Citibank, the largest provider of payment information in over 100 currencies, has agreed to provide real-time nostro account data to Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro (RTN) service.
The utility, which aims to deliver a central information repository for sharing nostro account information between financial institutions and other organisations, has already been tested in a live environment by Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander Central Hispano using data provided by JPMorgan Chase.
Citibank's involvement is another critical step in building momentum for the project. C&W says ANZ and Barclays have started testing the live RTN service and Mizuho Corporate Bank, Bangkok Bank, and RBC Global Services are also lined up.
The vendor attributes much of the impetus over the past six months to the efforts of the Real Time Nostro User group which convenes once every two months and includes participants from banks that have either already agreed to join the RTN service or are considering to sign-up in the future.
The group, chaired by Richard Pattinson, senior director of settlement strategy and systemic sisk, Barclays, facilitates the exchange of ideas and experiences with the service and key issues associated with cash reporting. Current members include; Lehmans, Citibank, Royal Bank of Scotland, ANZ, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Credit Suisse First Boston, Calyon, Barclays Capital, Bank of America and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
Says Pattinson: "As global markets pick-up, banks and counterparties are demanding information in a uniform format in real time. Cable & Wireless RTN accommodates for these demands and enables banks to enhance their services whilst also improving management of liquidity and operational processes."