Ravensburger Uses MultiCash Transfer for Payment Factory
Ravensburger, an international supplier of games and books for young people, has decided to centralise its corporate workflows with a solution based on Omikron’s MultiCash Transfer. Ravensburger made the move after recognising the potential that the single euro payments area (SEPA) offered it in terms of centralising payments across Europe.
First and foremost, Ravensburger’s objective was to build a payment factory that can be used across the group, with mechanisms for central controlling, including monitoring the liquidity flows for the entire group. A second driver was to ensure that payments could be authorised from separate locations, allowing Ravensburger’s international affiliates to play a full role.
On this basis, the existing electronic banking (e-banking) systems have been replaced by one consolidated multibanking platform. This system is designed for straight-through processing (STP) and has been integrated into Ravensburger’s IT landscape. Authorised staff from the group’s divisions and international affiliates are now able to manage payments by browser, using the corporate intranet or the internet.
Due to its international activities, Ravensburger attached great importance to the support of multiple languages, as well as the use of MCFT and EBICS, which are considered to be the most significant standards for bank connections in Europe. An additional benefit of MultiCash Transfer is the option to incorporate bank-proprietary delivery channels, which allows access to banks not, or not yet complying with the latest standards.
“Thanks to a careful planning of our project team and Omikron’s experience in international e-banking, we were able to meet our tight time goals for the implementation of a group-wide payment factory,” said Andrea Rogait, head of corporate accounting, taxes, treasury and insurance within Ravensburger. “This enables us to reap the rewards of SEPA payments at an early stage.”