Fundtech aims to make bureau offerings cheaper
Transaction banking specialist vendor Fundtech has released a new financial messaging platform called Global Messaging Plus, which it said would make service bureau offerings such as software as a service more attractive to tier one and two banks.
The core purpose of the new technology is to make processing transactions cheaper, faster and more precise. Fundtech said customers would be able to decommission systems and warehouses and reduce the number of mainframes, resulting in substantial cost savings. The firm is also marketing the platform on its ability to reduce risk and costs associated with onboarding through higher levels of STP.
“We are rolling this out to six data centres so that customers don’t need to worry about maintenance, connectivity and hiring expert IT staff,” said Per Trifunovic, chief executive of Fundtech’s BBP business. “In the past, tier one and tier two banks would find it hard to trust a service bureau, but that is starting to change. They are recognising the tremendous synergies and cost savings it can bring.”
The platform also serves as a gateway for Fundtech’s compliance filter application, Global Compliance Plus, as well as its Swift File Flow and Swift fund applications. These help banks check messages against embargo lists. The application is included as part of Fundtech’s service bureau offering or as an in-house application for the firm’s global payments and cash management customers.
Financial institutions have faced mounting cost pressure in recent years, as tough new regulations such as Dodd-Frank in the US, the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive Review in Europe and Basel III globally force firms to cut headcount and costs, exit some business lines and increase efficiency wherever possible.
Meanwhile, severe fines for failures such as AML and sanctions breaches have also encouraged a more robust approach at operational risk.
