SAP Online and Mobile Banking

Browser Support Policy Frequently Asked Questions

Overview

This memo details the SAP support policy related to browser versions and certifications for the following product lines and provides answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

• SAP Commercial Online Banking
• SAP Retail Online Banking
• SAP Mobiliser Platform
• SAP Retail Mobile Banking for Smartphones
• SAP Commercial Mobile Banking for Smartphones

SAP policy is to certify the most current popular browser version defined by largest market penetration for each major vendor during the QA cycle of a product release.

A product release is defined as either a major version release, or a Service Pack release, both which require full regression tests and include the use of an automated test script harness. The test harness ensures the forthcoming product release will function with current browsers without issue.

SAP makes continual efforts to keep the supported product base certified against the current browser versions based on the above described Service Pack releases. The supported code release base is defined as the most current version of the codeline as outlined in End of Life (EOL) policies.

Any product update or issue as the result of browser certification is addressed through the standard software patch process available to all customers who are current on their support agreements.

If you have any additional questions, please call your local SAP Technical Support Center. One of our Customer Service representatives will respond to your questions or direct your call to someone who can. For the number of your closest Technical Support Center, please go to: www.SAP.com and select Contact Us.

 
Frequently Asked Questions:

Q1: Microsoft / Firefox released a new browser version before the SAP release. What will SAP do to address?

A1: Occasionally SAP QA cycle times straddled the release of a new browser version.  For example, during the product SAP QA cycle, Microsoft releases a new browser version. In such circumstances, SAP will evaluate efforts associated with certifying against the new browser version within the current product QA cycle, assuming the 3rd party automated test tool used by QA also has the new browser plugin available.

Based on the release cycle, SAP will determine whether a new browser version will be certified. In the event that SAP cannot certify within the current release cycle, an established certification timeline will be established based on the next scheduled Service Pack and communicated through SAP Support Services. Timing for certification will be based on market share (see Q7) on a per-release basis.

Q2: My bank is in mid-implementation and a new browser is released. What shall I do and what will SAP do?

A2: Please contact SAP Support services so implementation time frames can be determined to overall project impact. SAP will work directly with your Financial Institution to establish a plan to address.

Q3: My bank implementation is current and a new browser version has been released. Can I automatically support the new version if certified by SAP without a software patch and what happens to the previous version certification?

A3: If the new version is certified against your implementation without a software patch, the core product will be supported. It is up to the bank to address testing any customized code. The previously certified browser version will be supported until the SAP product enters End of Life.

Q4: My bank would like to support a browser version older than what is supported on product release. What can I do?

A4: Older browsers often have performance, security, and usability issues and as such SAP recommends the bank conduct a thorough analysis prior to committing to supporting older browser versions.  Core product will support the versions that have gone through the SAP release process. Custom certification testing is available through a Professional Services engagement.  Please contact your Account Manager for more information.

Q5: A new browser version has been released and my bank is running a product version in End of Life. What shall I do?

A5: SAP policy is to not apply maintenance to products that have be EOL’d. The bank can choose to have its own internal testing services test the application, or can hire SAP Services to conduct a custom testing effort. There is no guarantee that any issue identified during testing in core code will be addressed, given the previously stated EOL policy.

Custom testing effort provides the bank an impact and risk analysis, allowing the bank to establish browser blocking or front-door disclaimers if required.

Q6: My bank does not purchase product Support and a new browser version is available that is causing issues with my implementation. What shall I do?

A6: SAP policy is to provide support services (including software patches) for customers who are current on their support plans. Please contact SAP Support Services to identify your Account Manager so he or she may discuss options.

Q7: I would like to certify my product version against a non-certified browser version. What shall I do?

A7: Custom testing efforts can be provided through a Professional Services engagement.  Please contact your Account Manager for more information.

Q8: My bank implementation is on a currently supported SAP product and Microsoft has released a new browser. What shall I do?

A8: As described earlier certification efforts for SAP product are bundled into the overall product release and QA cycle. If the automated testing tools used by SAP provide plug-in to support the new browser, certification of the new browser will be scoped within the Service Pack (SP) release cycle.

Certification will NOT be added to the emergency software patch release cycle until a Service Pack has been released. If the timing is such that a Financial Institution requires certification sooner than the established release cycle, testing efforts can be provided through a Professional Services engagement. Please contact your Account Manager for more information.

Q9: Microsoft has released a beta release of an upcoming browser version. Will SAP certify against this version?

A9: SAP will not certify against beta releases, only the most recently available versions.

Q10: Microsoft released an incremental patch release against the most recent browser version.  Will SAP certify this incremented release?

A10: In general, SAP will not certify against patch releases unless the patch itself requires a software patch.  This is uncommon.

Q11: A new browser was just released. Why does it take so long for SAP to certify?

A11: SAP has a comprehensive suite of automated testing scripts used to reduce the overall software release time to market. These test scripts depend on our 3rd party tool providing a plugin for the new browser. Start-up delays in addressing certification are the result of the automated test tools providing the plug-in support, establishing software release schedules, and migrating test scripts to be compatible with the new 3rd tool version.

Q12: At any given time there are older browser versions in the market along with newer browser versions. Will SAP support those older versions?

A12: SAP strives to keep the product supported against the most popular browser versions in market. As a general rule, SAP will make good faith efforts to the support older browser versions against which non-EOL’d SAP products were originally certified against. SAP will not make support efforts for older browser versions where the related SAP product has been EOL’d or for browser versions that are not within the top usage percentage. For older in-market browser versions that have limited adoption rates, support will be made on a case by case basis.

Q13: What is SAP’s future browser support plan?

A13:  Please reference the SAP product roadmap for the product in question.

Q14: I don’t see my question addressed here. What shall I do?

A14: Please contact SAP Support Services.

Overview

This memo provides the SAP policy to support for older browser versions once a new browser version is certified.  This policy applies to the following SAP products:

• SAP Commercial Online Banking
• SAP Retail Online Banking
• SAP Mobiliser Platform
• SAP Retail Mobile Banking for Smartphones

Policy

SAP will provide support for two (2) in-market (“2-in-market”) browsers certified by the product engineering team.  When a new browser is certified, support for the previous older browser version will drop. 

For example, when Engineering certifies Microsoft Internet Explorer version 11, in-market support will apply for version 11 and version 10.  Support for previous versions, IE 9, 8, 7, 6 will not be maintained. 

Customers who experience application issues on older versions will be required to upgrade their browser version to obtain support.  No support will apply for addressing issues on older browser version prior to 2-in-market.

SAP AG and the BTA have partnered with the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management and the New York University’s Stern School of Business and Management to conduct a joint research project, which seeks to identify a number of methods and procedures in value chains and risk management approaches of banks with business models of different size and complexity of which the outcomes have been consistently superior to others, and which can, consequently, be labeled as “best practices” in this field.

Read the full study online: Banking Study by the SAP Business Transformation Academy.

Setup of the Study

The study consists of a thorough analysis of current drivers and innovation trends in banking, and describes how they relate to the current business challenges. A specific goal of the study is to investigate how innovative technology can shape interactions with stakeholders, enhance risk management and compliance, and create integrated global value chains.

The study builds on three pillars:

1. Extensive desk research
2. A series of 20 in-depth interviews with C-level bank management executives, and executives at regulatory authorities as well as audit firms
3. A web-based survey resulting in responses from 230 medium level executives from different financial institutions.

The interviewees include representatives of supervisory authorities, e.g. the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Deutsche Bundesbank, leading audit firms like KPMG and PwC, and leading banks, e.g. JP Morgan, Barclays Bank, and Deutsche Bank. Due to the composition of the respondent group, the geographical focus of the investigation is mainly on Europe and North America, although some insightful contributions came from Africa, as well.

Study Results

The analysis reveals a clear consensus that the “originate-to-distribute” business model which dominated before the crisis is now outdated. Regulators demand that banks implement a long-term sustainable business model instead of focusing on short-term profit maximization. On the other hand, there is large pressure to accelerate the process of change and business model transformation. As a senior representative from a large German bank put it “the felt perception of a two year project is to have an infinite duration. There is pressure for short term success and execution. Key for new technologies is to achieve long term improvements in a short time horizon.” Among the main challenges are low profit margins, the volatile macroeconomic outlook, intensified competition and rising IT costs due to new regulations.

The Key Drivers for Business Model Transformation:

1. Changing regulatory and risk management requirements
2. Technology and process innovation
3. Variations in customer behavior and preferences

This page provides promotional videos and videos demonstrating how to use selected functions of SAP for Banking.

A complete vision on SAP Financial Services Network (SAP FSN)

For those of you willing to understand more on the SAP FSN story, value drivers, solution scope and vision, kindly take a look at this presentation: SAP Financial Services Overview

SAP Financial Services Network Overview

This document provides an overview of SAP Financial Services Network values, foundational services and Value Added Services.

Understanding the basic SAP FSN Payment Flow - an End-to-End Demo

The basic foundational services of SAP FSN are based on SAP ERP Financials integration:
•Accounts Payable:◦Outgoing Payments
◦Payment Status Messages (Optional)

•Accounts Receivable◦Collection Data

•Electronic Bank Statement (Treasury, AP and AR)

Videos for SAP for Banking

This document features selected promotional videos and learning videos about specific tasks across the banking areas. The intention is to give users a quick overview about the new features and a quick start on selected user interaction topics in banking processing. For more information, see also Benefit from New Videos on Selected SAP for Banking Topics.

• Faster onboarding of financial institutions and corporates
• No additional cost for maintaining hardware and software
• Standardize integration between financial institutions and their customers
• Reduced operational risk
• Better visibility and control
• Lower TCO
• Pay-as-you-go subscription model

• SSH (secure shell) File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), client
• SFTP server, i.e. SAP FSN provides its own SFTP server
• Web Services Reliable Messaging (WS-RM) over HTTPS

• SAP FSN documentation on SAP Help Portal: http://help.sap.com/sapfsn
• SAP FSN Connector documentation on SAP Help Portal: http://help.sap.com/fsnagent
• Knowledge Transfer on SAP Service Marketplace (S-user required): https://websmp103.sap-ag.de/~form/sapnet?_SHORTKEY=01100035870000759375&

• Upcoming free SAP FSN Webcast, Friday, April 25 2014: How to Revolutionize the ERP-Banking Integration. Register now!
• SAP FSN in 10 - FAQ
• SAP FSN Webcast recording: Introduction to SAP Financial Services Network (FSN)
• SAP FSN Webinar - March 7th "Integrate Financials with Corporate Banking Services over a Multi-Bank Network"
• Understanding the basic SAP FSN Payment Flow - an End-to-End Demo
• Evolving financial services to another level by Daniel Bianchin
• SAP Financial Services Network – an Introduction

• Webinar recording: SAP Financial Services Network (SAP FSN): Innovation for Bank-to-Corporate Connectivity (S-user required)

• SAP NetWeaver Process Integration & SOA Middleware
• SAP NetWeaver Process Orchestration

Hi ABAPers,

This particular document is very useful for those who work on SAP Financial Services Industry, especially for SAP Banking Services.

Problem Behind:

When you do any updates to Account Master by using a BAPI/BTE/BADI or infact All the LUW Programs that is being called in the Custom update Function Group. Then there is a chance of getting the Warning messages saying "GUID not found / Searching for GUID" and also a huge performance impact in several ways. This is because the Memory that is being consume by that specific processor is not being refreshed for each COMMIT / ROLLBACK.

Solution:

Registration for Main Memory Synchronization

Refer to the following notes on implementation:

Implement a refresh function module to initialize the global data on the program or function group.

• This function module does not have any parameters.
• Create event Load-of-Program in the function group or program to be initialized and call up function module BANK_REGISTER (registration for main memory synchronization).
• LOAD-OF-PROGRAM. CALL FUNCTION `BANK_REGISTER`   EXPORTING     I_REFRESH_MODULE = `` Transfer the name of your refresh module when you access the module. As an example, use the function group BCA_OBJ_CONTRACT (Object Layer of Contract Module Contract Anchor) and the include LBCA_OBJ_CONTRACTLOP for its LOAD-OF-PROGRAM event.

For example : Create a Function Module ZBS_CLEAR_MEMORY where you just CLEAR and REFRESH your global variables declared in the TOP Include.

Call the FM BANK_REGISTER in the LOAD-OF-PROGRAM (In TOP Include) as mentioned below.

CALL FUNCTION BANK_REGISTER

   EXPORTING

     I_REFRESH_MODULE = 'ZBS_CLEAR_MEMORY'.

Post Implementation Benefits:

Better Performance in the Program Executions

Better Performance in the Parallel Processing Framework

No Unnecessary messages in SLG1/BALLOG

Quicker updates in the Bulk Account Master Updates

Please do refer to the Function Module Documentation of BANK_REGISTER to Know more about MAIN MEMORY SYNCHRONIZATION.

The Function Module Documentaiton also explains answers for these questions.

1. When must synchronization be carried out ?

2. Which Types of Transactions are affected ?

3. Which Program are affected ?

4. How does the Process Function?

There is also a better way to do this in case of ABAP Object with the Interface provided by SAP which is "IF_BANK_REGISTER".

Hope this helps all the ABAPers who are working on SAP Financial Services or SAP Banking Services.

There is also a similar kind of Function Module available in SAP CRM for Product Profile updates, Soon I will be writing another document for that.

Best Regards,

Bhargav.

Hi All,

Hope this document helps all the Technical and Functional consultants who are frequently using google search for finding most commonly used tables, BADIs and BAPIs in SAP Banking Services. This document would explain in demystifying SAP Banking Services and lot more on the integration with other SAP systems like FICAX(Financial Services Cost Accounting and CRM).

Master Data Tables

and many more, I tried to put all the most commonly used tables, but there are lot where you can search with BCA* in SE16 for Banking related and *FSPD* for Payment Related tables.

Most Commonly used Classic BADIs

There are lot more, but to be very specific these days there are no more old school way of doing the BADIs. So I prefer the New BADI instead of Classic BADIs to enhance.

Most Commonly used New BADIs

And lot more, you can search in the table ENHHEADER and ENHOBJ for more enhancement spots available.

Most Commonly used BAPIs

There is a huge list, however I tried to explain the important BAPIs and I made this document editable by anyone to add if they found something interesting and useful in SAP Banking Services. Please post your comments, ratings, questions and reviews.

Thank you very much,

Bhargav.

Hello Banking Service people,

Here is an interesting way of writing the program for checking the integrity of an SAP Account.

The General way of Architecture is that

1. SAP BS is used for Banking Services Products

2. SAP CRM is used for Customer Master, Services, Marketing, BP and ICM.

3. SAP FICAX is used for Money movement (Collections, Disbursement, Cost Accounting and Payments).

SAP BS -> SAP CRM -> SAP FICAX -> MAINFRAMES (Third Party) and Other Partner systems that Banking Industries will use.

We have a scenario like this where you can do the Integrity check of an account by checking these Function Modules and Options on the system.

1. Design

Design a SAP Screen with the options as mentioned below for the Account Integrity check. It all depends on an individual how you design the screens I am showing the sample screen that we have for this functionality.

Then will explain the each and every functionality in the screen.

Execution

Country : Your country code which could be "US"

Bank Key: You might have universal Bank key for all the operating branches you have or a unique branch key for each branch. for example " 100123"

Account Number: External Account Number or Internal Account Number(it depends on how you configure you Account Master).

Display Account will display the account details. This is straight forward, you call the transaction BCA_CN_ACCT_03, I have explained the most commonly used SAP Banking Services BADI, BAPI, Tables etc in the below mentioned link

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-65293

Display BP : This is staright forward as well, you can fetch the BP details from Account Level or from BUT0BK table and call the transaction BP to show Account Holder (Which is BP in SAP Terminology)

There is an Execute button at the Application Tool Bar, which will read the systems for the corresponding details, they are.

1. Product Profile on CRM system. - Product Profile is nothing but Total Commitment and the Products that the customer has in the CRM system(These products could be External or Internal Products). This is done by using a Simple RFC Call to CRM system for finding the details using the BAPI Structure BAPI_FSBP_TC_STR_ITEM_DISP (FM : BAPI_TC_GETDETAIL - Read Contract Details of Total Commitment).

2. Account locator details: It depends on if you have a Account Locator maintained in your business scenario, if so where? If it is connected to ESB or PI system them you need to have a Service that read these details from the respective system.

The Update Buttons will allow you to update Total Commitment and Account Details in the respective systems which is CRM and Mainframes in this scenario respectively with the inputs that you have provided.

Similarly we have Update CRM Offer and Update CACI.

Update CRM Offer: will update the CRM Offer (When it comes to Loan Accounts, we have something called Offer in CRM(which is nothing but a Transaction that offers something to the customer as requested by the Customer. It could be Loan amounts / Products / something on Web Shops) We consider loans for now because that is the way we are using CRM Offer in our Business Scenario. You can fetch this details using CRMD_ORDER_READ and update with CRMD_ORDER_SAVE and I have explained a bit more on the CRM function Modules and their uses in the below mentioned link.

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-44215

Update CACI: CACI is again applicable for specific business scenarios. If you have CIF system which is a legacy system that keeps track of all the Customer Information, you need to have a ESB/PI service to update this system details accordingly, however this is not so important for us now.

NOTE:  As explained initially in the document, you can have SAP FICAX (Cost Account) for finding out the Contract Account details for your money movement in the SAP ECC system, where Contract Account is mandatory for any posting made here especially when it comes to Collections and Disbursements. This is simple, old school ways, FKKVK is the master for Contract Accounts.

Hope this document finds helpful to design some kind of Integrity check between SAP BS, SAP CRM and SAP FICAX systems along with integrating third party systems. Please do post your comments/queries.

Thank you very much and best regards,

Bhargav.

Hi All,

Conditions are assigned to a condition group/s. To change a condition, you need to therefore edit the condition group itself.

When changing a condition, only certain attributes can be changed such as the Description, Valid From Date, Amount, Counters, %, Min and Maximum amounts. The differentiating categories cannot be changed. The below can result in changes to a condition: Year End Pricing Interest Rate Changes Production Incident Work Requests

The below can result in changes to a condition:

1. Year End Pricing

2. Interest Rate Changes

Step 1: Go to transaction PRI_PSP_MAINT_COND Edit Condition Group in the Easy Access Menu

Step 2: Select condition group type and condition group from dropdown list

Select the applicable Condition Group Type and condition group you want to make changes and click on execute (ensure that you select the latest and valid condition group as per the Product Price List)

Step 3: Search and select the condition which should be changed

Note that the condition list contains all changes to the conditions that have been made in the past. In other words, there can be multiple conditions for one condition, however only one is the latest and valid one.

Double click on the condition which you want to change. Ensure that you double click on the latest financial condition so that the changes are made on the latest condition and not the old conditions (see example below)

Step 4: Copy the condition

Click on Copy Icon. Note that some fields can now be changed such as Valid From Date, Amount etc

Step 5: Enter the new valid from date and change the condition attributes

Valid From Date - Specifies the start date of the validity period of the condition. When entering a date you can enter the current day's date or a future date. If you enter a future date the condition will only be valid from the date that you've entered. In this example the current date (09.04.2014) was entered

Amount - Specifies the amount that will be billed/charged for the condition (price changed from $28.00 to $30.00)

Step 6: Click on SAVE, that's it you are done.

Hope this document helps all the configurators with this How to Guide. Please do comment and post your queries.

Thanks & Regards,

Bhargav

Hi All,

In continuation with my document explaining on How to find a BTE (Business Transaction Event) in Technical way.

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-65402

In this document I would explain on how to find the BTE in SAP Banking Services system. Technical way remains same across all SAP systems, but this is more like a functional way of finding the BTEs.

In general banks who are using SAP for their banking would have very complex integration and you will always need a place to enhance for custom validations. This document will explain finding the BTEs for "Publish and Subscribe BTEs (P/S)" and "Process BTEs (Process)".

Step 1: The first way is to look for a BTE using customising menu. The same process can be used for both types of BTEs

OR

Step 2: You can then search for object related BTEs using a specific attribute

If you choose "A - Application Component", then the Selection Attribute help will show the components

You can then select a specific component, in this example for Account Closures

Execute to see the BTEs available

Hope this documents helps all to make it easier in finding the BTE. Please do comment and rate the document.

Best Regards,

Bhargav.