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FEATURE NAME CASE STUDY
ABN AMRO and CBA – the value of an object-oriented approach
ABN AMRO took the decision to deploy CBA’s IBAS GTF to support its trade finance operations in the Netherlands in 2010. Today it is using IBAS GTF to support its trade finance operations across 10 countries
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uilt using the latest IT standards and object-oriented architecture, CBA’s IBAS GTF operates in real time and incorporates a comprehensive library of ready- made objects and interfaces for speedy deployment. CBA’s approach appealed to ABN AMRO as the bank wanted to avoid the challenges associated with deploying and maintaining traditional hard-coded software solutions. IBAS GTF can be easily configured to meet the needs of each country or department using business rules with no need to update or create new source code. This contrasts with the approach taken by other vendors that implement a customised set of source code for each country, making upgrades costly, difficult and time-consuming.
“By choosing IBAS GTF, we gained a truly object-oriented trade finance system that made deployment and management a whole lot smoother and more efficient,” says Franz Westdorp, business process manager, Trade and Guarantees, ABN Amro.
The CBA team were able to demonstrate real experience in banking and trade finance as well as technical innovation. Westdorp observes, “CBA took a completely different approach. No other vendor could deliver the same degree of flexibility. Everyone I worked with was committed to finding the best solution for the bank, not just looking to sell their latest software.”
Crucially, IBAS GTF allows ABN AMRO to manage its entire international trade finance business in a single global environment that’s managed centrally from the Netherlands with just a small IT team. Some 450-500 staff use the system today and are able to accommodate any country-specific requirements locally using configurable business rules. Says Westdorp: “We don’t need local IT support for IBAS GTF at any of our offices. Other trade finance solutions typically need several IT staff locally just to administer and run the system. By deploying IBAS GTF
I estimate that we have reduced the IT costs associated with running our trade finance operations by at least 50%.
Delivering increased efficiency and cost savings
Building on the capabilities of IBAS GTF, several incremental projects have been successfully delivered to ABN AMRO in recent years. These include the implementation of the IBAS Workflow Management and Monitoring System (IBAS WFL) and IBAS Service Level Management and Monitoring System (IBAS SLM) – enabling the bank to optimise transaction processing. IBAS WFL allows the bank to define and monitor the steps involved in each business event while IBAS SLM ensures all processes comply with customer service level agreements. Says Westdorp: “One of the great benefits of IBAS GTF is the tight control it gives over event-handling. Customers see their transaction flows in real-time – gaining complete transparency.”
At the end of 2016, ABN AMRO went live with the IBAS Electronic File and Document Management System. Up until then the bank had some 50,000 hard-copy guarantee records stored in its head office. All documents are now available electronically in IBAS GTF. The team can access the relevant documents quickly and securely from multiple locations. In addition, the bank has been able to recoup around 200 square metres of costly office space.
Future developments
A new IBAS Customer Front-End System for Trade Finance is being rolled out in 2017 to replace SureComp’s allNETT solution in the Netherlands, and manual processes elsewhere. Rather than receiving customer instructions via email and manually entering these, the new front end enables STP, reduced errors and faster processing.
www.ibsintelligence.com | © IBS Intelligence 2017
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