A wide range of innovative features
Developed and maintained by a strong team of banking and IT experts, Thaler provides a depth and breadth of features that can maximize your bank's growth potential. This support is enhanced by "future-proof" technology that is both scalable and reliable. In addition to multi-channel distribution, Thaler offers innovative capabilities for core-banking, analytical banking, and business intelligence.
Thaler is a fully integrated offering that provides end-to-end, front-to-back coverage for your essential business processes - including finance and risk management. The solution's modular architecture allows a partial or step-by-step deployment across whatever lines of business you prefer.
Multi-channel distribution
Thaler makes it easy to connect with customers through the channels that best suit their needs. You can use Thaler to distribute products and services through your bank's branches as well as the internet and other channels. Increasingly, banks are using the internet and direct banking to help customers handle their banking operations more independently. Front-end features in Thaler for direct banking include a user interface that customers can adapt to their particular requirements. Users log on to a secured section of your website where they can manage all aspects of their accounts. A secure messaging function lets you communicate directly with customers online. Features for branch management cover a variety of activities - including the follow-up of branch transactions and the creation of configurable vouchers. Thaler integrates seamlessly with the downstream capabilities for core-banking to support product and service innovation.
Core Banking Capabilities
Customer-focused services for deposits, loans, securities, treasury and payments cover the entire process chain of banking operations - from product creation and definition to transaction and operations management (see figure). Capabilities for product definition enable a flexible product factory and short time to market for new products. Full straight-through processing can help you achieve operational excellence and keep costs under control. Scalability features enhance your ability to grow.
Thanks to integration with downstream analytical banking solutions, your operational data is automatically prepared and processed for accounting and risk management processes. To enable optimal customer servicing, all customer- related information is handled centrally - across all lines of business - providing a 360° view of your customers and their assets. A generic functions area optimizes processes that cross individual lines of business, including: tax handling, pricing, standard settlement instructions, and authorization handling.
Other central services handle connectivity for financial information exchange, secure messaging services provided by S.W.I.F.T., and services from financial information providers such as Telekurs and Bloomberg. The software can also help banks comply with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), provide audit trails, and handle anti money-laundering programs.
The core-banking processes that Thaler supports include:
Deposits
Capabilities for deposit management can handle all types of transactions for retail, private, and corporate banking. This includes transactions related to current accounts, savings accounts, certificates of deposit, term deposits, and money market deposits. A central and flexible calculation engine helps you handle all types of interest and costs - including credit interest, debit interest, fees, overdraft charges, and service costs.
Loans
Loans management capabilities within Thaler support the handling of mortgage loans, investment loans, consumer loans, cash and revolving loans, term advances, commitments, credit lines and credit opening, and money market loans. You can define complex loan structures and manage all types of loan guarantees. Customization features let you handle rate reviews, early repayments, settlements, delay detection, and mailings. Other features let you automatically generate payment reminders and account statements, create synthetic overviews of customer loans and guarantees, and verify fund availability for loans related to credit lines.
Securities
Thaler provides management tools for portfolio managers and a complete order-management system. It supports straight-through processing for trades and can help a bank manage all kinds of securities for its own portfolio or the portfolios of its clients (including physical delivery and paying agent activities). The broad automation of securities management supports flexible securities accounting and positions management by custodians and complete management of security issuers, brokers, and custodians. You get all the information you need for stocks, bonds, and mutual funds (including fund composition to enhance transparency) - as well as for derivatives, structured products, and indexes. You can also use Thaler to handle management contracts, model portfolios, and constraints on investments and portfolios. A powerful engine based on flexible models helps you cope with all existing and future corporate actions.
Treasury
Capabilities for treasury management in Thaler cover a wide variety of operations related to foreign exchange, money market loans and deposits, interest rate swaps, interest rate currency swaps, currency options, forward rate agreements, and other derivatives. There is also support for position management - with functionality for handling trader foreign currency positions, nostro positions and projection, commitment positions, and interest exposure.
Payments
Thaler combines reliable and highly automated processing of all payment operations with powerful authorization and security rules. You can manage the bank's remittances, national transfers, standing orders, bill collections, check processing, debit and credit card administration, and cash operations. Included is support for payments made under the new Single Euro Payment Area (SEPA) rules.
Analytical Banking and Business Intelligence Capabilities
Requirements in the areas of financial accounting, profitability management, regulatory risk management and internal risk management are constantly in flux. Rules for the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), risk-adjusted performance management, Basel II Capital Accord (Basel II), and the US. Sarbanes-Oxley Act require reconciled data from several business areas. Thanks to the embedded software and integrated finance and risk architecture from SAP, Thaler provides powerful business intelligence capabilities as well as a unified platform for handling all your accounting and risk management processes. The solution is designed to help you standardize your financial processes, reduce operational risk, streamline reconciliation, and control costs. Thaler provides best-in-class capabilities for handling financial accounting, profitability management, and Basel II credit risk. Future applications for limit management, asset liability management, and credit portfolio management can further complete the solution. The integrated view of operational, finance, and risk management activities provides a central source of information that can improve and speed decision making to help you maximize profits and minimize risk (see figure).
An underlying robust reporting engine includes preconfigured content but also lets you design your own reports. Capabilities for profitability management provide sup¬port for management reporting - including risk-adjusted return on capital, business planning and simulation, and the measurement of corporate performance. There is also support for general ledger reporting, business consolidation, and risk reporting related to limit management. Furthermore, the solution is pre-configured to be integrated with tools for local financial reporting standards and other regulatory reporting.
The processes for analytical banking and business intelligence that Thaler supports include:
Financial accounting
Financial accounting capabilities help your bank comply with all accounting rules for financial instruments - including local generally accepted accounting principles (GAAPs) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Thanks to integration with core-banking tools, you will always be up-to-date and have a perfect audit trail across your entire institution. You can implement advanced accounting methods such as hedge accounting or additional local GAAPs at any point.
Profitability management
Profitability management features within Thaler support tactical and strategic decision processes based on the calculation of costs, revenues and other relevant figures on a granular basis using volume-based costing or net present values. The solution also provides a reconciled view of your bank's financial positions to fulfill external and internal accounting and reporting requirements.
Credit risk management and Basel II reporting
Thaler helps you meet Basel II requirements for risk exposure and capital adequacy and implement new supervisory review and disclosure processes.Basel II capabilities integrate internal and external credit-risk management on a single platform and support all Basel II credit risk calculations. Limit management, asset liability management and credit portfolio management are part of the standard analytical banking solution from SAP and can be added according to your bank's needs.
Future CRM Capabilities
Pre-integration with the SAP Customer Relationship Management application can further complement Thaler's core- and analytical-banking capabilities. This enhancement will give you end-to-end support for: Marketing, sales, and service; Customer relationship analysis and campaign management ; Management of loan origination.