Introduction
Servicing banks and financial institutions utilizing centralized
software and using modern channels such as Internet, telephone banking, mobile
banking, SMS, email and so on results in reduction of labor costs, service
availability during the day and customer satisfaction for receiving easier and
more convenient services. According to global statistics, using this method in
banks, in addition to prevention from client congestion, reduces the need for
development of branches that requires a lot of investment.

These systems have made it possible to access the information using
modern technology, have minimized core system changes that require tremendous
investment, and will create a modern face for banks. Given the need for banks
to provide electronic banking services to the customers through various
communication channels, creation of a centralized management system on these
channels is a necessity. Integration is one of the most important challenges
for banks and especially the banks with rather large number of legacy systems.
As a secure gateway, this system integrates entry and exit routes and gives
services to various requests of customers through the channels. Communication
channels management system can also include suitable adapters in layer of communication
with core or set of secondary cores and act as an integrator over separate
banking systems and manage customer requests in a correct and controlled way
when required.
Advantages
·
Optimal utilization of existing systems in the
bank: Using channel management system, banks can keep their existing systems
and provide modern banking services to customers.
·
Achieving a single view of bank: Using the
channel management system, the customer may receive similar services from any
of the service channels, regardless of the centralized bank system in which he
is defined.
·
Increasing security: As authentication and
controlling all customer accesses to centralized systems are done in a common
unit (channel management system), system security is increased.
·
Improvement of information management: As all
activities of customers are done through channel management system,
concentration on information management can be done in the channel management
system and as a result the information management will be done easier.
·
Facilitation of development and changing
customer communication channels
Features
As a comprehensive and appropriate solution, channel management
system has the following architectural, functional and security features:
Architectural Features
Major architectural features of the system are as follows:
- System
programming and development environment based on JAVA and J2EE
- Using
various architectural patterns including integration and J2EE
- Appropriate
reconciliation of commercial components and open standard
- Observing
principles of object oriented programming
- Testability:
It is possible to test the system in different layers such as connection
points with other systems
- Ease
of expandability and offering new services
·
Easy to configure: Configurable through XML
configuration files and Graphical user interfaces without changing the
application code in various positions
- Independence
from hardware and software platforms and operating system
- Hardware
independence and supporting Mainframe, Midrange, and PC
- Independence
from operating system and supporting ZOS, Linux, and Windows
- Independence
from Application server and web server
o
Independence from database
Usage Features
Usage features of the channel management system are as follows:
·
Possibility of defining and removing
communication channels and activating and deactivating them, defining services
and activating and deactivating them, identifying and changing controlling
specifications for channels and services and possibility of managing them
·
Possibility of defining customer requested
channels and services, defining location and time of access and identifying
funds transfer ceiling for each day and each transaction on any of the customer
accounts
·
possibility of collecting and updating customer
information from centralized systems
·
possibility of monitoring and recording
transactions, all financial and non-financial transactions are traceable and
countable
·
Possibility of logging system administrators’
activities, branch staff and data changes, services provided to customers,
entry and exit of personnel, and preparation of different related reports
·
Possibility of scheduling of implementation of
activities
Operational Features
Operational features
of the channel management system are as follows:
·
Supporting banking standards, supporting ISO
8583 and custom format consistent with the bank’s business of Iran based on the
standard IFX
·
Supporting different communication channels
including ATM, POS, PG, IVR, SMS, Email, Internet, Mobile, FAX
·
Supporting different languages (Multi-lingual
capability, at least Farsi and English)
·
Web based user interface for system
administration
·
Supporting various communications protocols:
currently JMS communications protocols and especially IBM MQ, TCP/IP, HTTP, and
VM are supported.
·
Supporting CSV for exchange of information
Security Features
One of the most
important requirements of electronic funds transfer (Financial transactions) is
to make sure of secure transactions and communication between different
components. In the Channel Management System, high level security features have
been built keeping in mind the latest security threats.

Some of the main
implemented security features are as follows:
- Countering
the latest cyber attacks
- Ensuring
the accuracy of the message and controlling the integrity of the message
in the message path
·
Maintaining confidentiality: message encoding
and decoding in the path
·
User authentication and authorization
o
Authentication for external systems in the bank
and second level authentication for financial transactions
o
Possibility of system login restrictions based
on access identifiers such as IP, specified phone or mobile number
o
Logging successful and failed login attempts
o
Possibility to define different input ports
according to user’s role
o
Possibility of role based access level
controlling
Transactions Management
·
It is possible to manage transactions that are
involved in more than one system
·
Observing principles of concurrency and
duplicate transactions prevention
·
High volume transaction processing capability
·
Reporting of transactions based on different
parameters
·
Possibility to track the status of a
transaction
·
Instant payment processing