Barclays has selected a liquidity management system from payments provider Fundtech as part of its efforts to improve the monitoring of its cash flows and in preparation for the introduction of the Single Euro Payments Area (Sepa) and Target2 Securities (T2S) initiatives.
The new system, based on Fundtech's Global PayPlus platform, will sit above the bank's international payments functions and will enable the firm to schedule and monitor its reserve, central bank and operational accounts in real-time.
It will also bring an end to the bank's current practice of managing liquidity on a specific currency level and in departmental silos, an approach that is rife within the banking industry and is becoming increasingly unsustainable in today's market.
According to Andrew Whiteley, associate director, global operations at Barclays, the motivation for the development of a new liquidity management system is the imminent arrival of two comprehensive changes to the European banking landscape - Sepa and T2S.
"With the advent of Sepa and T2S, enhanced liquidity management is a pre-requisite for the payments process," says Whiteley. "The old silo-based approach is no longer viable."
Barclays will take delivery of the system in mid-October and expects to have it fully operational by May 2008, in time for the introduction of T2S.