By leveraging BizTalk Server and BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT's rich support for SWIFTNet messaging services, TEMENOS T24 can provide a common integration platform for SWIFT customers and enable banks to maintain a cost-effective infrastructure through greater integration, reducing the total cost of ownership. This will be available with version R07 of TEMENOS T24 from April 2007.

BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT extends BizTalk Server to provide comprehensive, reliable, and secure delivery of financial messaging using SWIFT standards, its secure messaging network. This minimises the need for extensive manual checking of data and allows staff to concentrate on tasks more directly, attributable to revenue growth. BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT also makes it easier for customers using legacy systems to connect to SWIFTNet, increasing straight-through processing (STP) and enabling message generation, validation, repair and business activity monitoring.

TEMENOS T24 supports both inbound and outbound SWIFT messages and can be linked directly with a SWIFT gateway if required or via BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT using the TEMENOS T24 adapter. For SWIFT implementations using BizTalk Server, routing all messages from and to TEMENOS T24 via BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT and the TEMENOS T24 adapter creates a common platform for managing all aspects of financial messaging. This enables TEMENOS T24 users to benefit from new SWIFTNet messaging services such as SWIFTNet FileAct and SWIFTNet InterAct, delivering major cost savings, improving business processes and increasing STP and the ability to react to changes in the market.

David Vander, worldwide managing director, banking, Microsoft, says: "This announcement demonstrates how together, TEMENOS and Microsoft are working to help customers get the most out of their core banking systems. It also demonstrates the commitment TEMEMOS has to extending its connection to SWIFT and providing SWIFT customers with a reliable and cost efficient platform on which to do business."

This is the latest development in the partnership between TEMENOS and Microsoft, which the companies first formally announced in June 2005. In June 2006, TEMENOS announced that TEMENOS T24 would support Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005. Today, the system works with key Microsoft products running from the database back-end through to client front-end, providing customers with a greater choice of technologies for running their core banking systems.

TEMENOS T24 is a functionally rich, thin client, scalable, integrated, modular banking system. It is built on open service oriented architecture, and uses established technology standards such as HTTP, XML and HTML. It offers a single client view across the enterprise and can support large numbers of users with true non-stop resilience. Its fully-integrated architecture enables it to offer a significant cost advantage compared to other competing products. It offers multiple application server support and is the only system available with no end-of-day batch processing and so can genuinely boast of providing real-time 24/7 non-stop banking.

Mark Gunning, group strategy director, TEMENOS, adds: "Effective integration has always been a key feature of TEMENOS T24. With this latest development, clients can take full advantage of BizTalk Server’s capabilities in enterprise application integration, while benefiting from BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT's SWIFTReady Gold Financial EAI accreditation. By managing SWIFTNet services, standards and solutions through the same environment, customers can simplify their architecture and reduce total cost of ownership."