4 minute read
The introduction of the central infrastructure in GIRO
Dr Mónika Iszály
Project leader, GIRO Elszámolásforgalmi Zrt.
When I joined the GIRO team in May 2017, the only thing I knew was that I had to coordinate the introduction of the central infrastructure of instant payments. I was naturally aware that this was a high-value priority project, but I only realised what this actually meant much later.
When I arrived, the preparatory project was drawing to a close, and work on the requirements specification was well under way. I did not have much time to acquaint myself with my new workplace since the call for tenders had to be sent out to the potential suppliers in mid-June. I remember that we prepared and encrypted the electronic document packages for each supplier, and after we pushed ‘Send’ on the emails we knew that this small step meant a huge shift towards the future, and we only suspected the length of the road we had just entered and the obstacles that lay ahead.
From a professional perspective, one of the most exciting and memorable parts of the bidding process was the contract negotiation. We worked hard for two months, negotiating with the supplier five days a week, 8–10 hours a day, sometimes even on weekends. There is no doubt that we laid the foundations of good cooperation during the project there and then.
After the contract was signed, the joint work started among experts, too. We travelled to Nets’ Copenhagen head office several times to discuss the issues in person. I believe that although videoconferencing and discussions over the phone are efficient, lasting
good working relations can only be built by talking in person. I was proud to see that my colleagues, who had not worked with an instant payment system before and were merely familiarising themselves with the new payment scheme, were able to cooperate as equals with Nets’ experts who had several years of experience.
The Hungarian instant payment system and the supplier’s basic software, implemented in several countries, are based on the SEPA SCT Inst. standard, which had to be slightly tailored to the Hungarian environment; the software also had to be customised to allow the incorporation of several Hungarian features (e.g. Hungarian script characters). Following months of discussions among the experts, these changes were implemented, and even though we knew that Nets’ basic solution worked, the first really exciting moment was when the software’s first version, the so-called ‘GIRO edition’, arrived in November 2018. I remember I was down in the server room with my colleagues during the installation and when we started the software and the first green stripes indicating the successful test transactions appeared on the screen, we nearly jumped for joy. But we knew that the finish line was still a long way off.
At the end of December 2018, we were all anxious to see how many banks could join the voluntary testing in January. How will the connection work? When will the first bank test transactions be sent?
Several factors had to be taken into account while designing the instant payment system. One of them was that in Hungary the instant payment system was not based on voluntary cooperation, as the Magyar Nemzeti Bank decided that all Hungarian banks had to join the central infrastructure, and this was unprecedented in global terms. Originally, thirty-eight players had to tackle this huge challenge, and we knew that if the instant payment system was to successfully launch by the designated deadline, we had to join forces, cooperate with each other. We established working groups to take into account banks’ needs and support them in the integration as much as possible. We continuously consulted with bank representatives and sought to help their work with documents as much as we could. After the initial difficulties, these working groups operated increasingly efficiently, and the cooperation between banks also became stronger. I was glad to see that after the meetings, the participants remained behind to talk and share their thoughts with each other, and often these post-meeting discussions led to some cooperation or initiative, such as the first joint tests.
However, instant payments do not only comprise an IT solution, but also a completely new approach to payments and a completely new service in GIRO’s portfolio. For example
my colleagues worked for months on developing a pricing structure that ensures as favourable conditions to banks as possible so that they can also offer favourable prices to their customers, since that is one of the key factors in the adoption of electronic payments.
On 1 July 2019, at the original deadline, the central infrastructure went live, although the deadline for the submission of bank customer transactions was postponed. Nevertheless, the 8-month postponement allowed all banking players to further enhance their systems, so everyone could prepare for the launch in March.
The introduction of instant payments was one of the largest projects in the banking sector in the past 25 years, and it will fundamentally change payments and payment habits. The key to the success of the project for the introduction of the central infrastructure lies in non-stop support from GIRO’s management and the exceptional professional qualifications of our colleagues as well as their faith in final success. I am proud to have been part of this historic undertaking.
