Madrid-based software and systems integration company Indra SA has been awarded a contract to develop and install an electronic clearing system for ABAPPRA, the Argentinian Association of Public and Private Banks. In its first phase, the contract is worth $695,000. Indra will be responsible for consultancy, and the clearing and communications software needed to set up the clearing house for the association, which represents 80 banks. The Spanish company, which won the contract through its Argentinian subsidiary, will provide its own software. Manager of Indra’s International Operations Office, Patricio Romano, told Computerworld Espana that the clearing system will be a big breakthrough in Argentina, where information technology in the banking sector is still at an early stage of development. There is just one non-automated clearing house and documents have to travel up to 4,500 kilometers, leading to high costs and delays. The new project is designed to improve operational facilities such as standing orders, clearance of checks and transfers. Romano believes Latin America will prove to be a key market for Indra, since the financial sector has made a strong commitment to investment over the next few years. The system should be operational by the end of the year. But first Indra will collaborate with the banks on a range of activities, including setting up the working groups for the internal operation of the clearing house and organization of procedures affecting all clearance sub-systems. They will also connect the clearing house with the banks’ data processing centers, including the Central Bank of Argentina, and with the other clearing house, which has 50 member banks. Indra currently supports 80% of all clearance systems in the Spanish market, including the National Electronic Clearance System for the Bank of Spain.
