Like most banking institutions, this bank was looking to minimise risk, maximise control and achieve robust, scalable platforms to support future growth.
International Payments Programme
The bank engaged Practicus to deliver the study for a critical programme to create a central payments engine. The aim is to deliver a single operation for all international payments, including SEPA, with a single working practice based on a core platform from Fundtech – scaling to hundreds of thousands of payments a day.
Leading the business analysis, the Practicus team has been instrumental in driving the project to full business case, succeeding through each of the key stages of the bank’s highly defined project process. This study is a sizeable chunk of the overall programme, accounting for a third of the £45m budget. The aim is to create a single operation for all international payments with a single working practice - scaling to hundreds of thousands of payments a day.
Key deliverables:
- Business Analysis
- Scope specification
- Terms of reference
- Payments capability model
- Business principles and design decisions
- Use case catalogue
- Business scenarios
- End-to-end payment flows
- Accounting flows
Challenges
A complicated and dynamic initiative, the team were coordinating between the COO, programme management, business management, the vendor, quality assurance, infrastructure and production support as well as the IT development teams behind each of the existing 15 core applications.
Stakeholder management has been key, as has a willingness to take on additional responsibilities to ensure a successful outcome. This includes the creation of a Fundtech Engagement Model for the whole group to ensure contractual requirements are met and change requests consistently managed for best performance.
Approach
Practicus joined the programme when it was in a period of flux, with emerging requirements and new stakeholders. In order to meet the 6 month timeframe for the project, a rock solid approach to delivering the study was needed.
The team identified individuals who had been involved in implementing Fundtech technology within the bank previously. They then captured the hard lessons and designed a bespoke approach to this implementation. The Payments Capability Model came as a direct result, with workstreams structured by the payments capability needed, not the system functionality.
This has provided flexibility to change and reprioritise requirements to suit the fluid environment and prevent unnecessary complication and duplication of effort. The success of the approach has led to the adoption of the use case and business scenarios templates across the bank globally.
Business benefits & outcomes delivered
The first big milestone towards a strategic architecture for centralised international payments has now been established. The study is complete and the business case can be taken forward with a solid foundation. This has been accomplished by a small team, in a short period of time against a backdrop of scope change and budget constraints.
The benefits of the finished programme will include increased efficiency of international payment processes, reduced risk around payments, a scalable platform for future growth as well as increased compliance and control.
“In my role as Change Director for three divisions, I have had the opportunity to work with Practicus since early 2009. Over the years, I have been impressed with the quality of service provided by Practicus, both as a provider of individual change specialists and as an organisation delivering work packages for projects and programmes. I have found in them a partner willing to bring fresh ideas and new ways to overcome challenges. I have also appreciated the honesty in the relationship. They have never been afraid to tell me when they can and cannot support my requirements.” – Change Director, Payments.
Find out more by calling Marc Patrick, Director - Client Services on +44 (0) 207 374 88867 or by contacting our city office.
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