It is expected that, after pilot testing and a migration period, the use of the ICH Web will be discontinued – ICH will only accept settlements submitted via Integrated Settlement. It is anticipated that pilot testing will take place in Q2 2010 and full airline migration will begin in early Q3 2010 with the ICH Web being switched off in Q3 2012, subject to appropriate endorsement from the Financial Committee. This will mean that SIS will become mandatory for interline billing and settlement.
In order to participate in SIS, existing ICH participants will likely need to do a number of things, including:
- 1. Making an internal business case
There will be a number of internal system and business changes required to participate in SIS which will require proper internal budgeting and planning. In March 2009, further details on the SIS solution and a business case template will be released, allowing your organization to calculate the costs and benefits of implementing SIS.
- 2. Ensuring legal compliance
As a core principle of Simplified Interline Settlement, e-invoicing means that all invoices and supporting documents will be electronically captured; no paper will be sent. While this will lead to significant cost savings, individual countries have differing laws regarding e-invoicing.
IS will be designed with a number of optional services (e.g., digital signatures) which will give participants the ability to comply with their local laws, but it will be each participant’s responsibility to ensure that any local regulations are adhered to. Beginning in Q3 2009, the SIS team will assist you in liaising with the necessary authorities in order to determine and, if necessary, influence local legislation.
- 3. Making any necessary system and business changes
Soon after SIS launches, and long before the migration deadline, you will need to be able to access Integrated Settlement. Shortly after your interline partners have migrated to IS they will be allowed to cease shipping paper documents to you. By this point you will need to have processes in place to handle information from IS as there will be no other way to access your incoming invoices.
- 4. Migrating to SIS
During the migration period, you will be able to switch any combination of billing types to Integrated Settlement. For example, it is expected that many airlines will start with Passenger Prime billings. By the mandate date, you will need to have moved all billings to Integrated Settlement. After such time, anything not submitted via IS will not be cleared via the ICH.