StanChart extends banking services to customers’ offices

Standard Chartered has opened its system to corporate clients, giving them room to transact, settle credit obligations and reconcile accounts from the comfort of their offices.

The bank’s clients operating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or treasury systems can now connect directly to the banking system through a solution dubbed ‘Host-2-Host’.

The system negates the need to write out cheques in settlement for goods and services delivered.

Upon entry of the transaction details in the ERP system, the accountant indicates the date of payment — this is when the company system will communicate to the bank system to transfer cash from the company account to the supplier’s account.

If the supplier operates an account with another bank other than Standard Chartered an electronic payment will be initiated to reflect in the supplier’s account within 24 hours under the real time gross settlement (RTGS).

For clients who insist on having a physical cheque as evidence of the transaction, the company’s ERP system will put out a request for a banker’s cheque in favour of the supplier.

The system can also be used in salary payments, debt collections and reconciliations apart from procurement.

“By enabling direct integration of client’s systems with the bank, corporates can save time, improve their level of productivity and enhance working capital management,” said the StanChart’s global head of solution delivery and service, Russell Graham.

It takes approximately 29 days for the system to be implemented with the bank bearing the cost. However the client, no matter the size of their business, has to have an ERP system in place.

The solution is suitable for clients that have diverse requirements for security, connectivity and file format.

It provides a high level of automation thus reducing the need for human intervention in the handling of payment transactions and thereby improving data security.

One of the companies that has already taken up the product is Safaricom.

The space used up in the company server following installation of the host-2-host system is small thus it does not affect other company operations, said David Nyamai, senior manager financial systems and analysis at Safaricom.

Other commercial banks have also been tailoring products that fit the needs of corporate clients.

Co-operative Bank has the Jumbolink system which allows company nominees to manage transactions with the bank directly from their offices.