ERI is thrilled to announce the win of two prestigious IBSI Global Fintech Innovation Awards 2021 as “Best Payment Hub/Wholesale Payments Implementation: Best Adoption of Tools & Governance” and “Best Transaction Banking Implementation: Best Project Implementation”. Both awards recognised its work with Stern International Bank.
These awards distinguish outstanding organisations from across the globe, with 191 banks and technology companies submitting 180 nominations from 48 countries. The judges evaluated, among other criteria, the complexity of program implementation as well as the issues overcome, the strength of deployed resources and maturity in program governance, the positive impact on the customer and finally industry best practices and frameworks used to ease the implementation process.
Commenting on the awards, Drew Cohen, Director of Stern International Bank, said: “Choosing an agile core banking system recognised in the industry and by U.S. authorities for its robustness was a cornerstone of Stern Bank’s business development strategy. The Bank was keen to implement streamlined, automated processes and procedures that would help to keep costs under control while enabling reactive customer service. A key strategic objective was to obtain a master online account with the New York Federal Reserve to process USD payments and other transactions as a direct clearer in the U.S. financial system. ERI supported the bank throughout this process.”
Jean-Philippe Bersier, Director – Business Development at ERI, was delighted by this industry recognition: “Stern Bank was able to work directly with OLYMPIC Banking System’s consultants, which made processes and coordination fast and efficient. Thanks to that fruitful collaboration the whole project could be handled 100% remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic. Without any physical meetings or on-site visits during the whole 9 months of the project, our team managed to stay close to the team at Stern Bank, ensuring continuity and seamless workflows.”
IBS Intelligence, Managing Editor, Robin Amlôt, said: “ERI Banking Software implemented a solution that enabled Stern International Bank to have a master online account with the New York Federal Reserve to process USD payments and other transactions as a direct clearer in the U.S. financial system. Most U.S. system providers do not offer this level of customisation.”
Stern International Bank LLC is a U.S. “state bank” as defined in Section 3 of the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. §1813(a)(2)) and is organized as an International Financial Entity in Puerto Rico. It provides correspondent banking services in LATAM, Western Europe and the Caribbean. Stern maintains an online master account with the New York Federal Reserve (“FRBNY”) – the first bank approved for an account under the FRBNY revised Account and Financial Services Handbook. FRBNY provides Stern with financial services including the Federal Reserve Banks’ Check Services, the FedACH® Services, the Fedwire® Funds Service and the Fedwire® Securities Service.
The Bank is supervised by the Puerto Rico Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (“OCIF”). Stern’s U.S. Federal Reserve ABA Routing Number is 021508086 and its SWIFT Code is SIECPRSJ.
IBS Intelligence is the world’s only pure-play financial technology focused research, advisory, and news analysis firm, with a 30-year track record and clients around the world. We take pride in covering 400+ technology vendors globally – the largest by any analyst firm in this space.
The IBSI Global FinTech Innovation Awards seek to identify and honour technology players and banks for their excellence in driving impact through banking technology implementations and innovations using emerging technologies. This year, we are recognising the most innovative and impact generating projects around the world across 30 categories. Qualifying entries represent projects that went live on or before September 2021 either as a soft launch or as a full rollout.