BANK WIZARD extended to provide BICs and IBANs for 29 countries

    /24-7PressRelease/ - EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND, June 04, 2006 - Eiger Systems, the leading developer of strategic payment solutions, has announced that BANK WIZARD (http://www.eiger.co.uk/bankwizard/ ), its enterprise data validation solution, now provides international payment routing information for 29 countries across Europe. This includes the whole of the European Union (EU) and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). By enabling banks and corporate organisations to provide the correct BIC (http://www.eiger.co.uk/Industry_information/BIC_Bank_Identifier_Code/ ) and IBAN (http://www.eiger.co.uk/industryinfo/ibananintroduction/ ) data when initiating cross-border payments in euros, BANK WIZARD helps reduce the cost of cross-border transactions and facilitates compliance with recent regulatory initiatives.

As part of the move towards a Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), the European Payments Council (EPC) passed a resolution in June 2005 mandating the use of BICs and IBANs in all cross-border credit transfers in euros[3]. Corporate customers whose cross-border euro transactions do not contain valid BIC and IBAN data may be subject to repair charges. In addition, from 1st January 2007 banks will be able to reject such transactions and charge customers for the return of the transaction.

"By further developing BANK WIZARD to incorporate BIC and IBAN data, we are demonstrating our commitment to the global payments market and our anticipation of payments trends within Europe", explains Jonathan Williams, Principal Market Strategist at Eiger Systems. "BANK WIZARD is the only fully automated data validation solution that already fulfils the requirements of SEPA and is sufficiently flexible to be integrated with any existing payments platform regardless of application or programming language. Recognition of this can be seen in the growing global demand for BANK WIZARD as well as from within Europe."

Organisations can achieve BIC and IBAN compliance by implementing the BANK WIZARD cross-border module. This is an additional option for BANK WIZARD version 3 that provides international payment routing information as well as undertaking domestic bank account validation and is also enhanced with additional country specific data. The BANK WIZARD cross-border module covers the 25 Member States of the EU plus the four countries that comprise the EFTA: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Further country modules are planned for later in 2006. Country extensions may be used as standalone modules or integrated with other country modules to provide users with optimum flexibility in the support of multiple domestic and cross-border payment systems.

The BIC and IBAN rules have the potential to impact all organisations making European cross-border payments.

"With the deadline of 1st January 2007 only months away, organisations should evaluate their systems and solution suppliers without delay", advises Jonathan Williams.

For more information please telephone +44 (0) 1788 554810 or visit Eiger's webpage on BIC and IBAN (http://www.eiger.co.uk/Products/BANK_WIZARD/BANK_WIZARD_BIC_and_IBAN_validation/ )

Notes:
[1] Bank Identifier Code; a universal method of identifying branches of financial institutions in order to facilitate automated processing of telecommunication messages in banking and related financial environments. BICs are managed by SWIFT.
[2] International Bank Account Number; the IBAN concept was developed by European Committee on Banking Standards (ECBS) and by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and is an internationally agreed standard ISO 13616:2003. The country-specific IBAN formats for European countries are published by the ECBS.
[3] up to 50,000 from Jan 1st 2006.

About Eiger Systems Limited (http://www.eiger.co.uk )
Overview
Eiger Systems develops strategic payment solutions to meet the requirements of leading worldwide organisations. Intentionally focusing on the specific challenges of data validation and payment processing, Eiger Systems' solutions help organisations control costs, reduce risks and improve customer service through the minimisation of payment errors.

Products
Developed to meet the needs of organisations with complex or mission critical payment processes, Eiger Systems' solutions are recognised as the most advanced offerings within their market sectors.

Eiger Systems' software and service portfolio includes:

EigerPAY Gateway The UK's leading BACSTEL-IP solution, emerging as the global platform for multiple payment channels

BANK WIZARD Europe's leading enterprise data validation solution for validating bank account details for multiple countries

BILLER WIZARD a unique bill payment validation solution for banks and other bill payment providers offering remote banking services

Eiger Systems' products are available for a wide range of computer platforms, from PCs through to mainframe environments. Open and flexible APIs facilitate integration with customers' existing business applications and robust design ensures that Eiger Systems' products are fully scaleable and capable of accommodating any level of transaction processing.

Corporate
Founded in 1997, Eiger Systems consistently delivers against its ambitious vision, resulting in an enviable track record of growth and sustained profitability. Eiger Systems achieved a turnover in excess of 9.5m GBP for the financial year ending 31st March 2006.

Eiger Systems adopts a quality-focussed approach to all aspects of its business and is ISO 9001:2000 certified. A formal and structured approach is applied to the entire lifecycle of all projects from requirements gathering through to testing and release.

Eiger Systems has achieved Investors in People accreditation and for two consecutive years has been included in the Sunday Times list of best companies to work for.

Eiger Systems is an APACS Affiliate, a BACS Affiliate, an Associate Member of the Euro Banking Association, a SWIFT Solution Partner and a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner.

Eiger Systems currently employs over 75 people at its offices in Rugby, Warwickshire, United Kingdom

Customers
Eiger Systems solutions have been implemented globally and have been chosen by many of the largest and most innovative users of strategic payment solutions. Eiger Systems' customers include many of Europe's clearing banks, insurance companies, telecommunication providers and energy utilities. In addition, Eiger Systems' supplies products and services to a significant number of building societies, charities, local authorities and central government departments.

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