COPENHAGEN, Denmark — Sept. 5, 2005 — At Sibos 2005 Copenhagen, Microsoft Corp. today announced that Banco de España, Spain’s central bank, has chosen Microsoft to develop a system that will enable it to interface its TARGET2-related business applications with the European Central Bank’s Single Shared Platform (SSP) using the SWIFT network. Banco de España plans to migrate fully to TARGET2 for the settlement of large-value euro payments by 2007.
The Banco de España TARGET2 integration project focuses on the development of three key elements: an efficient, robust, flexible, high-performance Enterprise Application Infrastructure for TARGET2; a TARGET2 Information Management System (IMS) application that will validate, transform, enrich and route payment messages between the TARGET2 platform and the Banco de España platform across the SWIFT network; and a Management Console. The Management Console will provide auditing, logging and tracing capabilities, allowing Banco de España staff to detect and correct erroneous large-value euro payment transactions quickly and efficiently.
The project will use the following technologies: Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2004, Microsoft BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT, BizTalk Adapter for MQ Series, Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 and Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003.
Luis Campillo, head of the Credit Institution Payment and Settlement Services Unit at the Information Systems Department of Banco de España, said, “We have worked successfully with Microsoft and Microsoft Consulting Services on a variety of projects over the last five years. When it came to evaluating solutions for our TARGET2 integration project, we chose a Microsoft BizTalk Server- and BizTalk Accelerator for SWIFT-based system, as it offers the high performance and easy integration we require without the additional administration and maintenance costs that would have been incurred by selecting one of the other available solutions. In addition, we believe that by using Microsoft technology we will be able to quickly and simply evolve the system as needed in the future.”
Sheida Hadji-Ashrafi, industry manager of Payments Solutions for Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said, “We are delighted that Banco de España has recognized that by choosing to integrate with TARGET2 using a Microsoft-based system, it can be an early beneficiary of the cost efficiencies and speedy payment processing promised by TARGET2. We look forward to again working closely with the central bank over the coming months.”
About Microsoft in Financial Services
Microsoft is a leading provider of software products and technology to the financial services industry. Its customers operate in every area of retail banking, insurance and pensions, and the financial markets. Microsoft focuses on providing enhanced security, scalability and increased reliability, all of which the financial enterprise requires. Through Microsoft .NET and its support of XML Web services, Microsoft helps customers act on information virtually any time, any place and from any smart device.
Working with leading software vendors and systems integrators in the banking, capital markets and insurance industries, Microsoft supports financial institutions in re-engineering core business operations, achieving straight-through processing (STP), better managing all aspects of risk and capital adequacy, increasing efficiency in branch banking operations, and establishing a new generation of telephone- and Internet-based financial services channels.
About Microsoft
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