Commerzbank modifies platform to process cross border payments

By Gloria Methri

Commerzbank is updating its existing payment platform in Germany to process cross-border payments via the SWIFT network and to process high-value and urgent payments via the TARGET 2 or EURO 1 payment systems.

To achieve this, the bank is using the TRAVIC-Payment Hub developed by PPI, which has native command of the formats that are now becoming common in international transactions.

The migration is expected to be complete by the end of 2025. At that point, Commerzbank wants to use the PPI platform to process all payment messages in Germany for its customers’ global activities in foreign commerce, treasury, and their liquidity management in ISO 20022 format.

This includes high-value payments within the Euro system for the TARGET 2 clearing system and the Euro Banking Association (EBA)’s clearing system with EURO 1. It also includes correspondent bank payments or payments in foreign currency via the SWIFT network in the Cross Border Payments and Reporting (CBPR+) format.

The PPI platform has been natively developed for the compulsory ISO formats, meaning that it will be much easier for the bank to introduce and integrate new products for international payments in the future. An ISO-native IT platform is indispensable now for reliably processing mandates for international payments and for expanding existing offerings in an economically viable way. Systems not consistently based on ISO 20022 cause high maintenance times and secondary costs.

Simone Loefgen, Global Head of Payment Platforms of Commerzbank, said, “Commerzbank is one of the leading banks for German foreign trade and wants to retain its leading market position in cash management, a position that has been confirmed in studies. This has been in our DNA for over 150 years. With the integration of the TRAVIC-Payment Hub from PPI AG, we will tap into the full potential of ISO 20022, and we will be able to offer our Private and Small Business Clients and Corporate and Institutional Clients considerably better services for executing payments and important innovations for cross-border payments.”

“The software selected by Commerzbank is well developed, futureproof and is one of the highest-performing platforms on the market”, said Dr Thorsten Völkel, CEO of PPI and Head of the payments division, about the TRAVIC-Payment Hub which Commerzbank licensed for high-value and cross-border payments. “We are delighted that our product has convinced Commerzbank both from a technical and a functional perspective.”