Cayman Islands banks Announce Automated Clearing house agreement

Six retail banks have joined forces to offer local Automated Clearing House (ACH) services in the Cayman Islands for the first time.

ACH (Cayman) Limited, a company formed by the partnership of the six retail banks, has announced the signing of a contract with Prism Services (Cayman) Limited, effective September 15^th 2017, for the provision of local ACH services.

The partner banks are Fidelity Bank (Cayman) Ltd, Cayman National Bank Ltd, CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Limited, RBC Royal Bank Cayman Limited, Butterfield Bank (Cayman) Ltd and Scotiabank & Trust (Cayman) Limited.

Mr Brian Esau, President of the Cayman Islands Bankers’ Association said the benefits of an ACH system were far reaching and a significant milestone for banking in the Cayman Islands.

“New innovations and technology are changing the way consumers and businesses access, move and use their money,” he said. “In addition to being highly reliable, this system is extremely secure and is more cost-effective, secure, and quicker than processing paper cheques and other forms of payment-related information.”

An Automated Clearing House (ACH) is a nationwide electronic payment network that allows the exchange and settlement of cheques, electronic payments and payment-related information between financial institutions. The electronic data interchange is governed by strict rules and agreements between financial institutions and the ACH central operator that ensures a safe and secure exchange of information.

Mr Esau said the partnership company was pleased with the appointment of Prism Services (Cayman) Limited as the company’s ACH service provider as it had a stellar record for providing ACH management services to the Caribbean for fifteen years.

“Prism Services, a regional company, has clients in over 22 countries and a group of skilled and certified local and regional employees who enable the consistent delivery of superior financial transaction processing, project management, document management, mail fulfilment and Tier 2 data centre services,” he said. “Their credentials mean they were a perfect fit for this partnership.”

Mr Tony Del Castilho, Group General Manager of Prism Services, who was in Cayman for the official signing of the agreement said “the establishment of an ACH requires many months of planning, collaboration and testing among the stakeholder banks, ensuring that the investment in the ACH infrastructure not only results in a smooth and trouble-free launch, but brings significant benefits to all stakeholders for many years to come.”

The project to establish the ACH system and interconnectivity within the Cayman retail banks commenced in April 2016 and is well progressed in a phased approach towards a live launch in early 2018.

“As the project progresses, customers should look out for communications that will help them understand and access these new services,” Mr Esau said.