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Transactional FX a key focus for Barclays over the coming year


WEBWIRE

Barclays continues to invest in its transactional FX platform as it makes the ongoing development of this product area a key priority for 2012.

Transactional FX is where international payments are converted at a point in the payment value chain where the currency conversion benefits the originator bank, rather than just the beneficiary bank as has traditionally been the case.

Already a leading player in this space, Barclays has recently upgraded its transactional FX platform to support more countries and currencies. This kind of processing system requires constant updates to reflect immediately any changes in payment flows and behaviours. Handled by a dedicated group of product experts, Barclays will be adding more functionality and the ability to further fine-tune the processing per originating bank.

Many financial institutions now expect their banking counterparties to provide this functionality, but few organisations are currently providing a service that is processing a high number of payments efficiently on an STP basis across a larger number of currencies, which requires a sophisticated system.

Joerg Pinkernell, Head of Financial Institutions Product Management, Barclays, said: “There has never been more of a focus on transactional banking, as FIs place greater emphasis on maximising revenue sources that are reliable and do not have a major balance sheet requirement. Regulation and competition is only speeding this up.

“Therefore transactional FX has certainly climbed up the agenda in the past year or two for a growing number of financial institutions, as they look to participate in the revenue their clients’ transactions are generating.”

The key differentiator in this area is the ability to identify the currency of the beneficiary account in combination with the ability to customise the process to the requirements (e.g. client base) of the originating bank. A service operator should be able to offer a larger number of countries to avoid different conditions for the originating bank’s clients.

Pinkernell says Barclays is one of a few select operators promoting global transactional FX at Sibos, and it is still an area that is generating significant interest across the event.

About Barclays Corporate

With a clear focus on quality relationships, Barclays Corporate provides integrated banking solutions to businesses with an annual turnover of more than £5 million in the UK and large local companies, financial institutions and multinationals in non-UK markets. We facilitate the success and growth of our clients by providing lending, risk management, cash and liquidity management, trade finance and asset and sales financing. Additionally, our clients benefit from the breadth of the Barclays Group, through access to the investment banking services of Barclays Capital including debt and equity capital markets, the private wealth management expertise of Barclays Wealth, and the card and payment services of Barclaycard. Barclays Corporate employs over 10,000 people globally. For more information please visit www.barclayscorporate.com.

About Barclays

Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth management with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia. With over 300 years of history and expertise in banking, Barclays operates in over 50 countries and employs over 145,000 people. Barclays moves, lends, invests and protects money for customers and clients worldwide. For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com.



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