A new report from Aite Group, LLC provides a valuable first step in researching and selecting a reconciliation solution system through profiling and comparing leading vendors, as well as providing a coherent vision of trends in the reconciliation industry.
Rising volumes of exceptions – along with efforts to keep them at a manageable level – are a top concern of many operations managers. As such, firms are redesigning reconciliation systems, compliance systems and other exception-generating applications in order to better handle increasing volumes.
The continued adoption of shared service centres is a leading driver behind the financial service industry’s implementation and upgrade of reconciliation systems. Another key driver is the need to take an enterprise-wide approach to reconciliation, thus developing economies of scale while implementing best-practices in support of more stringent compliance requirements.
Despite troubles that have shaken the sector in recent months, spending on reconciliation systems is expected to increase to $25 billion by 2009, up from $18 billion in 2007.
“Today, financial service firms are beginning to realise that the systems which were implemented a decade ago are now exactly that – decade-old systems. Transaction volumes which were unimaginable then are now commonplace, and processing times which would have sounded impossible are now de facto standards. Add to these new demands being placed on older systems – notably reconciliation systems – and the remarkably inexpensive cost of hardware, and it becomes clear why spending on reconciliation systems is on the rise,” says Phillip Silitschanu, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of the report.
The report profiles and compares what Aite Group considers to be eight of the most robust and well-designed reconciliation solution systems vendors: Advent, CheckFree, InfoSys, MileStone, Princeton, SmartStream, SS&C and SunGard.