Payment Engine (FS-PE)

Payment Engine (FS-PE) is a single-payment operations platform that can connect to multiple internal and external payment channels. You use this component to verify, sort, and clear payment transactions. Its transparent, flexible, and automated workflow can be controlled by expert users.

Payment Engine provides high straight-through processing rates, batch processing, and real-time processing, as well as 24x7 reporting. It handles low-value, non-time-critical payments as well as high-value, time-critical payments and also allows financial institutions to offer value-added real-time services with no interruption from end-of-day processes.

Implementation Considerations

Payment Engine supports business models that enable financial institutions and service providers to offer payment processing to in-house entities as well as to external financial institutions, for example, by establishing a shared service center. In the effort towards standardization or during mergers and acquisitions, Payment Engine can be a viable solution for consolidating legacy systems and can provide compliance with future clearing systems, for instance, in preparation for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). In the context of international payments, Payment Engine also supports conversion and processing of SWIFT MT103+ messages (Single Customer Credit Transfer), for which it provides full straight-through processing (STP). For more information, see Cross-Border Payment Processing.

Thanks to its parallel-processing capability and its scalability, Payment Engine can handle the high volumes of payments typical of large financial institutions and IT service centers, while allowing institutions with lower volumes to achieve a low total cost of ownership.

Integration

Payment Engine is a standalone product with the means of connecting banking services over the SAP NetWeaver platform. You can connect account-management systems through a proxy infrastructure and other external tools and applications, such as embargo, anti-money-laundering, or reporting systems, by implementing Business Add-Ins (BAdIs), the standard technology for customer extensions. You can archive payment transactions and other relevant data using the Archiving Engine.

For more information, see Account Management Proxy (FS-PE-AMP), Connection of External Systems, and Archiving (FS-PE-ARC).

The figure below shows a basic landscape example of Payment Engine and the flow of payment information.

This graphic is explained in the accompanying text.

Payment Engine Overview

Features

Processing Functions

Payment Engine processes payments through a workflow using these functions:

Input channels
Payment transaction data can be delivered via various channels in various formats on various mediums. These input channels deliver payment orders to Payment Engine in both batch mode (files) from feeder systems and online mode (messages) over the payment order interface.

For more information, see Input Manager.
Upload of referential data
Payment Engine supports the upload, validation, and management of referential data. The data is stored in a generic data structure for use during routing, validation, and clearing.

For more information, see Referential Data Interface (FS-PE-RDI).
Format conversion
Payment Engine supports the implementation of format-specific converters for the validation and conversion of payment information. Inbound converters read incoming payment data and convert the data needed for processing to the internal metaformat. Other information contained in the uploaded data is stored separately for retrieval after the payment transactions have been processed. Outbound converters convert processed payment data to external payment data formats, for example, for export in an outgoing file.

For more information, see File Handler (FS-PE-FH) and File Handler Database.
Enrichment and validation
Based on checks for accuracy, consistency, and errors, Payment Engine validates and enriches payment orders and payment items with defined information. An internal repair function can add or correct data automatically, or you can correct errors manually. Other errors can be passed to an exception-handling function. Data enrichment is also based on standard settlement instructions (SSI) to support routing of international payments.

For more information, see Payment Processing (FS-PE-POP), Enrichment and Validation, and Standard Settlement Instructions (SSI).
Routing control
Payment Engine handles internal and external payments based on defined clearing scenarios. Flexible rules enable evaluation and route processing at payment-item level for internal payments and those to be transferred to other financial institutions or connected account-management systems. Payment Engine supports different types of master data, such as value date agreements, routes, and clearing agreements. It can also calculate and validate payment transaction charges that are later posted to an account management system.

For more information, see Routing Control (FS-PE-RP) and Charges.
Clearing and settlement
Payment Engine supports different clearing scenarios: direct clearing for nostro or vostro accounts, settlement through a clearing institute, and clearing with a separate cover provision. It distributes payment data to internal account-management systems or to outgoing clearing channels. Moreover, the system can park individual payment items in queues for later release or can bundle them in collectors for collective posting to internal accounts or forwarding in an outgoing payment order.

For more information, see Clearing Processing (FS-PE-CP).
Forwarding of payment orders
Payment Engine converts the processed data into the target format and transfers the processed and enriched payment data to the forwarding systems.

For more information, see Output Manager.

Monitoring and Control Functions

Payment Engine provides the following functions to monitor and control the payment processing workflow:

Payment order management
Payment Engine allows you to view all payment information during all processing phases and to manage payment orders and payment items manually. You can, for example, prioritize urgent payment transactions, recall payment orders, and postprocess payment data.

For more information, see Edit Payment Orders (Expert) and Recall Management.
Exception handling
Payment Engine provides semi-automated exception handling. If exceptions prevent further processing of a payment transaction, the system triggers responses based on defined rules.

For more information, see Exception Control (FS-PE-EH).
Other functions
Payment Engine can run periodic tasks, such as end-of-day processes and correspondence. You can view logged events, run reports, and evaluate business data. Payment Engine uses the user-management, authorization, and authentication mechanisms provided by SAP NetWeaver.

For more information, see Periodic Processing, Logs, and Information System.