Present during the Memorandum of Agreement signing ceremony were the working teams from both banks headed by Security Bank officers: President & CEO Alfonso Salcedo, Jr. (seated, third from left) and EVP & Wholesale Banking Segment Head Eduardo Olbes (seated, fourth from left) along with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ officers: Manila Branch’s General Manager Tatsuto Ishida (seated, second from left) and Deputy General Manager Nobuyuki Hokimoto (seated, first from left).

Security Bank Corporation (SBC) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) of Japan jointly announced the launch of the Interbank Fund Management Service (IBFM). A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between SBC and MUFG’s banking entity, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.

IBFM is a special correspondent banking arrangement where customers from the two banks can enjoy respective services without having to worry about the remittance costs and numerous transfer instructions. The automated IBFM service enables customers to do online collection and disbursement arrangements and instructions directly with SBC. MUFG will take care of funding and moving excess and deficit funds for those collections and disbursements, free of remittance costs. Customers will know their end-of-day balances by 5:30 PM.

The service is backed by the concept of target balance sweeping, done automatically between the two banks without additional remittance fees to the customer. It eliminates the burden of numerous funds checking intraday.

This facility gives tremendous flexibility to MUFG customers to avail of the premium Cash Management Systems (CMS) services of SBC like 24×7 PAS 5 (Real time Customs Duties Payments) and Online Collection facility called BIPPS (Billing Invoice Presentment and Payment System), while maintaining their global core funds with MUFG.

The launch of IBFM comes soon after the first anniversary of the strategic partnership between MUFG and SBC, in which Japan’s largest bank invested 20% in one of Philippines largest domestic banks and a leader in digital CMS. The two have since collaborated on a series of initiatives, such as a successful business matching session in Manila, where both banks introduced their corporate clients to each other.