KBC Bank frontrunner in trade finance market selecting Misys to enable its SWIFTNet TSU initiatives

1 October 2007 – KBC Bank, one of the leading financial groups in Europe, has selected Misys Trade Services to enable its TSU-based initiatives, which will enhance the services it provides to corporate customers.

Misys was the first vendor to win the SWIFTReady Trade Services Utility (TSU) label having enhanced its award-winning Misys Trade Portal solution to cater for banks making the most of the TSU. KBC Bank, which is one of the twelve banks in the original SWIFT’s Trade Services Advisory Group (TSAG), selected the adapted Misys Trade Portal to help it to deliver more value to its corporate customers through the broader range of services that the solution brings.  

The Misys TSU module is available either within the Internet-based trade finance solution, Misys Trade Portal, or as a standalone solution. Herwig Huysmans, General Manager, Trade Finance at KBC Bank, saw the opportunity that the solution and the expert teams from Misys gave the bank: “In the competitive environment of trade finance, we have to make the services that we offer our corporate clients more effective and worthwhile for them. Many of our customers are turning to us to provide them with the ability to manage their end-to-end financial supply chain and we can now do this more effectively with the SWIFTNet TSU and the assistance from Misys and its solution.”

Olivier Berthier, Head of Product Management, Misys Trade Services, adds, “The move to open account changes the relationship between banks and their trade finance customers. The SWIFTNet TSU has been built to help banks turn this into an opportunity and provide competitive supply chain services to their corporate customers. We were the first officially certified end-to-end solution available for banks to interact efficiently with the TSU and we are delighted that KBC Bank has shown it is leading the way in this market and making the most of the opportunities the TSU brings.”

The TSU is a collaborative, centralised data matching and workflow engine for SWIFT’s banking community. It has been devised in consultation with SWIFT’s Trade Services Advisory Group (TSAG). The group comprises some of the world’s leading trade services providers, including KBC Bank and another Misys Trade Portal user, BNP Paribas. Other banks benefiting from Misys Trade Portal, including Calyon and Société Générale, are also among the group of early adopter banks that have signed up for the TSU.

Through its close partnership with SWIFT, Misys’ SWIFT-labelled solution was the first to support the TSU from end to end. Misys Trade Portal supports all TSU messages and processes that are currently in use and it can be easily integrated with a bank’s existing SWIFT messaging infrastructure. Customers using Misys Trade Portal are able to fully automate purchase order handling and open account transactions.

Edward Taylor
Global Head of Public Relations
Misys Banking Systems
+44 (0) 208 486 1661
edward.taylor@misys.com

Caroline Parker
Financial Dynamics
+44 (0) 207 269 7295
caroline.parker@fd.com

Misys plc (FTSE: MSY.L), provides integrated, comprehensive solutions that deliver significant results to organisations in the financial services and healthcare industries. We maximise value for our customers by combining our deep knowledge of their business with our commitment to their success. 

In banking and treasury & capital markets, Misys is a market leader, with over 1,200 customers, including all of the world’s top 50 banks. In healthcare, Misys is a market leader, serving more than 110,000 physicians in 18,000 practice locations, 1,200 hospitals and 600 home care providers. Misys employs around 5,500 people who serve customers in more than 120 countries.

We aspire to be the world’s best application software and services company, delivering results for the most important industries in the world.

Contact us today, visit: www.misys.com

KBC Group is one of the leading financial groups in Europe. A multi-channel bancassurance group with a geographic focus on Europe, it caters mainly for retail and private banking customers and small and medium-sized enterprises. Besides focusing on providing retail and private bancassurance services, it is also active in asset management, the provision of corporate services and market activities. KBC occupies significant, even leading positions in Belgium and Central and Eastern Europe and has an extensive private banking network operating under the European Private Bankers concept. It has also selectively established a presence in a number of other countries and regions around the world.

KBC Group is listed on Euronext Brussels (ticker symbol ’KBC’) and the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. With a market capitalisation of around 35 billion euros, KBC is one of the top Belgian companies and one of the leading financial groups in Europe, employing 53,000 staff and catering for 11 million customers.

For more information, visit www.kbc.com