The new system brings improved security, controls, regulatory compliance capabilities, and a graphical user interface for the bank's corporate customers. The system went live in December 2006 after an extended period of conversion and testing.

First Tennessee, a subsidiary of First Horizon Corp. (NYSE:FHN), is a $37 billion asset institution with the largest share of the retail and commercial banking market in the state of Tennessee.

"We are very excited about what we can now offer to customers," said Marilyn Hazzle, who manages the wire transfer department at First Tennessee. "We will soon have a customer-facing module that enables our customers to shop for foreign exchange and get live quotes via the Internet. Under the old system, the client would call the bank, and then one of us would contact a trader who would call New York. We would then get back to the customer with a price quote. By that time, the market could have moved in an unfavorable direction. Our new system is much less labor-intensive and will be a real competitive advantage for us."

Tighter compliance, faster reporting speed up customer payments while automation reduces personnel costs

Hazzle also lauded the system's HOTSCAN module, which increases productivity and compliance with anti-money-laundering regulations through automating the scanning and checking of all funds transfers and messages. She said that the system's customized reporting capabilities and timely notification of completed funds transfers give her staff increased control and reduced exposure to counterparty risk.

First Tennessee's international operations department also interfaced its letter of credit and collections system to the HOTSCAN module. This allowed First Tennessee to reduce the technical staff that had been required to maintain multiple OFAC-type databases.

"The live exchange rate process also enabled international operations to eliminate a position that supported 'manual' trading efforts. This improvement went a long way to minimizing costs while giving us the ability to handle a potentially larger number of transactions," said senior vice president Stephanie Russell.

Patty Wiley, assistant manager for international operations, added, "We've been able to greatly simplify our systems. We no longer have to call the wire room to see if a transaction has gone through. Instead, we automatically get a faxed advice and a copy of each wire that has been sent through the Federal Reserve.

"Our customers have been getting paid faster, too, because we are batching our wires every half hour. With the previous system, we could only do three batches a day," she said.

Money-Center Payment and Transfer Technologies Coming for Middle-Market Institutions

Features and functions available to First Tennessee through LogicaCMG payments software includes:

• Advices - auto generation of advices and notifications
• ATR Match - automatic matching of advice to receive and payments
• Auto Payments - auto-generated payments daily, weekly, and monthly for specified accounts
• CBESS - web-based interface that allows corporate users of LogicaCMG's BESS product to initiate domestic and international wires, FX currency trades and international drafts. Users can also review online their account balances and the status of entered transactions.
• Compliance - real-time scanning of payments and messages
• Foreign Exchange Conversion - provides real-time FX rates and contract number
• Funds Check - real-time funds checking of balances and credit lines
• Liquidity Control - manages the Fedwire clearing and Nostro account positions
• Telephone Initiated Payments - secure telephone initiated corporate payments, branch payments, and callback approvals
• Multi-bank - support of multiple bank entities and FTB affiliates
• Accounting Interface - real-time interfaces with bank's accounting systems
• Gateways to Fedwire and SWIFT

LogicaCMG has a lengthy history of leadership in payments and financial messaging. Its clients include 40 of the world's top 50 banks. More than 150 global banks use LogicaCMG systems. But banks of all sizes must meet heightening customer demand for efficient and secure payment mechanisms while responding to increasing pressure from government regulators concerned with fraud and money laundering.

"We are seeing more and more regional and second-tier banks evaluating a technology migration to stay competitive and to comply with regulations in the payments arena," noted Karen Roche, president of LogicaCMG Financial Services in North America. "Our solutions and interfaces are scalable for banks of virtually any size and for any transaction volume.

"We are proud that First Tennessee, with one of America's best track records for customer service and retention, has chosen LogicaCMG for payments. We look forward to working with them for many years to come."