Norges Bank, the Central Bank of Norway, has signed a contract worth EUR3.5 million with Italy's Società Interbancaria per l'Automazione (SIA) for the supply and implementation of a real time gross settlement (RTGS) system.
SIA says its RTGS technology will replace the bank's internally developed payment settlement system with a second generation application that conforms to international best practices.
The new system will also be linked to the Scandinavian Cash Pool (SCP), where the cross-currencies liquidity among Norway, Sweden and Denmark is managed.
Under the deal SIA will also provide the bank on-going maintenance and support for the RTGS system for next six years.
The system uses technology developed by SIA-controlled subsidiary Perago of South Africa. SIA acquired a majority interest in Perago last year, a month after the two firms scooped a contract to develop a new RTGS system for Sweden's Riksbank.
Roll out of the Norwegian platform is scheduled to start this month and will be completed in February 2008.