21/09/2011
By Scott Thompson
Misys has announced the results of its third annual Trends in Transaction Banking survey. Taking in the thoughts of more than 120 respondents across 45 countries, the theme of reducing IT complexity and costs remain the dominant concerns of transaction bankers.
Seventy seven per cent of them state that they had started consolidating at least trade finance and cash management businesses to achieve this goal. At the same time, 45 per cent describe their infrastructure as “multiple core processing systems.”
Olivier Berthier, global solutions director, transaction banking, Misys, states: “This is the third survey we have done in this area and each time we have seen an increase in the proportion of banks bringing their cash, trade and payments businesses under one umbrella, across all regions and from banks of all sizes. However, few have actually successfully integrated their online channels, back office operations and payments processing fully. In both the survey and our ongoing exchanges with financial institutions, the need to reduce costs, increase the return on capital, improve customer service, and rely on technology as an enabler, all remain key transaction banking trends this year.”
Other highlights of the survey include: 43 per cent listed “online channel development” as the top transaction banking priority for next year, reflecting the trend towards enhancements of the online delivery of cash management and trade finance in a unified fashion; 34 per cent listed “increasing IT and system complexity” as the major challenge facing their bank’s transaction banking group, followed by 33 per cent who see “increasing regulation” as the major challenge; Demands from corporates to be able to check payment flows manifested in 25 per cent of those surveyed stating “real-time payment tracking” was their top priority in payments.
