Nordea announced today that it would be working with Microsoft to speed up the implementation of internet-based payment standards for corporate customers across the EMEA region.
Through the co-operation agreement, Nordea and Microsoft are developing an Identrus-backed internet payment infrastructure that will enable corporates to support new XML-based standards such as SWIFT ISO 15022.
Under the agreement, Microsoft will implement a banking interface for businesses seeking a solution for international payments, over open internet, that will automatically translate different messaging formats and standards. The payment solution covers the entire business-to-business value chain, from pre-trade to settlement, and automatically routes messages concerning financial transactions to the relevant banks. The solution incorporates Identrus PKI security as well as SWIFT TrustAct internet-based messaging and payments infrastructure.
Nordea, which already services over one million corporate clients in EMEA for payments, has contributed to the new platform development and will offer the solution to all its existing and new clients.
“This co-operation agreement with Microsoft addresses our need for a long-term partner to support system-to-system integration. By using BizTalk Server, Microsoft’s platform for messaging, our customers will now be able to support the new messaging standards and connect to Identrus alliance banks with minimal adaptation on their side”, said Nordea Vice President Bo Harald. “We have been very impressed with the development work Microsoft has been doing around BizTalk in the financial services industry, creating a platform that specifically caters to our needs for financial message translation and routing, security, scaleability and also preparing us for future developments in messaging standards.”
“Global payments is an area that Microsoft is now really focusing on in the financial services industry. Our ubiquity puts us in an ideal position to support an integrated payments infrastructure. We have committed significant resources to the development of financial services-specific adapters on top of our BizTalk Server messaging platform to enable financial services institutions to quickly respond to changes in messaging standards and make bespoke development simple,” said Paul Shetler, financial services manager for Microsoft EMEA. “We are currently in beta on this development with key partners and customers and we are very excited to be working with Nordea on such a wide-reaching solution that stands to revolutionise internet-based payments in the corporate arena.”