UniCredit Group is one of the largest banks in Europe with a network of over 9,000 branches serving 40 million clients in 23 countries. Its international network comprises branches, representative offices and banking subsidiaries in 50 countries worldwide. UniCredit’s business approach is based on business Divisions and the Group is characterised by the strong diversification of its revenues by business and geographic area.
In order to heighten its global capability and sustainability to growth, UniCredit has developed Global Transaction Banking (GTB), the Group’s global business line for international transaction services in the international financial institutions business as well as in trade & export finance and cash management areas.
Right from the beginning, UniCredit defined a complete offer supporting the whole financial supply chain.
Global Transaction Banking enhances the Group capabilities to serve its financial institutions and corporate customers by leveraging the international network and supporting local distribution with cutting-edge products and services in trade & export finance and cash management and e-banking areas. GTB also covers International Correspondent Banking and Trade Finance related business as well as Structured Trade Finance through Global Financial Institutions & Trade Finance (GFI&TF), and Structured Trade & Export Finance (STEF) respectively.
UniCredit’s SWIFTNet offering for corporates speeds up their processes by connecting to a network that spans the globe.
“UniCredit fully supports SWIFTNet for its corporate customers, enabling them to connect to any of their banking partners via one single access. A corporate treasurer’s dream comes true.”
Markus Straussfeld, Managing Director, Cash Management & eBanking Sales, UniCredit
The benefits of SWIFTNet
Providing SWIFTNet to corporate customers enables UniCredit to offer a standardised connectivity solution with global reach without having to develop it and to attract new business from corporates looking for a single connection to reach all their banks.
The many benefits for UniCredit’s customers include:
- The same infrastructure with different banks around the world
- The highest security and availability standards
- Independence from proprietary country standards and single-bank electronic banking products
- Simpler implementation and auditing of statutory payment regulations with global impact (e.g. Sarbanes-Oxley)
- Streamlined centralised, worldwide payments, account information, FX confirmations, enquiries, bilateral data exchange in standard or local format
- The ability to make substantial savings in resources, controlling, administrative processes, documentation, etc.
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Solution overview
- SWIFT for Corporates
- FIN and FileAct
- SCORE and MA-CUG
- SWIFT enabled electronic banking client
Considering all types of corporate world-wide payments and financial exchanges, the UniCredit Group’s capabilities with SWIFTNet offer a corporate customer the opportunity to reduce costs and risk; improve the auditing process; simplify compliance; increase straight-through processing (STP); optimise cash and liquidity management; streamline operations; keep the focus on continuity and security and extend global reach.
In order to increase efficiency and simplify customer use of FileAct with UniCredit Group banks, one single access point for the entire group has been created for all SWIFTNet related corporate traffic. This enables the corporate customer to use SWIFTNet FileAct as an additional communication channel for eBanking.
UniCredit Group offers corporate customers full connectivity to the SWIFTNet network for the many different messaging services demanded for communication between a corporate and its corresponding financial institutions, including messages for payments, treasury, reporting and securities. The Group is always on the cutting edge with regard to the latest SWIFT offerings to corporates, and currently there are three options for a corporate customer to access SWIFTNet: TRCO (Treasury Counterparty), MA-CUG (Member Administered Closed User Group) and SCORE (Standardised Corporate Environment).
UniCredit’s SWIFTNet proposition
SWIFT is the industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to nearly 8,200 financial institutions in 208 countries. UniCredit is a strong supporter of ‘SWIFT for Corporates’ and actively promotes a complete offering via its EuropeanGate payments platform.
UniCredit offers payments and cash management via FIN (MT101, MT940, MT942, MT192/5/9, MTx99) and FX/MM confirmations (MT300/320), as well as offer payments and cash management via FileAct, using a single access point for the entire group through the EuropeanGate payments platform. EuropeanGate supports domestic and international formats. UniCredit offers MA-CUG services and is registered in SCORE.
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Getting ready
Exploring the opportunity
UniCredit first considered SWIFT for corporates in 2001. When its first corporate customer was looking for direct SWIFT connectivity, UniCredit saw the potential of using a single global gateway when connecting international customers across various financial services.
Defining the offering
Right from the beginning, UniCredit defined a complete offer supporting the whole financial supply chain. While large corporations were early adopters, it turned out that not the size but the international approach of a corporate customer was the key driver. Supporting SWIFT allowed UniCredit to deliver its services to any customer on a global level. Requests coming from all around the world assured UniCredit that it was on the right track.
UniCredit believes that the SWIFT intergration into new eBanking will meet the needs of our customers now and in the future.
Enabling the organisation
UniCredit set up its MA-CUG in 2005 and registered in SCORE as soon as it opened in January 2007, and offers domestic and international payments and cash management as well as FX services. The Group decided to connect to SWIFT only once. Using its flexible European Gate, UniCredit can provide corporate access in any UniCredit Group location. A dedicated project team has been in place to support customers from the beginning.
Preparing Marketing and Sales
Dedicated specialists in each country are part of the evaluation process when customers plan to get connected. Training sessions in cooperation with SWIFT as well as in-house sessions with product development ensure quality training of their sales force.
Active promotion
In 2005, UniCredit went live with its first customer. The Group identified several types of potential customers: international mass payment processors, customers doing FX business globally, global customers asking for account information and global payment gateways.
‘SWIFT for Corporates’ is featured in UniCredit’s customer events such as EuroFinance, with special workshops to explain the SWIFT value proposition to corporate customers. In 2008, UniCredit will be present at the Sibos Forum for Corporates to promote its SWIFT offering for corporates.
Distinguished customers
UniCredit welcomes the opportunity to share its experience with the corporate community and to organise on request a contact with one of its distinguished SWIFTNet customers.
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Next generation capabilities
Meeting industry needs for innovative e-Business embedded SWIFT and banking services
Creating a global solution for corporate customers that meets the industry’s need for a standardised payment transaction solution is a challenge UniCredit embraced with its newest development.
UniCredit is sure that where future-oriented payment transaction solutions are concerned, companies want centralisation of payment traffic, standardised payment processes and formats together with maximum security, particularly for international transactions. Each company should have only one platform to handle all its various payment transactions. This is UniCredit’s intention.
Such a platform needs to be secure, centralised, standardised, reliable and timely - not limited to national payments but extended to cover international payment transactions. UniCredit believes this is possible by extending its new eBanking solution to capture all the benefits of SWIFT. This allowed UniCredit to start development without having to reinvent the wheel and enables the Group to provide the clear advantages offered by SWIFT to its corporate customers. The goal is to offer a future- oriented payment transaction solution based on an innovative approach joining the advantages offered by SWIFT with the functionality of ‘modern’ eBanking.
UniCredit’s solution provides user-friendly handling and is based on a state-of-the-art platform without involving the higher costs associated with technical complexity. This solution offers a system based on internet technology, which allows for in-house and external client usage (i.e. distributed signature capability). UniCredit also consider a seamless integration with existing ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems, avoiding file-based cross-linking and therefore eliminating the arguments raised in related security discussions. To complement this solution UniCredit offers advice and create the administrative and technical conditions in support of its corporate customers using the new eBanking product. This includes but is not limited to services such as undertaking all SWIFT administration on behalf of the customer, to be the customer’s first level service contact for SWIFT and to be aware of all SWIFT changes and their future implementation in eBanking.
UniCredit's solution provides user-friendly handling and is based on a state-of-the-art platform without involving the higher costs associated with technical complexity.
There are many important requirements of a viable solution. It should be as simple as possible to manage the high daily volumes to which UniCredit’s corporate customers are accustomed. It should have standardised payment transaction paths and standardised international data formats making foreign transactions more efficient. It has to offer same-day processing, high security, high system reliability and timely payments due to direct link or networking with banks worldwide. It must be modern, offer transparency and independence. At the same time it has to include SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) functionality as well as a range of functions outside SEPA processing for a more international solution. Of course there are still issues to contend with, such as standardising payment formats and international data exchange, as well as centralised processing of inter-company global traffic in order to realise the maximum cost saving potential and establish a visionary payment transaction system.
New eBanking with SWIFT integration meets the need for an innovative, future oriented payment transaction solution by providing simplicity, standardisation of solution approach in both domestic and international business, central global handling, and rapid, secure, reliable performance for all corporate customers including global multinationals. UniCredit believes that many corporates are unaware of the advantages offered by using a SWIFT-based solution; there is a huge lack of information and most people believe it must be expensive to introduce. UniCredit needs to remove the perceived barriers to using SWIFT. Because of the lack of information and know-how in this area, it is the Group’s responsibility to consult its customers on the advantages offered by SWIFT and to overcome the obstacle of cost by integrating SWIFT into its solutions.
UniCredit believes that the SWIFT integration into new eBanking will meet the needs of its customers now and in the future. For obvious reasons it is important to find solutions that do not try to reinvent the wheel and enhance existing technology and networks to get the job done. By combining the attributes of SWIFT with its new eBanking product UniCredit can accomplish this to enable its customers to work more efficiently and get the reach they need in a global market.
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EuropeanGate
UniCredit’s Corporate SWIFTNet access connects directly with EuropeanGate which provides UniCredit’s customers with access to all UniCredit Group banks (currently spanning 19 countries) via one bank access - but still operates as if the accounts were based in the respective country. This allows the transmission of payments in a multitude of formats (domestic format, UN Edifact, MT101, SEPA XML).
Conclusion
The main reason for UniCredit to offer SWIFTNet to corporates was the ability to offer a solution that is really global without needing the capability to develop or deploy that on their own.
This allowed UniCredit to attract new business and payment volumes from corporates looking for a SWIFTNet-based solution.
UniCredit continues to enhance its product offering combining advantages of both worlds: classic Electronic Banking and SWIFTNet.
“We have combined the advantages of SWIFT and classical Electronic Banking, e.g. use of electronic signatures, in order to win more customers for this gateway. This will make the ‘step in’ easier and more attractive also for smaller and non-multinational corporate customers,” says Franz Zahn, Head of Global eBanking development, UCI Group.
Contact
For further information please contact [email protected]
