The trend among large regional and global banks to consolidate their product management and development activities in payments, cash management and trade finance into a central global transaction banking group shows no sign of slacking off. A huge majority of those polled, 77%, claim to have 'created a transaction banking group combining, at a minimum, cash management and trade finance'.

A full 34% of those cite 'increasing IT and system complexity' as the major challenge facing their bank's transaction banking group, while 33% view 'increasing regulation' as their over-riding concern.

A move towards the creation of centralised payment hubs was evident, with 45% of respondents describing their own infrastructure as consisting of 'multiple core processing systems'. Reflecting this, a top priority for 35% of banks was the introduction of a 'simplified process for making changes to payments standards and rules across all systems'.

From a strategic perspective, the addition off new products and services was billed as a big issue for banks managing their transaction and cash management business over the next three years - gathering 26% of the votes.

In the more immediate term, 43% of all those surveyed listed 'online channel development' as their biggest priority over the course of the next year. This reflects ongoing industry trends towards enhancements of the online delivery of cash management and trade finance in a unified fashion.

Delegates attending the interbank Sibos conference in Toronto can pick up a copy of the full report at the Finextra stand J102 and the Misys stand B117. Alternatively, download direct from the Web at Transaction Banking 2011.