SunGard has expanded its Swift Service Bureau offering, STN for Swift, by offering corporates simpler access to the payments network under the Member Concentrator model.
The Member Concentrator option relieves corporate customers of the administrative burdens of managing their own Swift relationship. This includes assistance in the application process, ordering of Swift products and services on their behalf, managing invoices, administering the account, helping with basic service requests and providing an existing communication channel.
Ken Dummitt, president of SunGard's corporates and treasury business, explains: "Many organisations realize that managing a SwiftNet connection is not one of their core competencies, and that it is a function that is often better managed by a services and technology provider such as SunGard. Having operated as a Swift Service Bureau for five years, we can deliver that connectivity, managing the day-to-day operation of their Swift connection. As a Member Concentrator with proven domain expertise, we are then providing the infrastructure and handling the administration of the Swift relationship."
Rodger McKechnie, senior marketing manager at Swift, describes SunGard's support of the Member Concentrator programme as "a welcome contribution in the corporate space".
The Member Concentrator concept was first introduced in June 2005 as a means to ease the burden for smaller organisations requiring occassional access to the network.
Speaking in the Swift auditorium at Sibos yesterday, Fortis Bank explained its plans to offer a Member Concentrator service under a service burea programme powered by Atos Euronext Market Solutions.