RITS
Reserve Bank Information and Transfer System
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
Welcome to RITS USER INTERFACE: Member Information Paper No. 8.
This edition describes enhancements to RITS that will be implemented in Production
on Monday, 16 February 2009 and other issues affecting RITS Members.
This edition includes:
™
Enhancements to user functionality
™
Suggested future enhancements to user functionality
™
Enhancements to the RITS infrastructure
™
Quick guides to certificate acquisition and renewal
™
Supported user desktop platforms
™
RITS access: Operation of RITS launch page with Java Runtime Environment
browser plug-in and Internet Explorer
™
RITS User Group update
™
Contact details
This
Information
Paper
is
available
on
the
RBA
website
(www.rba.gov.au/PaymentsSystem/RITSOperationalNotes/), in the RITS Information
Facility, which is found on the internet (www.rba.gov.au/rits), and in the RITS
Production and Pre-Production environments.
User Guides are available from the RITS Information Facility.
February 2009
1
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
1. ENHANCEMENTS TO USER FUNCTIONALITY (FROM 16 FEBRUARY 2009)
Three enhancements have been made to functionality used by Members. These are
described below.
RITS Certificate expiry warning email
The email sent to the user and the Password Administrators as a reminder that the
user’s RITS certificate is nearing expiry will now be sent 90, 60, and 30 days prior to
the certificate expiry date. Previously, this email was only sent once – 90 days before
the certificate expires.
The additional reminders should assist Members in arranging a smooth migration to
new certificates.
User Privileges Report
The User Privileges Report provides details of the access privileges granted to RITS
users for internal compliance monitoring purposes.
Two important changes have been made:
•
•
In response to requests by Members, the report is now also available in Excel
format. Users can select report format using the drop down menu shown
below.
The report now also shows the functions that a user can authorise but is not
able to update. For example, a user that can authorise but not enter a cash
account limit change.
Previously, the authorisation capability was only
indicated beside functions that had been allocated to the user.
In the Adobe Reader (Pdf) version of the report, the authorisation privileges for a
function that the user has not been allocated are displayed under the header
‘Authorisation only’ (circled). The authorisation privilege for a function that the user
has been allocated continues to display under the Authorisation Privileges heading in
the last column of the report.
February 2009
2
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
New version:
In the Excel version of the report (see following example), the authorisation privileges
for a function that the user has not been allocated are indicated by ‘Y’ in the
Authorisation Privileges column and there is no entry in the Role column (both
circled). The authorisation privilege for a function that the user has been allocated
continues to display under the Authorisation Privileges heading in the last column of
the report and there is an entry in the Role column.
February 2009
3
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
2. SUGGESTED FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS TO USER FUNCTIONALITY
Three enhancements suggested by Members in recent RITS User Group meetings
were tabled for possible future development. The items pertaining to changing an
ESA sub-limit and search for a transaction with an exact amount are likely to go
forward; the search for a transaction with an Evening Flag in Settled Payments is still
under consideration. These enhancements have not been allocated a release date at
this stage.
The suggested changes discussed at the RITS User Group are described below.
Changing ESA Sub-Limit
A link is placed in the ESA/Credit Status Queue Management screen that directly
opens the Change ESA Sub-Limit screen.
This change permits access to the Change Sub-Limit screen without having to first
open the ESA Position screen.
Users may still change the ESA Sub-Limit by going through the ‘ESA Position’ screen.
February 2009
4
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
The screen below shows the location of the proposed new link.
Searching for a transaction with an exact amount
The amount search that is currently available in a number of functions finds
transactions with an amount greater than or equal to the amount entered in the filter.
To facilitate searches on an exact amount, a new ‘Exact’ tick box is proposed as an
addition to the following screens:
-
ESA Management: Settled Payments
-
ESA Management: Transaction Enquiry
-
ESA/Credit: Queue Management
-
Cash Account: Queue Management
The location of the proposed ‘Exact’ filter is shown below.
February 2009
5
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
Searching for a transaction with an Evening Flag in Settled Payments
The ability to distinguish payments that are eligible to remain on the System Queue at
the end of the Settlement Close Session (normally 17:15) is being discussed for
addition to the Settled Payments Enquiry.
An additional filter called Eve Flag would be added to the Settled Payments screen.
Transactions that have the evening flag would be returned if the selection in the filter
is ‘Eve’. Transactions that do not have the evening flag would be returned if the
selection in the filter is Day.
An additional column ‘Evening Flag’ would be added in the Excel report when the
Export function is selected.
3. ENHANCEMENTS TO RITS SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE
In addition to the user enhancements described earlier, a major upgrade to the RITS
infrastructure is being implemented on 16 February. This is part of a long-term RITS
Evolution program of the Reserve Bank, to ensure that RITS continues to operate as a
modern, efficient and resilient system.
The infrastructure upgrade will not directly affect users.
February 2009
6
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
4. QUICK GUIDES TO CERTIFICATE ACQUISITION AND RENEWAL
Quick links have been added to the RITS Information Facility to assist Members in
obtaining and renewing RITS certificates. These links are on the Information Facility
Home Page.
5. SUPPORTED DESKTOP PLATFORMS
The supported desktop platforms for RITS access have been unchanged since
November 2007.
RITS Access
Members should include RITS access in their planning and testing of future PC
(hardware or software) or network (ANNI, Internet or LAN) changes.
February 2009
7
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
Users should be aware that the ‘next generation’ of the Java Runtime Environment
browser plug-in (JRE 1.6.0_10 and later) is incompatible with the current version of
RITS. A RITS user would be able to login, but functions requiring a signature, such as
Cash Transfers, would fail. The Test Card would also fail. Refer to the RITS User
Interface Technical Information Paper, January 2009, for further information.
Members will be notified when future versions of RITS support this software.
RITS Members should also be aware that the pop-up blocking function of Internet
Explorer 6 and 7 inhibits operation of the RITS launch page. Before using the RITS
launch page, Members using IE 6 or 7 should disable this pop-up blocking function.
Refer to Section 6.3 in the RITS User Interface Technical Information Paper, January
2009, for information. This issue will be addressed in future versions of the RITS
launch page.
RITS Members running the current RITS launch page with Internet Explorer 7 will see
an additional dialogue box that asks the user for permission to close the browser
window when the launch page is run. Users should select 'Yes' when prompted by this
dialogue box in order to continue.
Current Desktop Requirements
The current requirements for optimal access to RITS are listed below.
Minimum PC Hardware Requirements
•
Pentium 4
•
Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4) OR Windows XP (Service Pack 2)
•
512MB RAM
•
Screen Resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels
•
Spare USB Port (which must not be ‘locked out’)
Software Requirements
•
Internet Explorer Version 6 or Version 7
•
Sun’s Java Runtime Environment (JRE) v1.4.2_10, v1.5.0_11 and v1.6.0_01
(can be supplied by RBA)
•
A Java Cryptographic Toolkit (supplied by RBA)
•
Safenet Driver for Hardware Security Token (supplied by RBA)
Recommended Software for Reports and Downloads
•
Adobe Reader 7.0
•
Microsoft Excel 2003 (used to export data from RITS)
February 2009
8
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
New Technical Information Paper Available on RITS Information Facility
More information on the above points is provided in the updated Technical Information
Paper (January 2009). This paper can be accessed from the RITS Information Facility.
6. RITS USER GROUP
RITS user forums were held in Sydney and Melbourne during August 2008.
At that forum, slides were presented that described the different liquidity
management strategies used by banks in managing the settlement of their payments
and the implications that these strategies had on the efficient use of liquidity in the
system. Members were invited to contribute to a discussion about developing RITS
Member standards that would cover aspects of payments behaviour in RITS, including
topics such as liquidity, payments monitoring, timing, and staffing. All input to this
discussion should be sent to RITS@rba.gov.au and titled “RITS Best Practice”.
The PowerPoint presentations from the RITS user forum sessions are available to RITS
Members through the RITS Information Facility in the RITS Production and
Pre-Production environments.
The next round of user forums is scheduled for February 2009.
February 2009
9
RITS USER INTERFACE: MEMBER INFORMATION PAPER No. 8
7. RBA CONTACTS
If you have any questions regarding the material in this Information Paper, please
contact:
Business questions
Peter Gallagher Senior Manager, Planning & Client Relations, Payments Settlements
Telephone: (02) 9551 8941, Email: gallagherp@rba.gov.au
Alison Clark
Manager, New Projects, Planning & Client Relations,
Payments Settlements
Telephone: (02) 9551 8921, Email: clarka@rba.gov.au
Technical questions
Gary Hill
Senior Manager, RTGS Systems, Payments Settlements
Telephone: (02) 9551 8981, Email: hillg@rba.gov.au
RITS Help Desk
Telephone: 1800 659 360
Fax: 02 9551 8063
Email: rits@rba.gov.au
February 2009
10