Microsoft Perspectives on Payments and Core Banking in Financial Services

With only a few days to go to Sibos Toronto, today I would like to introduce you to another of Microsoft’s Sibos stand partners. Cloud Trading Technologies is an incredibly innovative financial services partner with a focus on Electronic Trading...

As the countdown to Sibos Toronto continues, today I would like to introduce you to one of Microsoft’s Sibos stand partners. ProfitStars is part of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. and is a long standing financial services partner with a focus...

Last week I had the privilege to attend and speak at the Temenos Community Forum in Barcelona. Over the years this has expanded from being a customer-only event to also include prospects, partners, press and analysts. The Temenos team always organizes...

With only about six weeks to go before the doors of Sibos 2012 open in Osaka, Japan - I thought I'd take this opportunity to give a brief overview of Microsoft's presence there. As a SWIFT Key Partner we've been an exhibitor at Sibos for 9 years now,...

More and more I hear our customers and partners around the world asking for a Microsoft view on how to best leverage technology to transform banking. Banks are faced with complex decisions to modernize core infrastructure, increase employee productivity...

Closing the Door on Data Privacy? After 3 some three years, the EU Parliament has approved the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program ( TFTP ) which outlined the rules for investigation into suspicious payments that may have been exchanged between banks...

In my recent posts you’ll have noticed a recurring theme of moving from batch to real-time systems. Flying back from the NACHA payments conference last week I was thinking over the future of payments services, or products. Payments are being seen...

In the United States, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ( FinCEN ) was established in 1990 and is, in general terms, charged with implementing measure to prevent misuse of financial systems for criminal activities. With specific regard to payments...

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have some passion for integration technology when applied particularly to payments. However, fixing the plumbing is just one part of the challenge that banks face, another is understanding just what exactly...

It’s not quite so fashionable to talk about SEPA these days. After all – aren’t we all wishing the rules and solutions were are all defined and implemented? But there’s still a fundamental challenge that banks (and corporate treasuries...

Core banking system replacement is arguably one of the most challenging technology projects in banking today. I often liken core operations to the engine room of a ship: it's an area that hums away in the background, needs regular care and maintenance...

This week RBS found the spotlight in an unenviable way when it was fined GBP 5.6M by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) for insufficient controls over payments screening processes. According to news articles, the list of transgressions include a breakdown...

This last month I talked to a few analysts about the market direction of core banking modernization, and I was pleased to hear that these initiatives continue to advance. Of course, not all banks are willing to give up their legacy systems as part of...

Hello and welcome from Microsoft’s worldwide financial services group. In this blog, I will share my thoughts and insights into the payments industry, and the challenges banks face in renewing their core platforms. Many people ask me, “why the interest...

The topic of payments system integration has in the past usually dwelled on topics such as real time or batch requirements, message queue interfaces and of course, support for payment standards. All these of course are very important in any payments integration...

Last month I had a whirlwind tour of 3 cities in India in 5 days, and had the privilege to visit several major financial institutions to talk about payments. It's a fascinating country, ranked second to China in population with over 1.1 billion people...

Living in the Chicago area, I've spent my fair share of time in traffic congestion trying to get to the airport. (Anyone familiar with Chicago ORD will also know that finding a plane that leaves on time is another challenge - but that's a different story...

There are two areas of corporate payments innovation that I expect to receive more attention at Sibos this year. First is e-invoicing, a process that is gaining considerable momentum as companies seek to further digitize the financial supply chain. The...

Core banking and payments are often considered separate operational areas. Although I have been a big proponent of banks treating payments as a business (not just a cost center), this practice has perhaps created a bigger disconnect between payments and...

Picking up on my recent threads about mobile payments as a form factor ( NFC Payments - Build It and They Will Come? ), and with the current state of market buzz around mobile and alternative payments, I am certainly a strong proponent for advancing innovative...

I just returned from my annual trip to visit partners and customers in India. In one year I could see quite a difference in the infrastructure developments, but also how the pace has picked up in developing new banking services. The economy is expanding...

Payments processing has always demanded a high performance, and highly resiliant platfrom. This is true of Fedwire and other RTGS systems, national ACH systems, and card transaction platforms alike. As the first of these systems was implemented in the...

As a slight diversion from my normal blog topics, I'd like to take this opportunity to briefly introduce you to one of my colleagues and his new Microsoft blog for capital markets. Rupesh Khendry is Microsoft's head of capital markets solutions focus...

This week I’ve been talking with a couple of our partners that offer reconciliations solutions. Typically reconciliation products are defined and marketed as GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) solutions. Of course this makes sense due to the...

Having blogged last week about the replacement of a custom mainframe banking solution with a vendor mainframe banking solution at Citi, this week I’m turning to an organization taking an entirely different track. Currently under the shadow of the ash...