Financial services

BCS launches Integrity

26 February 2008

Business Control Solutions (BCS) has launched BCS Integrity, to improve financial control and reduce operational costs through managed and standardised account reconciliation and substantiation processes. Developed in a Microsoft-focused environment, Integrity is a database-agnostic solution designed to enable better decision-making by driving efficiencies across financial institutions of all sizes.

“Most financial institutions still rely on Excel or Access for account substantiation, which involve too many manual processes and leaves too much room for error,” said Michael Bush, head of product development at BCS. “Often, account reconciliation is just one step away from a manual process. With many firms opening hundreds of accounts per day, it is easy for a new account to fall through the cracks, and to have now ownership within the organisation. This lack of control increases operational risk and is not sustainable on a cost or operational basis.”

“We observed that most firms were reacting in a tactical way to risk,” said Nigel Walder, CEO of BCS. “We wanted to enable companies to control risk in a proactive way – our solutions are aimed at providing transparency with regard to control, potential risks and accountability.”

Integrity is designed to reduce control costs while ensuring accountability, ownership and transparency in all financial services organisations, from smaller firms through to complex, global environments with multiple general ledgers and supporting software applications. It enables firms to communicate along the business chain and customise control points according to their needs, rather than a prescribed workflow.

“Currently, every finance director is living with uncertainty,” added Bush. “Integrity ensures automatic ownership of all accounts, with a due diligence record all along the chain. By quantifying the uncertainty, it puts financial directors back in control and helps them sleep at night.”

“The issue of effective financial control is one that continues to plague the financial services sector,” said Eva Weber, analyst at Aite Group. “As business processes inevitably become more complex and regulations more demanding, it’s important that dedicated controls are put in place to deliver timely P&L and risk assessments, as well as accurate reconciliation, substantiation and reporting.”