Interchange

Our client said

Within Interchange, we were using a POS solution which did not meet our requirements anymore. Approximately four years ago, we decided we wanted to build our own solution, which would have to be developed based on our specific situation, complexities and desires. Even though each of the various countries that Interchange is active in has its own specific requirements and regulatory and compliance needs, we wanted to develop a generic configuration-based solution that we could roll out to all branches, across the world. The solution we wanted to create should not only be focused on money transfer, FX, but also on the other services Interchange is providing. And last but not least, the solution should be built with reusable code. The company that won the tender had a good offering with good references, but after a few phases it became clear that they had underestimated the project. They simply were not able to deliver on their commitments. By June 2022, it became clear that the project would never be delivered successfully by them. Since they were fully aware of this themselves as well, they were looking for a way out. They then introduced us to Square21. I have been a CTO for many years. I know how difficult it is to transfer a project from one company to another. Handing over a struggling project to a new partner is even harder, sometimes bordering on the impossible. Unless you start again from scratch, which is what we wanted to avoid. But Square21 made it happen! They put a very good team on the project and totally turned it around. Before the end of 2022, we were already able to go live with the first countries and we are currently working on the first European implementations. The fact that they were able to take over a failing project and make it a success is very impressive. First of all, Square21 obviously has a team of highly skilled professionals. Besides, their approach is very flexible, very agile. They are focused and make an effort to really understand Interchange’s needs. And they’re generous in this: they go above and beyond their call of duty. The fact that the incumbent provider was more than happy to hand over the ‘hot potato’, did contribute to a good handover and knowledge transfer. Interchange operates in a very complex, dynamic landscape. It’s a highly regulated space, with extremely high security and privacy requirements. Also, outages are unacceptable. All systems and solutions should meet the highest standards when it comes to availability. Square21 has proven that they understand this domain very well. Furthermore, they are fast learners: they pick up knowledge and concepts that were new to them very quickly. The communication with Square21 is very smooth and positive. In addition to the planned meetings, there is constant interaction between our companies. If we have a question, they are very quick to jump on a call to work out an answer or to sort things out. And they bring in their own ideas as well. They are really helping us to define solutions that are optimal for Interchange, often in a very creative manner. All these variables provide us with the confidence that Square21 is an ideal long-term strategic partner for us. Thanks to our relationship with Square21, we are able to ramp-up quickly, by flexibly tapping into the skills, resources and creativity of a stable partner with significant domain knowledge whenever there is a need.