The new software enabled DBS Bank to create a single file transfer platform, the DBS Secured Gateway that provides automated cash management services to corporate customers and accelerates new customer onboarding for the bank.

DBS needed to consolidate its multiple centres of file transfer activity to a single platform and achieve seamless integration of back office systems for both inbound and outbound channels. With its wide range of communication protocols and dynamic, flexible data transmission service, Sterling MFT enabled DBS to build a flexible, reliable and secure platform that allows corporate customers to enjoy more flexible, seamless and automated straight-through processing cash-management services. The Sterling Commerce solution also has reduced corporate risk and increased security by delivering a high level of data integrity and confidentiality.

Real-time self-service visibility provided by Sterling MFT allows corporate customers to check the status of their payment files, as well as sign up for automatic notifications and alerts. The improved visibility into file transfer traffic increases customer service by providing DBS with the information it needs to quickly deal with exceptions, monitor file movements and alert customers of potential problems. Additional benefits also include audit trails to assist the bank in meeting its compliance and regulatory reporting obligations.

"Our new capabilities ensure that DBS' corporate customers are empowered with new services and options that give them greater control, while providing us with a higher level of channel visibility," said Felix Chan, senior vice president, Global Transaction Services, DBS Bank.

DBS Bank has become more competitive by increasing the speed of customer onboarding, allowing the delivery of its services and products to more customers over five months than it had over the previous year. In fact, within the first year of implementing Sterling MFT, DBS realised a nearly 60 perrly 60 percent increase in the speed of onboarding customers with the solution, in addition to providing better services and to its corporate clients.

"DBS sought to lower the total cost of ownership of its technology platform," said Jim Gahagan, global financial services industry executive at Sterling Commerce. "By increasing its organisational efficiency, the bank has lowered operating costs while simultaneously improving its customers' experience. It was also able to accelerate the revenue from those customers as they are onboarded to the bank more quickly. Sterling Commerce is especially pleased that the technology has helped the bank acquire more customers and remain competitive, and we look forward to an ongoing successful partnership with DBS."

Moving forward, DBS has plans to extend its current file transfer services to online messaging services, and to serve other business units such as consumer banking.

Separately, Sterling Commerce announced that KBC GROUP NV, a leading European bancassurance group, has implemented Sterling Managed File Transfer (MFT), the market-leading solution for secure data movement, to establish a KBC communication standard for file transfer.

KBC is an integrated bancassurance group catering to mainly retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and midcap clientele. Over the past few years, KBC has grown through acquisitions across Central Europe, and at the end of 2009, announced plans to focus on its core bancassurance expertise, offering customers both banking and insurance products through its sales channel in Belgium and the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Bulgaria. KBC was looking for a robust MFT solution on which it could standardise its group-wide File transfer needs and provide a framework that enables its partners to perform file transfers in a cost efficient way. Following a vendor selection process, KBC appointed Sterling Commerce for its robust MFT solution, to standardise operations throughout the business by accommodating and integrating requirements of central European partners and support the transfer of amongst others bank and insurance orders, invoice and payment files.

Sterling MFT provides centralised management over what was previously a complex architecture of legacy software, patches and intra-system traffic. The solution supports the company's full range of data movement operations, from KBC's Group-wide file transfers, including orders, payments and personnel data, through to distributing software and handling file exchange across the back-end processes residing on over a thousand servers. The system handles over one terabyte of data, and 100,000 files per day.

"We chose Sterling Commerce to deliver a key MFT solution to support critical business areas and communications across KBC," said Tom Verbruggen, ICT senior team leader, KBC. "Sterling MFT has provided a way for us to create a framework that protects and controls the movement of files across the whole group. This provides a solid IT foundation on which to build out our business strategy."

"KBC is demonstrating how a carefully thought out business strategy aligned with an intelligent IT strategy can drive significant competitive advantage," said Jim Gahagan, global financial services industry executive at Sterling Commerce. "This deployment also acts as a reminder of how IT often lies at the heart of a company's drive to deliver the best value to its customers, employees and other stakeholders."