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Paul Styles

Paul Styles - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford | 15/03/2012 | 1610 views

Best of breed in payments

There has long been a debate as to whether it is better to run one fully-integrated system or several pieces of 'best-of-breed' software in many areas of application software, and payments is no exception, especially when looking at the corporate front end through to the payment processing engine in the bank’s back office. ‘Best-of-bre... Tags: Payments, Wholesale banking

Paul Styles - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford | 15/02/2012 | 1795 views | 1 comment

Integration mitigation

In an increasingly commoditized payments world, it is no surprise that banks seek to differentiate their payments offering. Technology is usually the key enabler in creating competitive advantage, but soaring IT integration costs can all too easily derail the bank’s efforts. Banks are being squeezed. They are caught in the vice of increasing... Tags: Payments, Wholesale banking

Paul Styles - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford | 03/01/2012 | 1982 views | 2 comments

Happy New SEPA

About a year ago, in my blog ‘On your marks for SEPA’, I commented on the European Commission’s proposals for the setting of end dates for the migration from legacy instruments to SEPA credit transfers and direct debits. I wrote: “At least the whole industry knows that serious planning can now no longer be delayed. We don&rs... Tags: Payments, Wholesale banking

Paul Styles - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford | 24/11/2011 | 3170 views | 2 comments

The Payments Hubbub

There has been much debate and discussion about what banks actually mean when they speak of a ‘payments hub’ and how that might be implemented. What is often overlooked is that the concept of a payments hub (also commonly known as a payment factory) is gaining traction in the corporate world, as companies seek significant gains in finan... Tags: Payments, Wholesale banking

Paul Styles - ACI Worldwide (EMEA) Limited - Watford | 03/11/2011 | 2266 views | 1 comment

Regulations: heads, you win; tails, I lose.

The proposals to update the Mifid directive governing European financial markets is just the latest in a slew of regulatory initiatives to hit the financial services market. The increase in regulatory attention in the financial markets is a global phenomenon, and shows no sign of abating in the foreseeable future. And given the backdrop of the curr... Tags: Payments, Wholesale banking