UBOC Aims to Expand Global Payments Capabilities
Union Bank of California has licensed S1's Corporate Banking international payments solution to expand its online global cash management services with more than 400 global correspondent banks.
The S1 solution will be used by $40.4 billion Union Bank to offer expanded payment initiation capabilities to support the growth of its international client base. The agreement follows the bank's selection of S1's Trade Finance application, which enables it to deliver a full range of services that streamlines the collection and exchange of trade data via the Web.
Union Bank aims to tap into the significant market growth in the international payments arena. Financial Insights has predicted double-digit growth in electronic payments spurred on by pending regulation in the U.S., and infrastructure build outs in Asia. "Domestically and internationally there are major upheavals in the world of payments. To prepare, financial institutions are examining the solutions they have in place and investing where necessary to take advantage of Internet technologies to meet the needs of their clients," said Jeanne Capachin, research director of corporate banking at Financial Insights.
By enhancing its payments functionality, Union Bank seeks to further strengthen its relationships with international customers, said Ashish Sharma, Union Bank's vice president and group finance manager. "While our customers' requirements are extremely sophisticated, they also need user-friendly interfaces to help increase the efficiencies of routine transactions."
S1's Corporate Banking solution provides a sophisticated Internet-based international payments and reporting solution to accommodate the initiation, tracking and reporting of complex transactions using SWIFT structured formats.
More than 500 financial institutions worldwide that have successfully implemented S1's business banking solutions, said Steve Ely, senior vice president, worldwide marketing at Atlanta-based S1. Its products, he said, provide banks with a comprehensive set of functionality to support expansion strategies, particularly in the international payments market.
A full-featured cash management solution for a financial institution's commercial and large corporate customers, S1 Corporate Banking delivers sophisticated functionality for balance and transaction detail information, as well as positive pay and check services capabilities. Its payments engine includes ACH, Fedwire, cross-border and transfers, United Kingdom (BACS, CHAPS, direct debit mandates and origination, standing orders), Canadian EFT, SWIFT, as well as low- and high-value payment methods for ten European countries.