Trax and Socit Gnrale have introduced a solution that enables corporates to send personally signed payment files to their banks via SWIFT’s FileAct service for the first time.
Yves Rocher, a French botanical beauty care firm with branches in 88 countries, will become the first company to leverage the solution by sending payment instructions to Socit Gnrale and CM-CIC Group (Crdit Mutuel – Crdit Industriel et Commercial), complete with two electronic signatures, via SWIFTNet.
The Electronic Signature service was originated by a French inter-bank steering group formed to develop a means of transmitting payment files with personal electronic signatures over SWIFTNet. Once the banks’ solution was approved by SWIFT, Trax was the first technology vendor to integrate it into its product suite. Traditionally, payment instructions require manual or electronic personal signatures from duly empowered individuals. Under the new solution, corporates such as Yves Rocher can apply two electronic signatures to payment files which are then delivered to their banks via SWIFTNet using FileAct, a product developed by SWIFT to allow secure and reliable transfer of batches of structured financial messages. The solution, which relies on use of personal certificates to allow for both single and double signature, is hoped to become a standard tool due to the efforts of the inter-bank steering group to achieve interoperability and mutual acceptance.
Yves Rocher, which has more than 100 banking relationships worldwide, decided to consolidate its banking communications across SWIFTNet to be able to transmit payments to all its banks via a highly secure, homogenous mechanism that uses a standard protocol both in France and worldwide. Laurent Delauriere, Director of Treasury, Yves Rocher, comments, “We saw the benefits of FileAct immediately, but needed to maintain the traditional practice of double signatures. We needed a technology partner with global presence and in-depth industry experience – Trax was the logical choice. Across the organization we are working toward use of a single protocol and fully automated account statements and payment flows and expect to be live on SWIFTNet with four banks by the end of the year.”
Hans Cobben, CEO of Trax, comments, “We are exceptionally pleased with the result of our collaboration with the French inter-bank steering group and SWIFT. The development of this service demonstrates just one of the many ways that banks can use the introduction of SWIFTNet-based services to add significant value to corporate clients. We believe there are limitless possibilities for banks to develop new services across SWIFTNet.”
Isabelle Le Boulc’h, head of Product Management and Marketing, Cash Management, Socit Gnrale, comments, “Our customers are increasingly requesting electronic signature relying on the use of personal certificates to support secured, automated payment flows across SWIFTNet. Because this is a collaborative effort, we firmly believe it will become the de facto standard as more corporates choose to communicate with their banks via SWIFTNet.”
Claude Brun, senior executive, CM-CIC Group, comments, “This collaboration between French banks, SWIFT and Trax to offer an electronic signature solution via FileAct is a real value-added service, not only for large corporates but also mid-sized enterprises as it is available via direct and service bureau connections to SWIFTNet. The solution’s availability to a wide range of companies means it is well-placed to become the standard across Europe and beyond.”