Purpose

In the area of customer current accounts, product definition flexibly supports products and their special features for every individual customer group. Products can be configured, step by step, much along the lines of a 'building block' principle. An account is characterized by the attributes of the freely definable product assigned to it. Contained in the product are the possible conditions, relevant transaction types and functions, and also the media with which the customer has access to the account. You can create products in several versions, enabling you to react flexibly to market requirements.

Implementation considerations

You define products in the Implementation Guide (IMG) by choosing  Master Data Product Definition In the application, you can only have the products displayed.

Scope of functions

You can define products flexibly, fast and without programming. As well as determining the conditions, transaction types and functions, the product also controls the view of the account data. This results from every attribute being assigned to exactly one view, although every view can relate to one or more products. It is also possible for you to set up specific additional fields as customer-specific enhancements, without having to modify the program. See the documentation on the Business Data Toolset.

This flexibility for product configuration enables you to adapt various transaction types such as debit transactions at points of sale, overdraft arrangements, check operations and other account movements using Customizing functionality.

The transaction type describes the business operation on which the payment item that is to be processed is based. It controls, among other things, if the account is debited or if the amount is credited and also the checks that are to be made before updating is executed.

When configuring products, it is possible to define the calculation of standard conditions dependent on various characteristics as, for example, the calculation of debit interest depending on a customer’s creditworthiness. It is possible to design an account (product) in such a way, that it is tailor-made to suit the individual requirements of a customer. (The following graphic applies mainly to banks).

Example (for banks)

A product for schoolchildren or students without their own income "Young Account" could be configured so that it is managed exclusively in credit and includes interest payment on the balance. In addition, you could restrict the issuing of checks and credit cards, exclude debit collections and permit or prohibit access using T-Online.