Successful start of SWIFTNet Phase 2 pilot

Published on 5 April 2006

ING Belgium is first to pilot SWIFTNet Phase 2’s new security upgrade

Gilbert Heintje, SWIFT Team Leader, ING, Virginie de Fresquet, CIO transactional services for ING Group/Ops&IT Banking, Jean-Guy Branders, Customer Operations, SWIFTNet Phase 2 Pilot co-ordinator, SWIFT and Luc Van Bergen, Marketing, SWIFT
ING Belgium is the first pilot institution to send a digitally signed SWIFTNet FIN message, on 3 April 2006, SWIFT announced today.

“This is a major milestone for the programme,” says Brian Haughan, Member of the SWIFT Executive and Head of Customer Operations. “A successful pilot will assure the community that we are on track to start a successful migration next year.”

“We are very pleased to be the first pilot bank” says Virginie de Fresquet, CIO transactional services for ING Group/Ops&IT Banking. “Being a pilot gives us a head start in the preparation for this important migration. SWIFTNet PKI and the introduction of tamper-resistant devices (HSMs) will enhance and simplify the current FIN security mechanisms.”

"This success illustrates a significant development effort with our vendors and partners. We are pleased that the community has started to pilot the different elements of this security upgrade, including the new PKI hardware,” explains Mike Fish, Head of Product Solutions, SWIFT.

The SWIFTNet Phase 2 pilot programme will continue to build up until September 2006 during which time SWIFT expects 40 pilot institutions and all interface vendors to be involved. The pilot will provide valuable feedback to both interface vendors and SWIFT, helping to finetune products before the migration starts in 2007.

SWIFTNet Phase 2 will offer the SWIFT community enhanced security that is easier to use. The new relationship management tools are simpler and improve control over traffic, whilst the new Hardware Security Modules strengthen security. Together, they reduce cost, effort and the risk of error.