March 2008 edition
Editorial by Marcel Schuler, Head of Banking Products & Support, Credit Suisse
"TARGET2 continues to be developed autonomously"
The new single shared platform of the European central banks for euro payments has been operating since the fall of last year. The migration process to TARGET2 is under way and should be complete with the connection of the six remaining EU systems in May 2008. Dieter Becker, TARGET2 Project Manager at the European Central Bank, sums up the past and looks ahead in our interview.
SEPA’s smooth start
Above 4,000 financial institutions have the technology to process customer payments in euros according to the new Single Euro Payments Area rules. The SEPA Credit Transfer Scheme was also launched successfully in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
The hidden processing savings SEPA may deliver
The costs of SEPA implementation have been variously estimated by consultants and research organisations at between EUR 8 to 13 billion. Without a clear business case SEPA is perceived by many banks as a mandated change which delivers little to the bottom line. The good news is that savings of more than EUR 11 billion will be expected.
Remittances – A payment service with lots of potential
Around 200 million immigrants transfer more than USD 250 billion worldwide per year to their families in their home countries. Switzerland is the third largest sender country for these remittance payments. In order to increase the efficiency of processing these cross-border transactions, the SWIFT Workers’ Remittances Advisory Group has developed a new set of rules.
UNIFI – The payment traffic standard of the future
The new international payment traffic standard increasingly gains significance with the SEPA introduction. A working group of the Payments Committee Switzerland is developing recommendations for the Swiss financial market based on UNIFI, to be completed by the end of 2008.
New message type for cover payments
International pressure to provide more transparency, particularly in payment traffic, is continually increasing. Currently, the question being discussed worldwide is how banking transactions based on cover payments can be processed without financial institutions being suspected of money laundering and financing terrorism.
December 2007 edition
Editorial by Othmar Fritschi, Raiffeisen Switzerland
“SEPA guidelines must be implemented!”
For decades, UBS Director Joerg Auer has helped shape the Swiss payment traffic landscape. His messages are heard. Shortly before his retirement, ClearIT had the opportunity to talk with Joerg Auer about the national and international challenges facing the industry over the next years.
Single Euro Payments Area – Registration process is launched
At the end of September 2007, the European Payments Council (EPC) formally decided to accept the Swiss financial center into the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The first Swiss banks have already signed the adherence agreement.
EBA bets on SEPA
Starting at the end of January 2008, banks can offer their customers SEPA-compliant transfers – provided they are connected to a clearing house processing SEPA payments that can reach banks anywhere in Europe. In its responsibility as operator of the pan-European clearing house STEP2, EBA CLEARING has readied itself for the SEPA reality.
Swiss payment traffic is highly efficient
According to McKinsey Management Consulting, the payment traffic sector in Switzerland is exceptionally economical in comparison with the rest of Europe. Industry costs, approximately 9% of all banking sector costs, make up a modest 0.6% of the gross national product. A vast portion of the productivity gained in this way is passed on to the end user.
Incentive measures to support introduction of the IBAN
With its acceptance of the Swiss STP resolution, the Swiss Payments Council (SPC) has introduced measures to support introduction of the use of IBAN for national and international payment traffic, starting on January 1, 2010.
SWIFT’s strategic re-architecture
This last September, SWIFT approved plans to move to a multi-zonal messaging architecture. A new operating center to be located in Switzerland figures among the first deliverables.
SWX, SIS and Telekurs under one roof
Six months ago, the merger of the three organizations was announced. The structure, the staffing of the board, and the group management of the new "Swiss Financial Market Services" group of companies was made public in September.
September 2007 edition
Editorial by Martin Frick, CEO Swiss Interbank Clearing
Monetary policy is only feasible with a powerful payment system
100 years of Swiss National Bank and 20 years of SIC system: Professor Dr. Thomas Jordan, Member of the National Bank's Governing Board, examines – among other topics – the role of the Bank in (electronic) payment traffic, the influence of the Swiss Value Chain, and the significance of the planned financial market infrastructure holding for monetary policy.
Paying e-bills is getting easier yet
The Zurich Kantonalbank is increasing the attractiveness of the electronic payment traffic by enhancing the e-bill function in e-banking.
Prepared for an emergency
Even after a serious incident, Swiss Interbank Clearing’s SIC system can resume processing within a timeframe of two hours without loss of any data relating to confirmed transactions. Thus the central objective set up by the “Business Continuity Planning in the Swiss Financial Centre“ report of February 2006 is achieved.
TARGET2: Targeting start of operation
TARGET2 is anticipating its productive launch: In November 2007, the first banks – among them the 160 euroSIC participants – will be able to start using the new generation TARGET for their euro payment processing.
Legal certainty increased for SWIFT data
SWIFT’s forwarding of client data during the past year to the US authorities in connection with the fight against terrorism has awakened doubts in Switzerland concerning client data confidentiality. SWIFT has reacted to the issue with a variety of measures.
June 2007 edition
A year of anniversaries and changes in the payment traffic industry – Editorial by André Bamat, CEO Swiss Interbank Clearing
We will meet the SEPA demands and requirements
Interview with Roland Böff, CEO-designate of SECB Swiss Euro Clearing Bank, the euroSIC system manager.
20 years SIC – with a licence to clear
Today, SIC is the center of a complex technical and organizational environment. The correct functioning of SIC is absolutely crucial for the Swiss financial center and the implementation of monetary policy.
Single Euro Payments Area – the Swiss financial center is getting ready
In April, the European authorities added the final legislative touches to the Europe-wide implementation of the SEPA by passing the Payment Services Directive (PSD). This makes the vision of a single euro payments area more attainable. Preparations are running at full speed in Switzerland, too.
"Catch as Cash Can"
Banknotes and coins are still the most popular means of payment in Switzerland. For one hundred years, the right to put Swiss banknotes into circulation has been reserved for the Swiss National Bank. It supplies the economy with high-quality bills that meet even the most stringent security requirements. Currently, the preparations for a new banknote series for Switzerland are running in high gear.
Follow the Sun: Cash Management at UBS
Those responsible for a bank’s global cash management must be capable of summarizing all information comprehensively and in real time. That is the only way capital investments of any kind can be properly managed, market opportunities can be taken advantage of and risks can be limited. A UBS case study.
Internet threats – finally under control?
The new version of the Swiss telecommunication law came into effect in April 2007. Whether the new regulation proves effective in practice, or not, remains to be seen. The fact is that there seem to be no limits to the web-criminals’ inventive talents and the number of Internet attacks increases continually.
March 2007 edition
Are you ready for the SEPA? – Editorial by Stephan Zimmermann, Member of the Group Managing Board at UBS and Chairman of the Telekurs Group Board of Directors.
The countdown has begun. When you visit the European Payments Council website, you can see in how many weeks the Single Euro Payments Area will become reality and count along.
We’re all in the same boat
According to Gerard Hartsink, Chairman of the European Payments Council, this single euro payments area vision can only be achieved through active collaboration between all stakeholders on the European and on the national level of the EU-27 member states.
More euroSIC services
150 financial institutions rely upon euroSIC for their euro payment traffic. Its participants and the entire Swiss financial center are benefiting from new opportunities thanks to the SEPA and the planned linkages with TARGET2 and the EBA (Euro Banking Association) euro systems.
Tour d’horizon through the expanded EU
With Bulgaria and Romania joining the European Union on January 1, 2007, the EU now has 27 member countries. The time of their participation in the EU/EEA is just as unpredictable as it is for Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary. At the beginning of the year, the first of the countries joining since 2004 to introduce the euro is Slovenia.
Global Payments Strategies 2007
This year, the annual Global Payment Strategies conference of the Global Payments Forums took place on January 22 and 23 in Monte Carlo. The common thread running thought all presentations and contributions was the question: How does the payment traffic industry deal with the increasing pressure in the areas of pricing, quality and innovation within an increasingly regulated environment?
LSV+/BDD – First operational banking experiences
By November 1, 2006 the one-year migration phase of the Swiss banks’ direct debit procedure to the new LSV+ and BDD products was successfully completed. Credit Suisse takes stock.
December 2006 edition
Editorial by Jürg Bucher, Head of PostFinance
From classic correspondent to integrated relationship banking
Four years ago, the world's major financial institutions published anti-money laundering principles to combat money laundering in the correspondent bank business. What is fundamental is the "know your customer" principle, which is intended to prevent crime, corruption and the financing of terrorism. ClearIT spoke with Martin Steinbach, Head of Global Services at UBS, about the implementation of these principles in practice as well as about the future of correspondent banking in general.
SEPA implementation in the works
After the meeting of the Swiss Payments Council (SPC) in March 2006, The Payments Committee Switzerland was assigned to look into the topic of Switzerland’s integration into the single euro payments area (SEPA).
Successful start for the IBAN migration
The migration of approximately 30 million master data with proprietary Swiss bank account numbers into the worldwide IBAN standard has successfully started thanks to the IBAN tool, the conversion software available online since 2006. First experiences show that the success rate is 85%.
New push for the Swiss red payment slip
The Swiss financial institutions support the exclusive use of the IBAN for the national payment traffic. As their first important measure within the standardization efforts, they are distributing the red payment slip exclusively with the imprinted IBAN.
Mobile business – a challenge for payment traffic?
The cell phone is increasingly advancing to become the jack-of-all-trades of the IT era, the constant companion both in our business and private lives. Experts discussed the future of the mobile phone in payment traffic at the "Mobile Business Forum" in Berne.
SIC/euroSIC security infrastructure renewal
What applied 20 years ago to the development and starting of the SIC systems operation, today is more crucial than ever for all systemically relevant finance market infrastructures in Switzerland: Security at the highest level possible. The fast-paced IT development requires continual adaptation – and IBASEC, the interbank security system is no exception.
Sibos – and the Swiss financial center
"Raising Ambitions“ was this years Sibos’ motto. 5,000 financial services industry experts exchanged information and opinions on the latest trends at the 5-day SWIFT event in Sydney. The participation of many Swiss banks and the representation of the Swiss Value Chain prove that the Swiss financial center attaches great importance to this fair.
Good, better, ClearIT
The response to our ClearIT reader survey was overwhelming. The 20% return rate exceeds all expectations. And the good grades garnered speak for themselves.
