DUBLIN, April 15 /PRNewswire/ --

- And Provides Fast Track for Adoption of All Future UNIFI Standard
Processes

Norkom Technologies, the leading provider of financial crime
and compliance software for the global financial services industry, has
completed the first roll out of its SEPA-ready crime and compliance software.
The deployment, for a world top-ten bank, was completed in time for the
formal launch of the SEPA (Single European Payments Area) for credit
transfers on 28 January.

The launch of SEPA, which now applies to credit transfers,
will shortly be applied to direct debits and, later, card transactions, is
set to change the face of payments processing between the initial thirty-one
countries affected, creating a standard process for cross border financial
transactions. For consumers it will mean faster, simplified cashless
transactions. For the banks it bring improved access to competing clearing
and settlement mechanisms (CSMs), improved routing and better information.
However, it will also mean fresh investment in new technologies, principally
in payment processing. "Financial firms have a clear target to abandon
today's processes and to adopt the SEPA standards in full by the close of
2010," explains Edward Doyle, Norkom's Product Manager for SEPA. "But, in
order to minimise the costs associated with the change over and to reap the
efficiency gains associated with a common process, they need to act quickly."

Capgemini estimates that SEPA could save financial firms
EUR 123 billion over the next six years; but research by the Central European
Bank (ECB) confirms that these savings will be deferred and inflated
operating costs incurred as long as firms are operating two systems. The ECB
urges firms to implement SEPA quickly to achieve economies of scale as
payment revenues drop in the face of competitive market pressure.

"Norkom has invested ahead of the curve to ensure that a fully
SEPA-ready crime and compliance solution is available for firms eager to act
fast," confirms Doyle. Its software has also been designed to fast-track
firms' adoption of all future SEPA and UNIFI standard processes. "It is
important to recognise that SEPA is also a bridgehead for the introduction
the ISO20022 global payments standard, better known as UNIFI (Universal
Financial Industry Message Scheme), which will transform payment processing
on a global basis. We expect UNIFI to generate more than 300 individual
message types over the next six years for a range of transaction types; we
have designed our software so that it will immediately recognise each new
message as it occurs and adapt its transaction monitoring processes
automatically. This will dramatically reduce implementation time and the cost
of change firms must incur."

The changes to messaging involved in the introduction of SEPA
and other UNIFI related processes will force financial firms to re-address
the disciplines used to monitor for financial crime; both AML and fraud. "The
new messages carry far more information about each transaction and the
parties involved in it, which help increase firms' ability to detect and
intercept crime," explains Doyle. "However, because current crime prevention
and compliance technologies cannot accommodate these new message types, firms
are likely to find that their monitoring effectiveness is compromised,
exposing them to possible criminal attack and regulatory failure. This means
that introducing SEPA compliant crime and compliance technologies, such as
those offered by Norkom, is an absolute pre-requisite moving forward."

Norkom's new SEPA-ready software includes an enhanced visual
front-end, making it easier to use the additional functionality offered by
SEPA's information rich messaging protocols. It also interfaces directly with
SWIFT and other international payment networks. Current Norkom clients, which
include four of the world's top seven financial services providers and more
than 50 institutions in total, will be invited to upgrade to the SEPA-ready
version at their earliest convenience.

Notes for Editors

About SEPA membership

SEPA affects all financial firms operating in the European
Economic Area (EEA), including those with in the Euro Zone plus Switzerland.
In future other non-EU countries which are members of the European Payments
Council will also be added.

About Norkom Technologies

Norkom Technologies (AIM: NORK.L, IEX: NORK.IE) is a leading
provider of financial crime and compliance solutions to the global financial
services industry. Its solutions enable organisations to detect and combat
financial crime, reducing their operational losses, and addressing the
industry's ever-changing compliance and regulatory requirements. Its software
suite is underpinned by a common technology platform which can be configured
to detect and investigate multiple types of crimes. Norkom provides the
infrastructure for an end-to-end financial crime strategy, while offering a
range of solutions to address immediate business issues such as anti money
laundering, watch list management, card fraud, ID theft, internal fraud,
market abuse or customer due diligence. Norkom's approach reduces total cost
of ownership and protects clients from large-scale technology investments
with every new type of regulation or crime.

Founded in 1998, Norkom has operations across North America,
Europe and Asia Pacific. Used by clients in over 100 countries, including
HSBC, Credit Agricole, Fortis, Rabobank, Standard Chartered Bank, Washington
Mutual and Western Union, Norkom is proven to reduce financial losses,
protect reputation, improve operational efficiencies and lower the total cost
of ownership.

For further information, please contact:
    
    Fiona McLoughlin,
    Marketing Manager,
    Norkom Technologies,
    T: +353-1-8739612,
    E: fiona.mcloughlin@norkom.com ;
    
    Annie Garthwaite,
    T: +44(0)1746-764909,
    M: +44(0)780-1233212,
    E: annie@anniegarthwaite.com .