A few days more and Malta will change its national currency from the Maltese lira to the euro. We have been bombarded with a constant stream of announcements in the media about the preparations for the changeover and how to survive the transition.
Part of these preparations meant changes had to be made to software and hardware systems in several small and large business organisations, not least the Maltese banks. It was a sort of a small revolution, in some aspects comparable to the Y2K seven years ago.
i-Tech spoke to Bank of Valletta about the bank's preparations for the changeover as regards its IT systems.
"The bank's EU steering committee, chaired by the chief executive officer Tonio Depasquale, appointed a euro sub-committee in 2004, whose members were carefully selected from the bank's team of experts to represent the various lines of business within the bank including, of course, information technology," revealed a bank's spokesman.
"A euro changeover master plan was drawn up and work was assigned to a selection of teams, each led by a project manager. Four of the six project managers come from the bank's IT division. Work on the euro changeover project has been going on since 2005, with 2007 being by far the most intensive."
A few weeks before January 1, 2008 the bank's computer systems have already been updated to handle euro as their base currency, and specialised programmes have specifically been written to ensure that the conversion of account balances and all other monetary values in Maltese lira are accurately converted to euro.
A number of full-scale simulations were also held. These involved rigorous trials of all the technical processes that the bank expects to be performing on e-day. These simulations ensure that the conversion process and the upgrading of BOV's IT systems are smoothly executed on the day. These simulations required a steady interaction with other local banks and major stakeholders in order to ensure that electronic data transferred between banks and major institutions is correctly interpreted even after the conversion process takes place.
So while the majority of the Maltese will be merrymaking to welcome the new year and the new currency, what will happen in technical terms to BOV's IT systems?
"Basically, there are two aspects that need to be handled during this changeover period: One is the conversion of accounts and monetary values in Maltese Lira to euro, and the other is the updating of logic in our IT Systems such that these work correctly in an euro environment," explained the bank's spokesman.
"Wherever possible, the logic within our IT systems has been developed such that these systems can be updated ahead of December 31. For example, our electronic point of sale (e-POS) machines have already been updated with the logic required to handle the changeover to euro. This logic will automatically initialise the process at midnight on December 31, or the first time the machine is switched on thereafter.
At the time of initialisation, the machines will automatically perform a changeover from Maltese lira to euro. This strategy reduces the complexity of having merchants managing a potentially complicated task." For the conversion of monetary values, the special programmes that have been developed will be run on the day. BOV has prepared a detailed time plan with euro changeover activities on IT systems continuing right through to January 3. These activities have been scheduled in such a way that possible impact on customer services is kept to a minimum.
The higher the complexity and quantity of functions and services that a system satisfies, the higher the amount of work involved in preparing it for the euro changeover.
"By far, one of the most challenging upgrades has been the bank's retail banking system which covers most of the functionality related to the bank's deposit-taking and lending facilities, as well as the bank's general ledger system," revealed the bank's spokesman. "Another challenging upgrade has been that related to our e-commerce, e-POS, and ATM Systems, mostly because of the logistics involved, as well as the interdependencies with third party technologies, including that of the major card networks."
ATMs offer their own set of logistical as well as technical challenges, the spokesman revealed. The plan is for 60 per cent of ATMs on the Maltese islands to start dispensing euros from one minute past midnight on January 1. There will be no ATM services dispensing Maltese lira or euro between 10 p.m. and11.59 p.m. on December 31. During this time, the local banks will be making the necessary preparations to convert their internal ATM support systems to the euro.
"The fact that both major banks permit their respective customers to withdraw funds using either of the major bank's ATM networks will help in making this transition more manageable," he added.
Preparations for the conversion of BOV's internet and telephone banking systems will start at 4 p.m. on December 31 and the service will be interrupted until midnight, when the system will resume service and customers can log in and view their account details already converted to euros. Thereafter, remaining 24x7 functions will progressively come online.
Some observers have been comparing the preparations for the euro changeover to the Y2K issue seven years ago, when computers around the world had to be updated to show the correct date on January 1, 2000.
"Generically speaking, the year 2000 project was bigger and more extensive. It affected all computer systems that process dates, including non-financial systems such as those used in air traffic control and industrial refrigeration. But the euro changeover project is far more complex in that it affects any system that processes financial data in Maltese lira, and this translates to most systems used by local financial institutions and retail businesses."
Today banks are more reliant on computer systems than seven years ago when online banking was not available as it is today. While online banking is proving popular with the bank's clients, it poses a challenge.
"This gives it its strength, in that banking services availed of from our 24x7 system are performed in real time, immediately updating the primary system concerned. This richness in functionality and sophisticated interfacing is also what makes the euro conversion of our systems more complex than other similar systems."
All euro changeover-related works must be completed by January 3, with the bank expecting to offer full banking services from its branch networks as from January 4, the spokesman concluded.
Part of these preparations meant changes had to be made to software and hardware systems in several small and large business organisations, not least the Maltese banks. It was a sort of a small revolution, in some aspects comparable to the Y2K seven years ago.
i-Tech spoke to Bank of Valletta about the bank's preparations for the changeover as regards its IT systems.
"The bank's EU steering committee, chaired by the chief executive officer Tonio Depasquale, appointed a euro sub-committee in 2004, whose members were carefully selected from the bank's team of experts to represent the various lines of business within the bank including, of course, information technology," revealed a bank's spokesman.
"A euro changeover master plan was drawn up and work was assigned to a selection of teams, each led by a project manager. Four of the six project managers come from the bank's IT division. Work on the euro changeover project has been going on since 2005, with 2007 being by far the most intensive."
A few weeks before January 1, 2008 the bank's computer systems have already been updated to handle euro as their base currency, and specialised programmes have specifically been written to ensure that the conversion of account balances and all other monetary values in Maltese lira are accurately converted to euro.
A number of full-scale simulations were also held. These involved rigorous trials of all the technical processes that the bank expects to be performing on e-day. These simulations ensure that the conversion process and the upgrading of BOV's IT systems are smoothly executed on the day. These simulations required a steady interaction with other local banks and major stakeholders in order to ensure that electronic data transferred between banks and major institutions is correctly interpreted even after the conversion process takes place.
So while the majority of the Maltese will be merrymaking to welcome the new year and the new currency, what will happen in technical terms to BOV's IT systems?
"Basically, there are two aspects that need to be handled during this changeover period: One is the conversion of accounts and monetary values in Maltese Lira to euro, and the other is the updating of logic in our IT Systems such that these work correctly in an euro environment," explained the bank's spokesman.
"Wherever possible, the logic within our IT systems has been developed such that these systems can be updated ahead of December 31. For example, our electronic point of sale (e-POS) machines have already been updated with the logic required to handle the changeover to euro. This logic will automatically initialise the process at midnight on December 31, or the first time the machine is switched on thereafter.
At the time of initialisation, the machines will automatically perform a changeover from Maltese lira to euro. This strategy reduces the complexity of having merchants managing a potentially complicated task." For the conversion of monetary values, the special programmes that have been developed will be run on the day. BOV has prepared a detailed time plan with euro changeover activities on IT systems continuing right through to January 3. These activities have been scheduled in such a way that possible impact on customer services is kept to a minimum.
The higher the complexity and quantity of functions and services that a system satisfies, the higher the amount of work involved in preparing it for the euro changeover.
"By far, one of the most challenging upgrades has been the bank's retail banking system which covers most of the functionality related to the bank's deposit-taking and lending facilities, as well as the bank's general ledger system," revealed the bank's spokesman. "Another challenging upgrade has been that related to our e-commerce, e-POS, and ATM Systems, mostly because of the logistics involved, as well as the interdependencies with third party technologies, including that of the major card networks."
ATMs offer their own set of logistical as well as technical challenges, the spokesman revealed. The plan is for 60 per cent of ATMs on the Maltese islands to start dispensing euros from one minute past midnight on January 1. There will be no ATM services dispensing Maltese lira or euro between 10 p.m. and11.59 p.m. on December 31. During this time, the local banks will be making the necessary preparations to convert their internal ATM support systems to the euro.
"The fact that both major banks permit their respective customers to withdraw funds using either of the major bank's ATM networks will help in making this transition more manageable," he added.
Preparations for the conversion of BOV's internet and telephone banking systems will start at 4 p.m. on December 31 and the service will be interrupted until midnight, when the system will resume service and customers can log in and view their account details already converted to euros. Thereafter, remaining 24x7 functions will progressively come online.
Some observers have been comparing the preparations for the euro changeover to the Y2K issue seven years ago, when computers around the world had to be updated to show the correct date on January 1, 2000.
"Generically speaking, the year 2000 project was bigger and more extensive. It affected all computer systems that process dates, including non-financial systems such as those used in air traffic control and industrial refrigeration. But the euro changeover project is far more complex in that it affects any system that processes financial data in Maltese lira, and this translates to most systems used by local financial institutions and retail businesses."
Today banks are more reliant on computer systems than seven years ago when online banking was not available as it is today. While online banking is proving popular with the bank's clients, it poses a challenge.
"This gives it its strength, in that banking services availed of from our 24x7 system are performed in real time, immediately updating the primary system concerned. This richness in functionality and sophisticated interfacing is also what makes the euro conversion of our systems more complex than other similar systems."
All euro changeover-related works must be completed by January 3, with the bank expecting to offer full banking services from its branch networks as from January 4, the spokesman concluded.