SIBOS/Amsterdam, Oct. 26, 2010
solution reduces complexity of cash management for the Group’s 400 subsidiaries in 94 countries serving 120 million
customers using multiple
currencies
France Telecom-Orange is using Finance Connect Service Bureau from Orange Business
Services, a value-added cash management service that uses Orange’s SWIFT Service
Bureau, to reduce the total cost of networking and infrastructure ownership while
providing a simplified, resilient and fully managed solution. The Service Bureau
manages all operations and access of companies and banks to SWIFTNet via a secured
platform allowing them to focus on their core business.
As one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators, France Telecom-Orange
needed to address its cash management in relation to internationality, complexity
and magnitude considering that its 400 subsidiaries are located in 94 countries
and serve 120 million customers.
Finance Connect is tailored to customers’ needs which can vary from small-scale
centralization and outsourcing projects around their treasury management systems
to supporting full-scale integration. In today’s economic climate, this service
meets the market demand for managed services and Software as a Service and is
an example of how Orange Business Services is making strides in this area.
Raffi Basmadjian, head of Cash Management and Cash Management IT, France Telecom-Orange,
states: “We need to know how much we are going to pay or to be paid, in what currency,
on what bank account, on what date (in value date). This becomes complex when
the number of flows, banks and bank accounts, currencies, countries and subsidiaries
is so large. Finance Connect supplies a global environment in which Orange Business
Services handles that complexity for France Telecom Orange allowing us to benefit
from a cost effective, universal e-banking solution.”
Finance Connect offers key business benefits, including:
- improve security / reliability: ability to control payment initiations and increased security, thanks to network
reliability.
- operations hosting with application centralization of virtually any existing or planned mission-critical live or
disaster recovery application
in-house or at an Orange hosting center.
- global visibility of cash: the ability to receive end-of-day or intra-day reporting directly from all
the customer’s banks increases funds visibility and investment ability (optimization
of cash pooling, reduction of overdraft and borrowing costs, optimization of uninvested
cash…)
- lower cost of financial transactions: single channel versus potential multitude of different channels. The standards
enable increased straight-through-processing (STP) allowing staff productivity
gains or re-allocation;
- compliance: for corporates under stringent regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, using one
single interface significantly reduces the administration work required to document
– and keep up-to-date – banking communication processes.
Orange Business Services is the only globally operating network partner that
is registered by SWIFT as a Service Bureau. Orange Business Services has partnered
with SWIFT for 15 years and currently connects directly more than 1,250 actors
in the SWIFT community.
Elie Lasker, head of Corporate Market, SWIFT, said: “Gaining the trust of France Telecom Orange with Finance Connect
proves that
the partnership between Orange Business Services, the only network partner approved
also as a SWIFT Service Bureau, and SWIFT, the predominant global financial network,
is successful by providing unique business benefits such as mitigation of cash
management complexity, global visibility, standardization, cost savings and improved
security.”
As Daniel Delestre, head of Global Sales, Marketing & External Communications
of Orange Business Services, said: “Orange Business Services is uniquely positioned to provide a global cash management
solution like Finance Connect. We have a very high level of networking expertise
coupled with vast experience in managed services in addition to being a neutral
service provider as opposed to any bank. We continually look for ways to enable
our customers to succeed in today’s challenging environment and are the only provider
meeting this complete profile for global cash management with Finance Connect.”
About Orange Business Services
Orange Business Services, the France Telecom Orange branch dedicated to B2B services,
is a leading global integrator of communications solutions for multinational corporations.
With the world’s largest, seamless network for voice and data, Orange Business
Services reaches 220 countries and territories with local support in 166. Offering
a comprehensive package of communication services covering cloud computing, enterprise
mobility, M2M, security, unified communications, videoconferencing, and broadband,
Orange Business Services delivers a best-in-class customer experience across a
global landscape. Thousands of enterprise customers and 1.4 million users rely
on an Orange Business Services international platform for communicating and conducting
business. Orange Business Services is a four-time winner of Best Global Operator
at the World Communication Awards. Learn more at
www.orange-business.com
About Orange
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world’s leading telecommunications
operators. With almost 131 million customers, the Orange brand covers Internet,
television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the Group operates.
At the end of 2009, France Telecom had sales of 44.8 billion euros (22.1 billion
euros for the first half of 2010). At June 30, 2010, the Group had a total customer
base of 182 million customers in 32 countries. These include 123.1 million mobile
customers and 13.2 million broadband Internet (ADSL) customers worldwide. Orange
is the number three mobile operator and the number three provider of broadband
Internet services in Europe and, under the brand Orange Business Services, is
one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational
companies.
With its industrial project, "conquests 2015", Orange is simultaneously addressing
its employees, customers and shareholders, as well as the society in which the
company operates, through a concrete set of action plans. These commitments are
expressed through a new vision of human resources for employees; through the deployment
of a network infrastructure upon which the Group will build its future growth;
through the Group’s ambition to offer a superior customer experience thanks in
particular to improved quality of service; and through the acceleration of international
development.
France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on Euronext Paris (compartment A) and on
the New York Stock Exchange.
For more information (on the Internet and on your mobile):
www.orange.com,
www.orange-business.com,
www.orange-innovation.tv
Orange and any other Orange product or service names included in this material
are trade marks of Orange Personal Communications Services Limited, Orange France
or France Telecom.
About SWIFT
SWIFT is a member-owned cooperative that provides the communications platform,
products and services to connect more than 9,500 banking organisations, securities
institutions and corporate customers in 209 countries. SWIFT enables its users
to exchange automated, standardised financial information securely and reliably,
thereby lowering costs, reducing operational risk and eliminating operational
inefficiencies. SWIFT also brings the financial community together to work collaboratively
to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest.
www.swift.com