The T&T International Financial Centre (TTIFC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Quatrro Global Services (QGS) and Caribbean Electronic Payments Systems (CEPS)–a major step toward development of a financial business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in T&T.QGS and CEPS will be working with the TTIFC in a pilot project to launch the card processing aspect of BPO.
BPO is categorised into back office outsourcing, which includes human resources or finance and accounting, and front office outsourcing, which includes customer-related services. such as contact centre services.The signing took place at the TTIFC offices, 15th Floor, Tower D, International Waterfront Centre, Wrightson Road, Port-of-Spain.Speaking at the signing ceremony, TTIFC chairman Franco Siu Chong, said the signing marked a cornerstone in the work of the agency.
"These MOUs embody the essence of the need for T&T to partner with global finance and accounting BPO providers to drive this thrust. These MOUs are also proof that our value proposition has merit for the international financial services BPO community and that TTIFC is on the right track," he said.
In August, Scotiabank opened its back office operations in Chaguanas to consolidate its financial services operations across the Eastern Caribbean. The back office operations centre was named Operations and Shared Services Company Limited. RBC opened its back office in May,Siu Chong said the TTIFC's mission is to make T&T the premier location in the Western hemisphere for financial services.
"Quatrro has selected T&T as a location to launch a pilot project for card processing, with the objective of scaling up into a strategic card processing centre to support clients in the Caribbean region initially and progress into a near shore location to support clients in North and Latin America. This centre will employ a significant number of local tertiary educated graduates," he said.President of the Banking Association of T&T, Larry Nath, said the association is heartened by the development.
"I am also heartened by the fact that it will be an outlet for graduates and young students to learn about the industry. I am happy that it is a pilot project which means, just as we were hoping, it is some very good research and development going on here as well. Who knows, it might lead to something that it is really transformational. We are in support of it."Asked whether the BATT was concerned about fraud in the processing of cards, Nath said fraud is a global phenomenon and prevention measures can be implemented.
Quatrro is a global services company offering business and knowledge processing services to organizations seeking higher operational effectiveness, greater flexibility and lower operating costs.The company leverages its experience as "the pioneers in business process outsourcing" to offer innovative outsourcing solutions.
CEPS provides payment processing services to the Caribbean and Latin America as well as the United State. These services encompass all types of payment methods including Chip and PIN (EMV) compliant cards.