Meeting the deadline
By : Roseanne Gerin
The National Bank of Poland (NBP) expects to upgrade at least 70% of its information technology systems to European Union (EU) banking standards by the end of 2001, an NBP official said last week.
Lech Szukszta, the director of the IT and telecommunications department at the NBP, said that the bank's IT system overhaul would be completed in the next two years and be ready to function within the electronic infrastructure of the European Central Bank (ECB) by Jan. 1, 2003. The deadline for the NBP's system changes underscores Poland's fervent hopes of joining the EU by that date.
The ECB conducts monetary policy for EU member countries, whose own central banks must have accounting, reporting and payment systems that are compatible with the EU's central bank for conducting cross-border financial transactions and interbank payment settlements.
The NBP, which provides banking services to government ministries and the country's commercial banks, is upgrading its IT system to implement a modern electronic-payment system, Szukszta said. Overall, the NBP's key tasks include adjusting its IT applications for statistical research, uniting its existing payment system with the ECB's, developing an integrated accounting system, monitoring the IT system's operation and establishing electronic-banking procedures to verify electronic signatures on computer transactions.
The whole purpose is "to establish an easy connection with the ECB" and "to send and receive data in the format used and accepted by the ECB's electronic systems," Szukszta said.
The NBP began upgrading its IT systems in 1997 when it initiated preparations to combat the Y2K problem, Szukszta said. The upgrades will result in a new format of reports for Polish commercial banks to transfer to the NBP, shorter reporting periods for the NBP to send reports to the ECB and a wider electronic circulation of money in the Polish economy, according to the bank.
