MANILA, Philippines – The Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) was presented with the straight-through processing (STP) Award 2008 by Commerzbank AG, one of Europe’s leading financial institutions and the second largest in Germany.
“The STP Award 2008 is in recognition of Metrobank’s excellent quality in the delivery of EURO-denominated commercial payments and financial transfers throughout the year 2008,” Commerzbank said.
Metrobank reached high standards for MT103 and MT202 transactions during the period January to December 2008 for payments drawn on its account with Commerzbank AG, Frankfurt, Germany.
MT103 refers to bank-to-individual money transfers, while MT202 is for bank-to-bank money transfers.
In 2006 and 2008, Metrobank has already received an STP Award from the Bank of New York-Mellon for US Dollar-denominated transfers.
“Metrobank utilizes modern and technologically advanced systems to keep pace with the stringent requirements of international banking standards, including settlements,” Dennis Suico, Metrobank executive vice president, explained. “This is in line with our goal of providing the best possible service to our customers as their trusted partner, and becoming the best bank for our stakeholders.”
Straight-through processing means a fully automated processing of payment orders without any manual intervention by the clearing bank. STP payments reduce risk of delays or failures in payment through automated and standardized financial transactions.
The process also lowers operating and transaction costs and increases operations efficiency.
STP involves using the correct format and placing the correct information in the applicable fields as defined by SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, a member-owned cooperative, through which the financial world conducts its business operations with speed, certainty and confidence.
As a data carrier, SWIFT transports messages between two financial institutions, providing the secure exchange of proprietary data while ensuring its confidentiality and integrity.
Metrobank has a global network of 35 branches and offices, 58 remittance tie-ups, and more than a thousand correspondent banks. It has presence in the US, Canada, the Middle East, Taiwan, Shanghai, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Italy, the UK, Spain and Austria.