15th August 2022- Lagos, Nigeria– Union Systems Limited, Africa’s leading Financial Software Company announced that Keystone bank, a leading financial institution in Nigeria, has chosen its Software SAKOBIA to simplify their ISO 2022 SWIFT migration. This comes after the announcement by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) mandating all banks to migrate their SWIFT messages to ISO 20022 standard by November 2022.
SAKOBIA is a full stack enterprise web-application and a central messaging hub designed to manage the generation, validation, authorization, and translation of SWIFT messages without having to modify existing infrastructures. This migration is a significant transformation for the financial services industry and will enable global interoperability resulting in significant advancement in global payment processing.
Commenting on the partnership with Union System Limited, the Acting Chief Information Officer, Yemi Olaniyi of Keystone Bank said “The ISO20022 Standard (International Organization for Standardization 20022), is an established global language for electronic data interchange for payments messaging in over 70 countries and we have chosen Sakobia, because it is a smart middleware with the ability to help us transition seamlessly while complying with the regulations of the Central Bank of Nigeria. We are convinced that this adoption will further position us to provide greater value to our customers and the financial ecosystem at large”.
Adding to that, the Chief Technology Officer of Union Systems Limited, Emmanuel Nkenwokeneme, stated that “As a SWIFT technology partner, we understand the complexities surrounding this migration and the need for banks to achieve compliance quickly and cost-effectively. We are excited to partner with Keystone Bank on this move in the most effective and efficient way possible.”
Sakobia’s ability to convert messages from MT to MX and vice versa automatically is a unique selling factor. In addition to message translation, SAKOBIA, handles Nostro Reconciliation, Message Matching, and Chaining Business Process Management, and serves as a middleware for financial message management enroute to swift alliance.
About Union Systems Limited
Union Systems Limited (USL) is Africa’s leading trade finance software company. For over 20 years, the company has been delivering future thinking trade finance software solutions to banks and corporates in Africa to achieve full automation and digitization of their trade operations. Our trade finance software solutions deliver growth, profitability, and regulatory compliance to banks and corporates.
With headquarters in Lagos, Nigeria, the company has a deep understanding of the African market and a team of highly qualified consultants with real-world experience in the delivery of complex software solutions. Union Systems has been named Trade Finance Software Solutions Provider of the Year at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards for the second year in a row, in recognition of its innovation and excellence.
About Keystone Bank
Keystone Bank is a rapidly growing bank currently operating in three countries with an array of local and international relationships across developing and developed countries and territories.
The Bank has 157 branches and 11 cash offices spread across Nigeria; an insurance subsidiary – KBL Insurance Limited; and as of September 12, 2022, a wholly owned subsidiary in Liberia (Global Bank Liberia Limited). The bank was named ‘Africa’s Most Innovative Bank of the Year, 2018’ at the prestigious European Global Banking & Finance Awards.
