Finland's Aktia Savings Bank is implementing Oslo-based Commercial Banking Application's (CBA), international payments processing software in an effort to improve internal processes and offset revenue lost from the advent of the Single European Payment Area.
The bank says installation of the Global Payments Factory application from the vendor's Java-based International Banking Automation Solution (IBAS) is already underway and scheduled for completion within the next 6 months.
Janina Grønholm, manager, Aktia Savings Bank, says the single European currency is here to stay and as revenues from payments will inevitably decrease, the bank has to focus on internal processes and find straightforward cost saving solutions.
"We saw quickly that we had to focus on STP for our cross border transactions, initially looking at our operating costs to see how these could be reduced. Next we looked at what options were available to achieve the STP rates we wanted." adds Grønholm.
Aktia will also deploy CBA's trade finance, accounting and general ledger applications, which are due to go live at the end of the year.