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IBS Journal September 2015


Revamped ITS plans worldwide expansion in 2017, grows partner network to fuel ambitions


Kuwait-based International Turnkey Systems (ITS), a subsidiary of the Kuwait Finance House (KFH) group, is implement- ing a strategy of global expansion, to be realised in 2017. There has been a revamp at the


ITS helm over the last year or so, with a completely new board and a new group CEO, Nasr Albikawi. The ‘turnaround’ pro- gramme, instigated by ITS in spring 2013 continues, says Albikawi, but ‘with signifi- cant enhancements’. A dedicated channels department has been set up to deal with the partner- ship side, as there are far-reaching plans to create a worldwide network of resellers, distributors, integrators, turnkey service providers, support and other value-added service providers. ‘We are currently going to market directly, but it would be impossible to scale up everywhere relying on our own resources,’ Albikawi notes. ITS’s focus is on two main areas – soft-


ware development and services – and intends to build a partner ecosystem around these. The details are being devised at present, including the levels of partner- ships, training programmes and so on. The vendor’s flagship banking software


offering, Ethix, focuses on Islamic bank- ing, and this is the industry that Albikawi is confident will grow exponentially around


in North America and the Caribbean. Ethix stems from the Phoenix system


developed by US-based Harland Financial Solutions (now D+H Corporation). ITS owns the rights to Ethix, and Albikawi describes it as ‘a more sophisticated and developed version’ of its predecessor. ITS supports long-standing Phoenix


Nasr Albikawi, ITS


the world. ‘We feel there is a worldwide demand in Shari’ah-compliant financing, from Canada and the US to Japan.’ The vendor already has established rela- tionships with companies outside its MENA stronghold, such as with D+H Corporation


clients in Africa, such as Bank Windhoek in Namibia, Bank Gaborone in Botswana and Cavmont Bank in Zambia. It is also helping D+H with mainte-


nance and support of the users in the Caribbean. Furthermore, D+H outsources some of its R&D to ITS’s global delivery centre (GDT) in Egypt. ‘D+H continues to be our strategic partner,’ Albikawi states. Tanya Andreasyan


IN BRIEF


Banking giants JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have started to work together in order to create a new company able to filter the piles of pricing and transaction data produced by all three. The initiative, named ‘Spred’ – which stands for Securities Product Reference Data – is


likely to be released in the next six to twelve months according to sources at the Wall Street Journal. Each of the founding banks will be investing seven-figure sums into the project. The new company will initially deal with reference data on financial instruments,


though later it will incorporate fixed income data as well. The banking giants are said to have come together so that they do not have to deal with the vast amounts of data alone and can pool their resources to avoid rising costs. —Alex Hamilton


ISO 20022 draft lifts real-time retail payments industry


The real-time retail payments industry is looking to a draft set of ISO 20022 messages to improve implementation and interoperability. The ISO Real-Time Payments Group


(RTPG), which is made up of more than 50 global experts, helped to develop the standards to facilitate the rising adoption of ISO 20022 and real-time retail payments across the globe and in the UK. The new standards, it is hoped, will enable simpler domestic implementation and greater interoperability between systems. An open standard, ISO 20022 is free to be


modified and customised by its users, mean- ing that as local and regional specifics can be applied, implementation is an easier process. The freedom and flexibility has created con- fusion in the past, however, as banks debate what data should (or should not) be included. The RTPG, supported by Payments UK,


an administrative company which aims to support the UK’s payment infrastructure, is hoping that a focus on interoperability will facilitate cross- border real-time payments in the near future. Maurice Cleaves, chief executive of Payments UK, believes the ISO 20022 is a


‘real game-changer globally and domesti- cally’ and will ‘maintain the UK’s position as a leader on the global stage’. Adoption of ISO 20022 is a global pro-


cess, with numerous countries around the world gearing up to roll out new real-time payments infrastructure, with varying lev- els of success.


ISO 20022 will no doubt be a hot topic


at the upcoming Sibos 2015 in Singapore, which RTPG will be attending to update the industry on the progress of the new standards.


Alex Hamilton


© IBS Intelligence 2015


www.ibsintelligence.com


19


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