J.P. Morgan continues to expand its treasury proposition in Asia with the extension of its US Dollar Clearing Asia Direct solution to Japan as well as additional technology enhancements, including a new partnership with NTT Data Corporation.
With the new capabilities, users of J.P. Morgan's Asia Direct solution now have access to Tokyo Dollar Clearing system member banks, and Japanese financial institutions can now submit cross-border payments to J.P. Morgan through NTT Data's ASP platform. Additionally, new intelligent routing technology will speed up the settlement of dollar payments.
"As the largest US dollar clearing bank in the world, J.P. Morgan continues to bring expertise, innovation and value to clients conducting business in the Asia-Pacific," said Greg Murray, product executive for US dollar clearing at J.P. Morgan Treasury Services. He called the addition of the Tokyo Dollar Clearing system to Asia Direct a "natural extension".
Launched last September, Asia Direct allows clients to make payments into regional and in-country US dollar clearing systems in the four countries covered from one dollar account. According to the bank, this allows for better cash concentration, lower fees, simplified funding arrangements and decreased reconciliation time.
The partnership with NTT Data Corporation, which was announced earlier this month, enables local banks to submit transactional treasury services requests to J.P. Morgan online through NTT Data's ASP platform. This eliminates the need for data re-entry, reducing the possibility of errors.
NTT Data is a leading IT solutions provider in Japan and the country's largest systems integrator.
"The partnership leverages the advanced technologies of both institutions, providing a seamless and fully automated linkage to J.P. Morgan's treasury services' global architecture and the Tokyo Dollar Clearing system," said Ricky Kaura, managing director and Japan business executive for J.P. Morgan Treasury Services.
J.P. Morgan established the Tokyo Dollar Clearing system in 1986 and remains its sole operator.
Meanwhile, the new intelligent routing technology automatically determines the quickest channel for delivering US dollar payments, building on earlier enhancements, including automated payment prequalification for receiving banks.
"By expediting their payments, our clients also are positioned to improve their relationships with customers, counterparties and suppliers, and thus negotiate better terms," said Abdul Raof Latiff, Asia head of treasury services clearing and foreign exchange at J.P. Morgan Treasury Services.
Asia Direct aims to reduce the clearing time for US dollar payments to the same day from a minimum of two days.
J.P. Morgan Treasury Services' first-half revenue was down 5% year-on-year to $3.7 billion.
