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 Practice Head Appointed (20/02/2008)

Strategic Thought Group appoints Head of new Banking Payments Practice as banking payments regulations fuel demand for professionals services in the finance sector.

Strategic Thought Group, the technology and services company has launched a new Banking Payments Practice.  This expansion is a strategic move to meet the demand for professional services and expertise in the finance sector as a result of increased regulation and compliance in relation to banking payments.

Heading up the Banking Payments Practice will be Darren Capehorn who has joined Strategic Thought after twenty-one years at Lloyds TSB.  

Capehorn had been involved in payments at Lloyds TSB since 1999 including his role as Lead Architect on Straight Through Payments (STP) a group wide payment strategy for a simplified payments architecture to deliver faster payments for over 15 million customers.  Capehorn also held a seat on the committee of APACS, the UK trade payments association for the promotion of faster payments for the whole of the UK banking community.

Darren Capehorn, Head of Banking Payments Practice at Strategic Thought Group said, “Payments have always been crucial in banking and never more so than since the introduction of the Faster Payments initiative for same day and near same day payments and the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA).  In addition new compliance requirements relating to payments on behalf of customers dealing across borders has meant extra processes and controls, all of which put pressure on internal payment systems within banks.

“Strategic Thought has worked with Lloyds TSB since 2003 and during that time I found the company to be technically excellent and consistently professional in its approach.  We worked together on Straight Through Payments which was seen as a flagship project within Lloyds TSB because of the quality it delivered both in terms of resilience and speed.  Through the new Banking Payments Practice we intend to provide the same level of expertise to other banks facing similar challenges.”  

Strategic Thought has over 20 years experience in system integration and is focused on the integration of critical business systems that improve business performance and increase profitability in the finance and other sectors.  Customers outside of the finance sector include British Telecom, Argos, Network Rail and Nestle.  

Martin Metcalf, CEO of Strategic Thought Group stated, “Strategic Thought Services is one of most respected providers of integration services in the UK today.  We specialise in integration and presentation of corporate knowledge with rich experience in both IBM and Microsoft technologies.  The new Banking Payments Practice is a natural extension to the work we have been doing in the finance sector over the last ten years which also includes projects in financial markets and tax operations.  We are honoured that Darren Capehorn has agreed to lead the new Banking Payments Practice for us.  His knowledge of payments and the system architecture, design and implementation required to provide an integrated solution covering all areas of risk and compliance is second to none.”  

The new Banking Payments Practice of Strategic Thought Group is already working with customers and recruiting additional technical consultants.   

About Strategic Thought Group Plc
Strategic Thought was founded in 1987 in the UK and opened offices in the US in 2004.  Strategic Thought is a technology and services company that provides world-class risk management software (Active Risk Manager) and solutions to many of the globe’s largest organizations.  The Strategic Thought Services Division is an IBM Premier Business Partner and Microsoft Gold Partner specialising in enterprise integration projects.