Westpac Institutional Bank is reporting a high degree of straight-through-processing (STP) for incoming and outgoing payments at its New Zealand regional headquarters. The higher rates follow a migrations to the local RTGS (Real time Gross Settlement) system using Midas-Kapiti International’s (MKI) Midas Funds Transfer STP application.
Peter Thomas, Westpac’s head of international operations in New Zealand, says: "The Midas Funds Transfer STP solution has provided the bank with a user-friendly Swift-compatible application, which has enabled us to make the transition to one of the country’s key payment switching systems successfully. We are now achieving STP of rates of 85% or higher, and are currently investigating the possibility of using the system to process the bank’s commercial payments as well."
He says the bank is currently linking Westpac’s in-house developed Online FX Internet dealing system with Midas Funds Transfer STP, which will allow straight-through-processing of all payment instructions received from clients. MKI’s Meridian Middleware is being used to integrate the Online FX and Midas Funds Transfer STP systems, in order to process both retail and wholesale payments, as well as commercial payments in the future.