The 99th Usermeeting – Under the banner of Corona

On 18 March 2020, the 99th Usermeeting took place in Dreieich – this time on a smaller scale than usual due to the measures around the “corona virus”.

After the welcome by the CEO of EFiS AG, Mr. Armin Gerhardt, the managing director of Pharma24 OHG, Mr. Martin Didunyk, looked back on the SARS crisis in 2006 together with the participants. In an intensive round, they discussed which conclusions can be drawn from the events and findings of that time for the current situation. It was astonishing how many similarities both crisis situations have in both diagnosis and therapy.

The discussion then turned to the TARGET2/T2S consolidation. The Bundesbank announced that, despite the current corona crisis, the launch date of November 2021 will not change from today’s perspective. Only the start date for the ISO migration in correspondent banking was postponed by SWIFT by one year to November 2022. With a focus on the notification to the Bundesbank to be submitted by 31 March, the relevant milestones as well as information on the central administration service provider (EFiS), access types (A2A/U2A) and network service providers (SWIFT and/or SIA) were discussed jointly.

In the week before the Usermeeting, a T2T workshop was held with EFiS customers on the topic of TARGET2 transformation. Speakers and participants dealt with this topic after the refreshing lunch break. The presentation kindly provided by the Bundesbank in advance was used as a basis.

Due to the corona crisis, the legitimate question is what effects it has on the production operation and how EFiS will maintain it. Armin Gerhardt was able to clarify these questions and informed about the current security measures taken within the company. In comparison with the organizational set-up of the EFiS Group across several offices and the geo-redundant data center in Katzenstein, it was concluded that the EFiS Group is excellently positioned for the situation.

The presentations after the following coffee break dealt with the topic SWIFT. Thilo Jordan (EFiS AG) presented the process as well as the expected changes for the SWIFT release 2020. A first milestone plan was also outlined. In addition, a review of the SWIFT audits that have taken place in the recent past and their results was given.

The next meeting will be dedicated to the 100th Usermeeting. This anniversary will be celebrated on 25 June 2020. EFiS AG is already looking forward to numerous appearances and an again undisturbed get-together.