Newsletter 2013-01 (PDF) - PostFinance

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1 March 2013 Payment transactions in transition The Swiss financial centre is harmonising payment transactions. PostFinance is working alongside banks on the future of Swiss payment transactions. Switzerland currently has two independent payment systems that are closely linked and allow smooth payment transactions: the PostFinance system and the Swiss Interbank Clearing (SIC) system. Until now, Switzerland’s high-quality dual system consisted of over ten standards and formats and seven different types of slip. As a result of increasing national and international regulatory requirements, these different standards and formats will no longer be developed in the long term. Instead, the aim is to achieve harmonisation. Harmonisation for transfers, debits and inpayment slips The areas of credit transfers, payment slips and direct debits were analysed in a study to explore the possibilities for harmonisation and alignment with European standards. The Swiss financial centre came to the conclusion that the Swiss transfer schemes should be The migration of payment transactions in Switzerland will form the basis for streamlined, uniform and cost-effective payment transaction processes. Imprint harmonised and substantially aligned to meet European standards. The area of direct debits, which currently consists of five schemes, will also be consolidated and aligned to SEPA standards. As far as inpayment slips are concerned, the existing documents will be combined and optimised. A new uniform slip will incorporate all the current advantages alongside additional functions such as the use of QR codes. Fewer errors thanks to the QR code Use of the QR code leads to a higher degree of automation during processing and an increase in the Straight Through Processing Rate (STP). There are many advantages to the QR code, not only for financial institutions but also for invoice issuers and payers. Harmonisation of Swiss payment transactions will form the basis for streamlined, uniform and cost-effective processes. “News from PostFinance for financial institutions”, Edition 1 / 2013 Publisher: Swiss Post, PostFinance International Payments Nordring 8, CH-3030 Berne postfinance.ch / banks News from PostFinance The QR code is gaining acceptance The square matrix made up of black and white dots was developed in 1994 by the Japanese software company Denso Wave and was initially used in logistics by automobile manufacturers. Now the QR code is gaining acceptance – mostly thanks to applications on smart-phones. Its uses range from downloading software to accessing websites and identifying products. QR stands for Quick Response. Special markings in three of the four corners show which way up it goes. The number of points contained in the matrix is between 11 times 11 and 177 times 177. When scanned, this QR code takes you to migration-pt.ch to find out more about slip migration in Switzerland. Edited by: Dominik Hölz, Relationship Manager Layout: PostFinance, Communications, Public Relations 4
1 March 2013 News from PostFinance Outsourcing: Positive experience for banks The Glarner and Freiburger Kantonalbank have outsourced logistics and payment transactions to specialised units within Swiss Post. What has long been standard practice in industry is increasingly becoming applicable in the financial sector too. Parts of the value added chain that are not within banks’ own core competency are outsourced to specialists. This generates new cooperation and business models. According to many analyses and surveys, payment transaction processing is highly suited to outsourcing. Payment transactions in Switzerland are extremely standardised and the high transaction volumes allow considerable economies of scale. In addition to UBS and the Freiburger Kantonalbank, which have outsourced slip-related payment transactions to PostFinance, Banque CIC,the Glarner and Tessiner Kantonalbank now entrust PostFinance with all their payment transaction processes. Investments quickly amortised “By outsourcing payment transactions we have been able to save approxi- mately 30 percent of our costs on a long-term basis,” declared Martin Dürst, Head of Finance and Logistics at the Glarner Kantonalbank (GLKB). Jean- Pierre Bruegger, Head of Payment Transactions at the Freiburger Kantonalbank (FKB) explained, “We chose to work with Swiss Post because it has intersectoral experience – and can take on overall logistics.” PostFinance has been carrying out payment transactions for the Glarner Kantonalbank since 2007. The manage- ment was surprised by the high cost savings and rapid investment payback of less than two years. The bank managed to keep within its budget for the project. Maintaining customer contact Glarner bankers did not have to give up their closeness to local customers on account of outsourcing. There is no direct customer contact involved in processing payment transaction documents. “Our customers do not even Your relationship managers at PostFinance realise that their documents are sent directly to PostFinance”, commented Martin Dürst. “As much automation as possible” For the Freiburger Kantonalbank, the aim of working with Swiss Post specialists was not merely to replace its existing IT system. The bank was much more interested in achieving “as much automation as possible and gradually outsourcing optimised processes”, as described by Jean-Pierre Bruegger. Swiss Post Solutions has been responsible for printing and dispatch for the FKB for ten years already. It also took over scanning in 2010. PostFinance now takes care of document-based payment transactions for the Freiburger Kantonalbank. The FKB’s initial doubts about data security and banking confidentiality were dispelled to the bank’s entire satisfaction. As usual, you can reach your personal contact via the contact details shown below. We look forward to hearing from you! Thomas Hadorn Head of Relations and Networks thomas.hadorn@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 53 80 Marianne Zentriegen Germany, Austria marianne.zentriegen@ postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 25 23 Hye-Sook Jeon Great Britain, Asia Pacific, North America hye-sook.jeon@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 28 59 Nuno Domingos France, Portugal, Spain, Central and South America nuno.domingos@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 07 02 Corinne Heiniger Italy corinne.heiniger@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 85 92 Dominik Hölz Scandinavia, Benelux, Baltic Countries, Russian Federation dominik.hoelz@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 02 87 Bang Fernandez Nguyen Africa, Eastern Europe bang.fernandez@postfinance.ch Phone +41 58 338 59 68 5
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