SWIFT says Netherlands-based KAS Bank is bringing 120 customers on to SWIFTNet over its new service for securities settlement and payment instructions.
“KAS Bank has chosen SWIFT for the strong security and reliability that SWIFTNet offers compared to competitors,” says Henk Brink, Director mid-office and product development, KAS Bank. “SWIFTNet’s security features played a major role in convincing us that this was the ideal platform to meet our needs. Also our long-standing experience with SWIFT (KAS was one of the early adopters of SWIFT FIN) played an important role in our choice for SWIFT.”
The new KAS BANK customers on SWIFTNet are predominantly broker-dealers, investment managers and pension funds located in the Netherlands, but some are also based in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
KAS Bank clients will now be able to access services via SWIFTNet instead of connecting to KAS Bank’s proprietary banking systems (KAS-Web and KAS-Select) via the Internet only. Under the new KAS-Web application over SWIFTNet, these systems will be merged, offering increased functionality and a higher level of security for securities settlement and payment instructions. KAS BANK’s clients will also be able to get on-line and real-time overviews of cash and securities accounts, lending and derivatives.
The KAS-Web service via SWIFTNet will be offered to the 120 clients from December 2004, with more clients joining the service in 2005. In addition, 180 KAS Bank clients using SWIFT FIN today to submit instructions to KAS BANK will have the additional possibility of accessing SWIFTNet Browse service for inquiries. This will enable these existing SWIFT customers to use SWIFTNet to manage all their different banking applications.
“We at SWIFT are always eager to support our members by offering solutions to help expand their business,” says Francis Remacle, Head of Securities, SWIFT. “KAS Bank’s decision is significant because they will leverage the wide range of functionality SWIFT offers its customers through SWIFTNet.”
KAS Bank is leveraging its SWIFTNet infrastructure for clients through an MA-CUG (Member Administered Closed User Group) utilising SWIFTNet Browse for inquiries and SWIFTNet InterAct for instructions. Later, SWIFTNet FileAct will be incorporated to send bulk instructions.