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Mr. Daniel Krebs appointed to the Eurogiro Board
The payment market and Eurogiro have
changed dramatically since you entered your
first Eurogiro working group, the (Board)
Advisory Group in 2004. What do you regard
as the greatest achievements of Eurogiro
over time and what should Eurogiro focus on
to meet the challenges of today?
Eurogiro adapted its “postal network” to
a potter’s wheel between postal organisa-
tions, banks and other financial institutions.
In geographic terms, Eurogiro managed to
overcome its Euro-centric focus to adopt a
global view. Many initiatives taken in the past
are a good basis for further development.
One example is the SECUG (SWIFT-Euro-
giro Closed User Group) which enables
banks to connect to Eurogiro using the
SWIFT infrastructure. This must also be
the basis with which to connect banks even
more smoothly in the future.
You represent one of the strongest sending
(and receiving) institutions in Eurogiro and
have opened the largest number of business
corridors with other members. How do you
see the value of the community now and in
the near future?
On the one hand, we are a retail financial
institution based in Switzerland without any
branches or representative offices outside the
country. On the other hand, we handle the
largest share of international payments on the
Swiss market.
In the past, Eurogiro enabled connections
to institutions abroad – remember that it is
not that long ago since postal organisations
were not allowed to participate in the SWIFT
network. Eurogiro provides us with a valuable
platform for close relations with institutions
worldwide. This community spirit is of utmost
importance for the future.
Partnerships have been very important in the
history of Eurogiro, including Western Union
and SWIFT among others. How do you see
the role of partnerships?
The community is the basis for successful
partnerships. Today, the major part of the
4 Eurogiro News
Mr. Daniel Krebs has recently been appointed as a new member of the Eurogiro Board,
succeeding Mr. Armin Brun as the representative of Swiss Post PostFinance. Daniel brings a
wealth of knowledge about Eurogiro from his many former roles in Eurogiro working groups.
In this interview he expresses his view on the aspirations and challenges of Eurogiro
●
PostFinance handles the biggest share of international payments in Switzerland and
is the largest sender of transactions in Eurogiro with the most extensive network of
member connections
●
The main payment-related challenges today are:
•
New regulatory requirements to procedures at counters (typically FATF-based)
•
Decrease in cash payments; Switzerland, being a country for many white-collar
workers bases its remittances heavily on giro payments. Cash payments are
mainly pension payments, however, pensions made today are account payments, so
the fact that Eurogiro provides access to account-keeping organisations is valuable
•
Customers demand more alternatives in terms of access to our products – our
mobile banking solutions help to address this demand
●
From early 2013, PostFinance will be regulated under banking law, but will remain
fully owned by the Swiss Post Group. It will be able to take advantage of the dense
postal office network within the country as well as its group infrastructure.
Swiss Post PostFinance - a very strong
European postal organisation
The Financial Services’ leg of Swiss Post has a uniquely strong position in
its domestic market, and a widespread net of international business connec-
tions. Here is a short portrait of one of the founders of Eurogiro, PostFinance
which made Eurogiro an essential part of its international payments service: