Bengaluru, Dec 20 (IANS): Using software major Infosys' Finacle digital platform, Doha-based leading Qatar National Bank (QNB) is offering its customers multi-currency payment facility, said the IT major on Thursday.
"As part of its digital platform, QNB has scaled into a unified, multi-currency and multi-entity enabled enterprise payments hub in 31 countries across Africa, Asia and Europe," said the city-based IT vendor in a statement here.
Finacle is a software product of EdgeVerve Systems, an arm of the $10-billion Infosys, deployed in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) vertical.
The platform also enables the bank to make real-time payments for emergent business needs and respond quickly to emerging market trends.
"The hub has enabled the bank to consolidate local payment systems QIPS and QATCH in Qatar into a single platform," said the statement.
Going forward, the bank's foreign operations will be onboarded and integrated with the hub in phases.
The ISO 20022-based hub supports SWIFT MT (message types) formats and delivers interoperability across global and local payment networks. It also provides clearing services, comprehensive payment types and supports multiple payment instruments.
"With our Finacle, the bank is enabled with real-time processing capabilities, agnostic to originating channels," noted the statement.
The bank has gained operational and cost efficiencies due to straight through processing of transactions. Efficient workflow management has enabled flexible payment processing and increased automation.
"Finacle has empowered the Qatari bank to offer customised, differentiated payment services to its corporate customers with relationship-based pricing, configurable access control and rule-based process flows," said the statement.
According to the Global Sales Head of Finacle, Venkataramana Gosavi, the payments space is undergoing a major shift, with new industry initiatives, non-traditional competition and technology developments.
"Many institutions, with legacy applications and payment process siloes are finding it a challenge to sail through these shifts. With Finacle payments hub, QNB is able to navigate through the changes and drive payments innovation and operational excellence," said Gosavi.
QNB group IT General Manager Adel Al Malki said in the digital space, the payments modernisation project based on the Infosys platform was aimed at giving business efficiency a boost, making the bank fit for a digital future.
"With this transformation, our aim is to ensure the bank is well equipped to manage change in the payments space and provide our customers reliability," added Malki in the statement.
Set up in 1964 as Qatar's first state-run commercial bank with its ownership split equally (50:50) between the Qatar Investment Authority and the public, QNB is the largest financial firm in the Gulf and Africa region.