Business news

MINSK, 18 October (BelTA) – The National Bank of the Republic of Belarus (NBRB) is working on a concept of an instant payment system in Belarus, Chairman of the NBRB Board Pavel Kallaur said at the opening of the 14th international forum on banking information technologies BankIT’2017, BelTA has learned.

“Another major trend in business processes is interaction between the banking sector and other organizations towards improving settlement services for customers. Our goal is to provide every potential customer with an opportunity to make the so-called instant payments,” Pavel Kallaur noted. He specified that the NBRB has devised a draft concept of an instant payment system.

The bank’s top executive clarified this is about twenty-four-hour access from various electronic devices to safe protected irrevocable monetary transactions, including those involving third-party operators. “Technical, legal, and organizational measures are undertaken to achieve this goal: the NBRB has developed a draft concept of an instant payment system and a draft bill on payment services in addition to the implementation of the ISO 20022 methodology. The modernization of the financial space of the payment services market is underway along with the accession of non-bank organizations to this market,” Pavel Kallaur remarked.

He underlined that present-day business processes in banking are largely based on using information technologies to implement the customer-oriented approach, including providing the bank’s customers with constant remote access to the bank’s services. “Re-engineering of business processes primarily affected the channels of sales of banking services and products, which led to organizational changes in the operation of bank branches. Thanks to information technologies, employees in the banking sector are being liberated from routine work in payments and cash management, bookkeeping, and accounting. This helps direct human and financial resources of banks towards developing high-technology activities,” Pavel Kallaur added.

The 14th international forum on banking information technologies BankIT’2017 is taking place in Minsk on 18-20 October. The forum has gathered more than 1,500 executives and experts in finance, IT and management from over ten countries. The program of the forum will include 14 breakout sessions, including discussions featuring more than 60 speakers. A major block of topics comprises modern requirements to IT banking platforms, data management, digital cooperation with clients, and the use of the block chain technology in the banking sector.

BankIT is the only specialized event in Eastern Europe that bring together top managers of banks, IT companies and other business sectors, and also representatives of state stakeholders and experts in IT development. Since 2004, the forum’s participants have been successfully interacting in addressing top-priority tasks, effectively using the opportunities provided by the forum’s organizers. The number of BankIT participants has been growing every year. In 2011, the event was visited by over 820 managers and experts finance, IT, and management. This number exceeded 1,400 in 2016.