information Technology & Dissemination 117 El Thawra St, Heliopolis Cairo Egypt Tel: Oesterreichische Kontrollbank (OekB) Am Hof 4 and Strauchgasse Wien Austria Tel: Orange Business Belgium Leopold Square Avenue du Bourget Brussels Belgium Tel: Per Holmgren Sweden Tel: TAS Group Via Benedetto Croce Rome Italy Tel: Tieto Aku Korhosen tie 2-6 PO Box 38 FI Helsinki Finland Tel: Wall Street Systems 160 Queen Victoria Street London EC4V 4BF UK Tel: exalog 97, rue de Bellevue Boulogne Billancourt France Tel: EMEA Fides Treasury Services Badenerstrasse 141 CH-8004 Zurich Switzerland Tel: Fundtech 333 Bush Street San Francisco, CA US Tel: GSX 9711 Washingtonian Blvd, Suite 700 Gaithersburg, MD US Tel: RBS 9th Floor 280 Bishopsgate London EC2M 4RB UK Tel: Simplex Becket House 36 Old Jewry London EC2R 8DD UK Tel: Sterci 33, rue des Bains CH 1205 Geneva Switzerland Tel: SunGard Tel:

46 gtnews 3rd floor, Northumberland House Great Portland Street, London, W1W 6QP Telephone: +44 (0)