"BENEFIT" Launches the Pilot Run of ProgressSoft's Electronic Check Clearing Solution for All Banks in Bahrain

Manama, April 4, 2011

Bahrain's Electronic Network for Financial Transactions (BENEFIT) held a workshop for the pilot run of the Electronic Image-based Check Clearing Solution (PS-ECC), which is provided by ProgressSoft Corporation to all banks in the Kingdom. The workshop was attended by all bank representatives concerned with deployment of this system in order to prepare for the launch of PS-ECC, which is scheduled to take place on the 10th of April, 2011.

"With this workshop that concludes a series of similar workshops that have been taking place throughout the project, we aim to clarify all details of the last stage preceding the major launch of PS-ECC", explained Mr. Yousef Al Nufai'i, Deputy General Manager, BENEFIT. "In order to ensure a successful pilot and live run of the solution, the workshop mainly addressed issues concerning the readiness of banks and their branches, with respect to their system users, processes and mechanisms, to adopt the new solution", he affirmed. "The pilot run covers all procedures of processing checks through PS-ECC, which ultimately actualizes clearing and settlement of check amounts in the same day and within several hours," added Mr. Al Nufai'i.

"The PS-ECC project in Bahrain is being smoothly implemented due to the qualified and proficient human resources found in the Bahraini financial institutions, in addition to the effective legislations of the Central Bank of Bahrain that endorse advancement of the Kingdom's financial sector", stated Mr. Bashar Al-Ashal, Project Manager, ProgressSoft. "These factors give us confidence in accomplishing a smooth pilot run, and consequently, a successful launch in the near future", he added.

It is worth mentioning that BENEFIT operates the Kingdom's Credit Reference Bureau and is the sole provider of services such as GCC-wide, cross-border ATM sharing under the GCCNET arrangement, as well as the switching of local Debit Card transactions at Point-of-Sale counters, and Bill Payment Services. Being a center for settlements of the Gulf Network, BENEFIT plays a major role across the local and regional financial arenas.