Swiss bank, Banque CIC (Suisse), has upgraded its existing implementation of Aim Software’s Gain Data Management platform for an enhanced processing of SIX Telekurs VDF data in Avaloq via the Gain|Avaloq adapter. The bank, which is headquartered in Basel, has been using the Gain platform since 2002 for the processing and reporting of data from SIX Telekurs but has now taken the step to upgrade the implementation to reduce its manual processing requirements.
The upgrade is indicative of the current trend within the market to rely on technology to support processes, as headcounts are down following the financial crisis and costs are being cut. Accordingly, the Swiss bank has automated the process of opening of financial instruments and the delivery of basic data from SIX Telekurs via the addition of the standardised data feed interface.
Geert van Eijnatten, project manager at Banque CIC, explains that the bank is aiming for increased efficiency and an increase in the quality of the data it is processing. The elimination of manual processing should therefore cut down the margin for error that may be introduced due to incorrect data entry. During the course of the project, which went live mid 2008, Aim Software installed the certified Gain|Avaloq adapter and customised the solution to the Swiss bank’s needs.
“We can make even better use of the data feed information,” says van Eijnatten,. “With Gain and the certified Gain|Avaloq adapter we can rely on an out of the box standard reference data management solution that still allows for flexible customisation.”
Whenever a bank adds a new instrument to its portfolio, it must first be opened in the core banking application and the request for the opening may either come from the trading room, a relationship manager or any other department. The automatic opening feature of Gain delivers all necessary fields available from SIX Telekurs without manual intervention, according to the vendor. The implementation has also resulted in extended data coverage and data checking.
The Gain|Avaloq adapter has proved to be a regular money spinner for the data management vendor, since it was certified in September last year. Martin Buchberger, head of marketing and sales at Aim Software, calls the adapter an “important milestone” for the vendor and given its success over the last six months, it seems his claim has merit.
The vendors have been collaborating for a number of years and first launched the adapter way back in 2003, but it wasn’t until last year that the vendors decided to further formalise the relationship with certification of the offering. The objective of the project for Avaloq and Aim Software was to streamline the integration of their two software solutions by offering a certified package delivered out of the box.
Since its certification in September last year, the Gain|Avaloq adapter has been implemented for three of Aim’s major clients, of which Banque CIC is one. In March this year, Bank Sarasin chose to upgrade to the adapter and Banque de Luxembourg made the same decision in October last year.
The tie up between the vendors is also indicative of the current trend within the vendor community, as individual firms strive to improve their offerings against an increasingly competitive backdrop.
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