Project overview Bank of Algeria (BA) put into operation the ARTS (Algeria Real Time Settlement system) in 2006 within the framework of the countrys nancial infrastructure modernization project. CMA company designed the systems, adjusted it according to the national regulating authorities and legislation requirements, delivered, installed and setup the software and hardware system. The vendor was chosen as a result of the tender carried out by the Bank of Algeria under the aegis of the World Bank. The system was launched into live operations on February 8, 2006. The Project task was to develop and implement an automated system of online collection and processing of big payments. Access to the system is executed via the dedicated network providing high speed secure information exchange between the system participants, Bank of Algeria and its departments. ARTS also support the opportunity of shared access areas usage in case of unforeseen connection breaks with one or several participants. Systems concept The ARTS architecture is oriented to minimizing of legal, operational and nancial risks and security risks. The ARTS employs a component oriented approach on the basis of which a full-function real time gross settlement system (RTGS) was created with advanced possibilities of risk management, control and monitoring and integration with other systems. Real Time Gross Settlement System ARTS general structure External currency payments system Internet S.W.I.F.T Extranet PIE business logic layer Bank of Algeria general ledger system CPI central clearing system ARTS participant node Bank of Algeria branch node DB Web-server ARTS central node System core Bank of Algeria employees workstations CMA SMALL SYSTEMS AB The Central Bank of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is the superior issuing agency executing the state policy in the sphere of credits, money turnover and currency operations regulating the work of the banking system in whole and operating as reserve bank. The main function of the Bank is protection and stabilization of the national currency, maintaining the nancial system of the country, providing efcient and uninterruptable functioning of the payment system. http://www.bank-of-algeria.dz/ The ARTS owns Accounts State Monitor that provides control, monitoring and management of nancial ows from one place not only in the ARTS but also in internal and external nancial systems such as program applications for general nancial accounting, clearing system, external currency payment system etc. The adjustable schedule module is intended for system switching from one state to another, automatically or manually. Publication/subscription module is used for notication messages and other information sending to the ARTS users. Payments entry by the staff of the Bank of Algeria and its branches situated in the province is done via the secure dedicated network, at that the automated workplaces work on the basis of the thin client technology. The ARTS became the central node of the national payment system. 47 regional clearing systems were linked to the ARTS system on the rst stage. After launching of the new central clearing system CPI regional departments of the Bank of Algeria migrated to the new system without stopping or modifying the ARTS. A full-scale interaction of all the systems in on-line mode as well as connection to the ARTS of the new system were provided by means of implementation of PIE technology which is the backbone of the RTGS system and successfully applied in the majority of other CMAs program products. The participants of the settlement system are provided with a set of automated workplaces that support a convenient human- computer interface for preparation of payment documents and processing of incoming information. The program interface allows to link internal systems of participants accounting on the base of processing without human agency and thus considerably reduces errors that inevitably appear when the information is processed manually. ARTS supports the principal of double entry and information verication in order to eliminate unpremeditated errors and unauthorized system access. Standards compliance ARTS adheres to international standards and regulations in the payment area of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and the World Bank. All the systems messages are compatible with the S.W.I.F.T. format. Communication with payments participants is executed via the dedicated network. The S.W.I.F.T. can also be used. There is a full-function information crypto protection infrastructure. The architecture allows to migrate to the SWIFTNet. CMA SMALL SYSTEMS AB