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Multi-currency clearing for commercial payments
Understanding the business needs of our clients has resulted in a reputation as a premier cash clearer. It’s this expertise and experience that has enabled us to generate a comprehensive array of wire transfer products and services – designed to accommodate the specialised requirements of transactions as well as maximising the value of our clients’ business with us. Our aim is to ensure that all transactions are processed with speed, certainty and accuracy. We want to enable our clients to extend their global reach while reducing expenses, improving operational efficiency and providing timely information. We also want to support our clients’ clients or business partners
The challenge
As a financial institution involved in international business financial organisations need to manage ‘nostro’ relationships in foreign currencies.
What’s more, maintaining accounts with other banks on a worldwide basis can be both time-consuming and cost intensive.
The solution
As a leading clearing bank for the euro, we are playing a pro-active role in the concentration process with ongoing investments into systems infrastructure and innovative solutions to assist clients in concentrating their euro payment volumes.
Clients who maintain their main currency account (euro, US dollar and/or British Pounds) with us can benefit from our flexible multicurrency offering.
Client accounts are held as individual sub-accounts of the main euro account in Frankfurt for each supported currency. Through Nostro Accounts within our local branches or dedicated Partner Banks, our Frankfurt offices has direct access into the respective local clearing system. This allows us to provide you with the same high standards of service including reporting and investigation for currencies/countries with a matured clearing system.
The benefit
By partnering with us, you gain access to market-leading clearing infrastructure and payment features, allowing you to optimise your processing, gain operational efficiencies and offer value-added services to your customers without additional investment.
The features
Extensive multicurrency clearing
We offer you the flexibility to maintain accounts in a wide range of foreign currencies through which both treasury and commercial payments can be cleared. You control the balances and provide instructions on payments in the respective currencies. Positions are maintained and traded by us (the account holder) and provides account information and inquiry services through our Internet-based payment inquiry module, Cash Inquiry.
Robust FX services
In the case of more exotic currencies, or for those currencies with limited volume flows, it often does not make economic sense to maintain individual accounts. That’s why we offer a service to process these currency transactions via a standard euro account. The currencies are executed as a debit or a credit to the euro account. We obtain the underlying FX rate automatically via our link to our trading platform as an intraday live rate. All required information on the FX is available to the account holder via the end-of-day statement MT940/MT950, the intraday MT942 or can be viewed on Cash Inquiry directly after processing.
Automated Intermediary Bank (IBK) selection
Our Intermediary Bank (IBK) Selection simplifies the routing for payments without an instruction regarding the intermediary bank. The IBK Selection is based on our own internal database which is constantly reviewed in line with SSI’s, Clearing Directories and is in accordance with instructions from our clients who have asked us previously to pay the same beneficiary. Our IBK Selection process is fully automated for more than 99% of the respective payments.
Online access to investigations and inquires
Through the use of our Autobahn Cash Inquiry App, clients can conduct research and inquire on high-value funds transfer transactions in real-time, initiate funds transfer investigations and determine the status of existing investigations. Cash Inquiry is a window into our internal funds transfer investigations platform and allows access to the same information as the service staff, allowing clients to closely monitor the status of investigations.
