TWIST

IBC / TWIST BSB
Fall 2009 Newsletter

For more information read below.

Global Service Codes Project

Steve Weiland reports:
"Based on the last full Global Service Codes committee meeting, some additional discussions, and review of email responses, Paul, the AFP and I decided to adopt the following approach to "Globalizing" the AFP service codes. One overwhelming factor was the sheer number of existing AFP codes. There are 2,108 line item service spread across 25 product groups. We will now concentrate on a small, basic set of codes since, for most purposes, the degree of detail available in the US is not required and would have only a small additional payback for the consumers of the BSB. We think this change will seriously reduce the work effort, speed up delivery and ease implementation of this code sub-set.

With the cooperation of the Phoenix Hecht company, we acquired their list of the 87 most frequently used bank services in the US. We matched these to the most "likely" AFP Service Codes. We will use this as a base list of services and then match and add the bank participants' most frequently used services to this list. Step one in this approach is to ask each bank participant to:

  • Identify the seventy most frequently used services in their bank.
  • Identify any matches with the services in the base list and, if required, provide a revised service description designed to "globalize" the existing AFP full description.
  • Provide a list and full description of the bank's services that have no match in the basic list.

    • Step two will fold the new services into the existing AFP codes and globalize, if necessary, the service descriptions of the most frequently used codes. Step three consists of review and agreement. Step four will be the publishing of the "globalized" code set by the AFP.

    ISO 2022 Registration

    Tom Buschman, Chairman of TWIST reports:

    "TWIST is in active discussion with the Registration Authority of ISO 20022 about the exact manner in which it will submit the BSB standard for ISO 20022 certification. These discussions are in the context of a wider debate about incorporation of multiple other standards in ISO 20022 and the technical adjustments that this requires for the standards concerned. TWIST aims to minimise the impact of ISO 20022 compliance for the existing implementations of the BSB standard. Therefore TWIST will enter into direct contact with the banks that implemented the TWIST BSB to obtain their views and technical preferences. TWIST is optimistic that this process of consultation and ultimate submission can be completed before the end of March 2010."

    CORPORATE SURVEY

    In May a questionnaire was sent to the 131 corporates on the IBC/TWIST BSB mailing list. We wanted to see how corporates were working with their banks to implement the BSB. 77 of the corporates (59%) are US headquartered although almost all have major international presence. 54 (41%) were headquartered outside the US. Responses came in over the next two months from 32 corporates (24%). 19 (61%) were US and 12 (39%) were non-US

    The corporates were also asked "Are there any major issues that are impeding your implementation of the BSB?" Of the 32 corporates who responded, 22 answered this question. Their primary responses were:

    1. prioritization of projects (6 respondents)
    2. bank availability of the BSB (5)
    3. need to analyze before making decision (4)
    4. internal resource availability (3)
    5. no need or cost of project is an issue (3)
    6. project scheduled for next year (1)

    Based on the survey responses, it appears that the implementation of the BSB by the corporates has not been as fast as one might have anticipated. Primary causes appear to be 1) bank availability of the BSB and 2) corporates prioritization of projects and availability of resources. The good news is that, three more major banks will be going live with the BSB in the next 6 to 12 months and a number of the existing banks will be rolling out the BSB to more countries and regions. And with the improving liquidity environment more corporates should be able to prioritize and find resources to undertake the implementation of the BSB.

    BSB IN THE NEWS AND RELATED ARTICLES

    NEWS FROM THE BANKS

    Bank of America applauds the efforts and progress that TWIST has made in developing this important new XML standard for International Bank Compensation (IBC). Our clients tell us that they want to verify, manage and control their banking relationships electronically and the BSB standard is an important step in that direction. We believe the next logical step in the evolution of this standard is to work with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) to broaden the acceptance and integration of this format into other XML ISO initiatives.

    Bank of New York Mellon has announced that it supports the TWIST BSB Standard for reporting bank fees.

    For information about the TWIST BSB at Bank of New York Mellon contactLoretta Gannon at loretta.gannon@bnymellon.com / +1 212 815 5726 or Al Briand at al.briand@bnymellon.com / +1 212 815 4834.

    Barclays Bank previously reported "Barclays Bank is live for Sterling accounts. GE was the first corporate to go live with Barclays BSB files in February 08."
    Since then Barclay states that "There is a small number of additional clients on the e-billing service."

    For additional information contact your Barclays Relationship Manager.

    Since the last newsletter, BNP Paribas has deployed the TWIST BSB standard in France, the UK and more recently, Portuga".

    Contact for more information: Erwan Le Toeuff at erwan.letoeuff@bnpparibas.com

    "Citi is now live with TWIST BSB reporting of client charges in Western Europe, Canada and the United States providing BSB-formatted reporting for 23 branches. Citi will be rolling out the TWIST BSB reporting for its Asia branches beginning in the third quarter of 2009."

    For additional information about the TWIST BSB at Citi contact Jack Langan at john.e.langan@citi.com

    "Danske Bank as the first European bank, went live with the BSB for the four Nordic countries in September 07 with GE.
    Danske Bank is now live with 9 international corporate customers and is now covering 9 countries - Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Poland, Germany, UK, Ireland and Northern Ireland. Danske Bank is sending out the BSB file monthly and can add new customers with only 5 banking days of notice

    For additional information contact Senior Product Manager Henning Kloecker at henning.kloecker@danskebank.dk, Global Cash Manager anders.sehrman@danskebank.dk, or Head of Global Cash Management Peter Storgaard at peter.storgaard@danskebank.dk

    Deutsche Bank supports the TWIST BSB Standard for reporting bank fees.

    For additional information about the TWIST BSB at Deutsche Bank contact Jens Witte at jens.witte@db.com or Wolfgang Stockinger at wolfgang.stockinger@db.com

    "HSBC continues its development of both an ANSI 822 and BSB/TWIST output from its new Global Billing System. This is hoped to be available for trial in Q3 2009"

    For additional information about the TWIST BSB at HSBC contact Paul Wood at paul.wood@hsbc.com

    "J.P. Morgan now offers Electronic Account Analysis services based on the TWIST BSB standard. We have clients live on this new service which is available for accounts based in Europe. Asia accounts will be added before the end of the year."

    J. P. Morgan has been a part of the development of the TWIST BSB standard since its inception. BSB offers users a detailed view of bank bills that can be processed electronically as well as an efficient and transparent method to oversee transaction service consumption. We are pleased to be able to address our clients' requirements for this new service.

    For additional information contact your J.P. Morgan Relationship Manager

    Lloyds TSB supports the TWIST BSB Standard for reporting bank fees.

    "Societe Generale went live with a first customer in November 2008 for accounts held in France. As Societe Generale's solution is tailored to each corporate's needs, Societe Generale is now working with another corporate, within the same geographical scope, to precisely define and plan the service delivery."

    For additional information contact your Societe Generale relationship manager.

    "Standard Bank is currently implementing a new billing system and it is definitely our intention to enable billing according to the TWIST standard once this has been stabilised."

    For more information about the TWIST BSB at Standard Bank contact Richard Stocken at Richard.Stocken@standardbank.co.za

    Standard Chartered is actively working on initiatives in the pricing and billing space as part of our ongoing focus to drive process standardisation across our network and add value for our clients. As part of AFP standardardisation, we are undertaking/carrying out TWIST BSB development for reporting bank. TWIST/BSB standards will be supported in our key markets in Asia and Middle East, at the start of 2010.

    For additional information or update at Standard Chartered Bank contact Puay San Oh at puay-san.oh@sc.com

    Unicredit supports the TWIST BSB Standard for reporting bank fees.

    Westpac supports the TWIST BSB Standard for reporting bank fees.

    For information about the TWIST BSB at Westpac contact Phil King at philking@westpac.com.au or phone 61 2 8254 7519

    News from the Corporates

    "Manish Goel of GE says "GE continues to take the lead on the International Bank compensation project and unlock the value in standardized electronic bank fee reporting in the TWIST BSB standard. The coverage of banks reporting production files to GE in this format now extends across 7 banks in 23 countries including Danske Bank (Europe - 4 locations), National Irish Bank (Ireland), Barclays (UK), Socgen (France) and Citibank (12 locations), Deutsche Bank (Germany) and BNP Paribas (Europe - 3 locations) Testing is already underway with partner banks for TWIST BSB reporting across 3 countries and we have commitments to commence testing for another 14 countries. We will make further announcements in this regard at an appropriate time."

    We ask other corporates to send us an email let us know what they are doing with the BSB.

    News from the Software Vendors

    Weiland Financial Group, a provider of account analysis software to corporates says "As of this date we have a total of six large multi national current customers who have either purchased or are very interested in acquiring the BSB processing upgrade to the BRMEdge system. We have prospects who, increasingly, are inquiring about the BSB and its availability. Our business contact for BSB interest is Don Enright, DJE@weiland-wfg.com 847-810-6115."

    Chesapeake System Solutions, a provider of treasury management solutions for corporates says "SmartAnalysis is a sophisticated tool for analyzing commercial bank fee data across all banking relationships. Utilizing industry standard formats and service codes, EDI 822/AFP and TWIST BSB, SmartAnalysis imports and organizes all reported data, automates the comparison of actual with expected charges, highlights discrepancies, and helps ensure that the correct fees and credits are applied."

    For additional information contact John Snyder, jsnyder@chessys.com, +1 410 356 6805 x118

    SunTec says "As a leading provider of Relationship-based Pricing and Centralized Billing solutions to the Financial Services industry, SunTec is committed to delivering solutions which meet the standards followed by the industry. TWIST BSB is one such standard for the distribution of electronic details which reflect the charges applied to clients. SunTec has delivered TWIST BSB output through its standard data interfacing platform, thus ensuring that future upgrades to the standard can be achieved through Meta data updates in much the same way as acquiring a new map for your navigation system. The user defines the structure and format of the source and requests output in the desired format and version. The facility has been trialed by various clients and is expected to be in production shortly."

    For additional information contact Sanju Pillai, +91 471 3918391, sanjup@suntecgroup.com

    TriSyn previously reported "TriSyn Group has delivered its TWIST BSB solution which is actively being used in production. These TWIST BSB statements are being provided to their customer base. We are actively engaged in a number of other client projects to continue the rollout of this solution."

    TriSyn Group is a provider of core banking applications including the industry leading commercial billing application Infopoint Account Analysis. For more information about TriSyn Group or Infopoint Account Analysis please contact Tim Goad at tim.goad@trisyngroup.com

    LASTLY YOU CAN HELP

    Regards,
    Paul Burstein

    paul.burstein@twiststandards.org



    CONTACTING TWIST

    TWIST Process Innovations Ltd
    Cheyne House, Crown Court
    62-63 Cheapside, 4th Floor
    London, EC2V 6JP
    United Kingdom

    Email: info@twiststandards.org

    Web: To find out more about TWIST activities, please register at www.twiststandards.org