Meridian Link will provide Misys with a strategic platform to support new SWIFT messaging standards at the SWIFT Regional Conference, which takes place at the Sun City Conference Centre from 3 to 6 June.
Misys International Banking Systems (Misys-IBS) will showcase its Meridian Link solution. Meridian Link, which is based on the company`s successful Meridian middleware product, has been chosen as its strategic platform for the support of messaging networks, and particularly, the new standards being introduced by SWIFT.
Mick Fennell, Product Marketing Manager for Misys-IBS` Meridian Link platform, points out: "Currently, the banking sector is having to comply with numerous changes to regulatory reporting requirements, as well as new industry standards. The new SWIFT ISO 15022 messaging standards are a case in point. Over the next three to five years, fundamental changes are planned to the SWIFT messaging system. Put simply, unless banks invest in solutions to support the new SWIFT message standards, severe limitations will be placed on their ability to conduct securities business in the short-term, and all other international banking activities in the near future."
To comply with the forthcoming SWIFT message standards, every member bank will need to develop new message generation and formatting processes, plus new message management capabilities, and a revised connectivity layer to the SWIFT network. Ultimately, this will entail maintaining data field dictionaries and data repositories in line with the new SWIFT ISO 15022 message standards.
"Misys-IBS is already one of the world`s leading vendors of banking solutions, and, with an estimated 15% to 20% of all SWIFT messages generated by its systems, the largest single supplier of SWIFT-compliant solutions, based on analysis carried out by SWIFT," says Fennell. "As such, the company has already developed the infrastructure and technology to support the new SWIFT ISO 15022 and ISOXML standards."
New components to support ISO 15022 are already available within Meridian Link, a sophisticated solution for message generation, formatting and management, plus network connectivity. Meridian Link combines all the benefits of the company`s Meridian Toolkit for developing rapid integration between banking applications, with the functionality for the management, validation and routing of payment messages to the appropriate network.
Fennell explains: "Meridian Link is Misys` strategic platform for the support of messaging networks, including SWIFT. With SWIFT`s entire messaging infrastructure and network protocols changing beyond all recognition over the next few years, it is essential that banks are well-prepared for these changes and have the appropriate systems in place in good time, otherwise their capacity to function as modern financial institutions will be severely compromised."
He adds: "Because of the inherent flexibility of the underlying XML-based technology and user functions, the Meridian Link solution is also ideal for supporting SWIFT messaging outside the Misys-IBS system environment. We have, therefore, begun to invest significant amounts of resource to address this demand. In fact, Misys-IBS has already proved the value of Meridian Link as a standalone solution by implementing the system at a live site in London to process third-party system data for transmission to SWIFT."
In recognition of its flexibility, Meridian Link has been accredited with the latest SWIFTReady GOLD status for 2002. The certification, which covers the EAI (Enterprise Application Integration) market, was awarded following a rigorous series of tests carried out by SWIFT.
SWIFT`s Head of Partner Solutions, says: "The SWIFTReady GOLD status award recognises the validation of Meridian Link`s functionality against the highest criteria set by SWIFT. These range from full support for all SWIFT message types, the incorporation of components such as the BIC Database, plus the ability of the system to provide enhanced STP. Other functions that were assessed include adherence to SWIFT`s recommended best business practices and full connectivity to SWIFT`s own interface devices."
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