National Bank of Greece in Cyprus has gone live with Smartstream's Air platform to consolidate four reconciliation systems into one.
The bank had been operating a fragmented reconciliation landscape that required significant daily manual effort to process items across each system individually, compounded by the need to navigate multiple data formats. Although transaction volumes were described as manageable, the operational overhead prompted a market review that concluded with the selection of Smartstream's Air Cash module.
From fragmented systems to a unified platform
The deployment replaces both incumbent and standalone systems, with the Air platform's ability to create reconciliation groups identified as a key differentiator. This capability allows multiple items to be matched simultaneously rather than processed one by one, delivering efficiency gains from initial deployment. The self-service model and AI-enabled automation were also cited as factors in the selection, enabling internal resources to be better utilised without adding operational overhead.
The project was completed in three months. Given that there was no existing technology to replace in certain areas, Smartstream developed a custom automated encrypted file transfer solution to meet the bank's data security requirements. The platform also proactively identifies data quality issues originating from both internal data systems and incoming bank statements.
Andreas Anatolitis, Head of Accounting Department, Financial and Accounting Division, NBG Cyprus, noted that the selection was driven by Air's capacity to deliver measurable efficiency improvements, as well as Smartstream's ability to tailor the solution to the bank's specific technical requirements to ensure secure and efficient data flow.
The go-live represents a consolidation of reconciliation operations at a subsidiary level, reflecting a broader trend within banking operations towards rationalising legacy and parallel systems in favour of integrated, automated platforms. For institutions managing cross-border payment flows — including SEPA and Nostro activity — the ability to centralise reconciliation while maintaining data security controls addresses both operational and compliance-adjacent concerns.
Smartstream, headquartered in the UK, positions Air as an AI-enabled reconciliation solution targeting financial institutions seeking to reduce manual processing and improve data governance across transaction types.
