The Faster Payments programme in a bank represents two very significant challenges for the IT manager.
The following questions should help the IT manager on some of the key parameters to these two challenges. If you want more information contact us.
The first is the establishment and ongoing running of 24 x 7, highly available, payments switch and gateway in the bank. This will, in many respects have the same characteristics of availability as a debit card switch or an ATM switch. Transactions hitting the switch will either be coming from the bank's own channels to be routed to the central infrastructure or from other banks to update the bank's customers' accounts. As if establishing a brand new payments switch was not challenging enough, there are two features of the faster payments service that the IT operations manager needs to keep in focus
The second idea of importance to the IT operations manager is a review of the channel security standards he has in place. Because Internet and Telephony channels can make real time, irrevocable payments, some forms of IT security employed in these channels, such as password access control, may be considered inadequate. It may well be the case that IT security upgrades are required in one or more channels, such as using CHIP and PIN or token based controls.
Many banks have a 24 x 7 capability to support channels, e.g. ATM withdrawal on internet banking transactions. However, many banks do not have a shared intra day balance capability across all their channels, much less one that is 24 x 7. This becomes virtually a mandatory component with the advent of Faster Payments. For example, suppose a father wants use Faster Payments to move some money to his penniless student son urgently to allow him to go to the branch/ATM to collect his rent money. Both the branch/ATM systems and the Faster Payments "inwards" systems have to be using the same intra day balance data.
For a fuller description of the changes to Credit Decisions see the page "Credit Decisioning and Faster Payments". Suffice to say that there will be major software re-engineering required to get what is currently a 2-day batch process down to a same day/real time process.
On the infrastructure architecture side of things, most banks have some degree of capability to provide reliable 24 x 7 services. Faster Payments just increases the volumes and values running on these platforms. Similarly Faster Payments increases the demand for better quality customer authentication technologies in the channels (branches, internet, call centres).
