Wednesday, 3 October 2007

SAP Streamlines Corporate-to-Bank Communications

SAP AG has introduced SAP Integration Package for SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication)—a standardized software solution that enables SAP ERP to communicate directly with SWIFTNet, the IP based messaging platform connecting some 8,100 financial institutions in 208 countries and territories.

This solution, which is part of the second enhancement package for SAP ERP and available at the end of 2007, hopes to accelerate the adoption of electronic payments and reduce the cost of connectivity between a corporation’s financial management systems and its banks.

SAP Integration Package for SWIFT immediately solves the challenge faced by many multinational corporations that exchange electronic information with banks in different countries and continents. On average, corporations must maintain as many as 10 separate proprietary electronic bank integrations to transfer financial information between their banks and the company’s financial applications. These systems may use widely different protocols and data formats, which often results in an overwhelming amount of system complexity and maintenance requirements that drive up the costs of electronic banking for corporations.

SAP has created a unified offering that combines multiple, non-standard bank integrations into a single, standards-based access point for managing a company’s electronic communications with its multiple banks. This comprehensive corporate-to-bank connectivity can help companies streamline payment flows, gain real-time visibility into global cash positions, strengthen regional compliance and provide highly secure financial transactions, all with greatly reduced costs.

“This will help corporations gain better visibility into their funds, reduce complexity and increase straight through processing. SAP Integration Package for SWIFT is a major catalyst in accelerating the adoption of SWIFTNet by corporations. We look forward to continuing success with SAP,” said Luc Meurant, head of Corporate Access Programme of SWIFT.

Banks will benefit from this standardized framework as well. Fewer proprietary integrations result in lower IT maintenance costs for banks, at the same time, banks can offer more sophisticated value-added services for their customers and cross-sell additional services, increasing their wallet share with corporate customers.

Currently some 3,400 customers are leveraging the latest version of SAP ERP.