“Ionfi asks for detail and doesn’t cut corners. That’s the partner we want—compliance treated as a first-class workflow, not an afterthought.”

Executive Summary: Arletta Huntley-Wells, General Manager, Berkeley Bank & Trust Berkeley Bank & Trust Ltd (BBT) — a Caribbean custody bank safeguarding approximately $4B in assets under custody—reached an inflection point in modernizing cross-border payments after dealing with costly and inefficient legacy failures. For a custody bank, reliable USD wire transfer capabilities are essential infrastructure: payments enable clients to move money in and out of custody accounts seamlessly, making them critical to the bank's service delivery and growth. As General Manager Arletta Huntley-Wells puts it: “If you can’t secure reliable USD payments, you might as well shut shop.” Guided by its compliance-first strategy, Berkeley Bank & Trust led a cross-functional program to upgrade its rails, selecting Ionfi as a technology partner after rigorous evaluation. The Bank then executed an orderly partner-bank transition in four to five weeks.

Eighteen months on, BBT processes straightforward transactions in 24 hours or less, provides clear, single-path instructions, and enforces 2FA and maker–checker (dual-approval) controls—delivering consistently reliable performance that strengthens client trust and margins. True to its tagline, “Banking Upgraded”, BBT is continuing to modernize its payments infrastructure to reinforce trust, control, and speed for its clients.

Client Background

Based in Saint Lucia, Berkeley Bank & Trust Ltd (BBT) is a pioneer in blending Caribbean heritage banking with international-grade compliance and technology. The Bank serves institutional clients and sophisticated high-net-worth individuals, with custody services as its primary growth engine— currently safeguarding approximately $4 billion in assets under custody. In its eighth year of operation—in a market where many Caribbean offshore banks do not survive five—Berkeley Bank & Trust has chosen to “grow quietly,” prioritizing risk management, resilience, and long-term trust.

For a custody bank, USD wire capabilities are not a back-office detail but a front-line driver of client experience and growth capacity. Payments must be timely, transparent, and audit-ready—any friction in the wire process directly impacts custody relationships and the bank's ability to scale.

Guided by the philosophy of “Banking Upgraded”, BBT differentiates itself by combining traditional financial stability with modern, technology-enabled services. In this model, USD rails are existential: value to clients depends on payments that are timely, transparent, and auditready.

For the Bank, payments are not a back-office detail but a front-line driver of client experience and growth capacity. Any partner must reduce friction while reinforcing controls, ensuring that every transaction strengthens—rather than compromises—the client relationship.

The Challenge

Before modernizing its cross-border rail, Berkeley Bank & Trust faced three critical issues that were undermining client trust and operational efficiency:

• Confusing wire instructions. Previous providers delivered multi-layered wiring instructions (correspondent bank A → intermediate bank B → final bank C) that confused clients and triggered errors, corrections, and costly delays.

• Unpredictable costs. Fees varied unexpectedly, making it difficult for BTT to price services accurately and protect margins.

• Unreliable operations. Provider failures and outages introduced unacceptable business risk, while slow processing (multiple days) and opaque holds made it difficult to explain delays to clients.

Client voice: "Depending on the service provider and how clunky the instructions are, it can be very confusing when the client gets it... you see so many layers before it finally gets to the final credit."

For an international bank, these are not abstract annoyances; they are reputational risks. Missed SLAs, unclear instructions, and surprise costs undermine the trust that international banking and custody businesses are built on. Berkeley Bank & Trust needed reliability it could feel in daily work and defend in audits.

Implementation & Onboarding

BBT’s operations manager co-led the rollout with Ionfi’s operations team, maintaining a disciplined cadence of updates and checkpoints. When Ionfi changed its underlying U.S. partner bank, the teams executed a planned changeover in four to five weeks. The process was orderly; once the cutover was complete, operations returned to business as usual.

Day to day, staff access the portal with two-factor authentication and follow a four-eyes (maker–checker) workflow—one user enters, a second approves. This aligns with internal controls, streamlines audit trails, and preserves throughput.

Onboarding feedback was positive: the platform performed as represented; no material legal issues surfaced; and minor clarifications (for example, a prohibited-countries list) were resolved quickly. The ops-to-ops communication rhythm established during rollout is now part of normal governance, lowering risk and making future changes—such as API steps—easier to manage.

Implementation Highlights:

• 4–5-week partner-bank changeover, completed on plan

• Immediate BAU post-cutover

• Controls embedded: 2FA + maker–checker

• No legal red flags; minor items closed promptly

• Durable ops-to-ops cadence for ongoing chnages

Solution Selection Process

BBT ran a compliance-led, cross-functional process. The GM involved operations, compliance, finance (accounts), and legal. Agreements were reviewed line by line, and both teams held working sessions to pressure-test requirements. The outcome: no major concerns, clear roles, and alignment on risk ownership

Selection criteria were explicit and operational:

• Speed and predictability (≤24 hours on straightforward transactions)

• Compliance depth–Know Your Client’s Customer (KYCClevel rigor and responsive clarifications)

• Simplicity (one clear wiring path clients understand)

• Cost stability (predictable fees tied to service quality)

• Controls (portal workflows mirroring 2FA and maker– checker policy)

Partner fit: Enabling Berkeley Bank & Trust’s strategy. To support BBT’s compliance-first operating model, Ionfi provides straight-through performance on clean transactions (≤24h), simplified routing clients can follow, and a portal aligned to the Bank’s control environment—while engaging compliance questions openly and promptly.

GM observation: “Ionfi asks for detail and doesn’t cut corners. That’s the partner we want—compliance treated as a first-class workflow, not an afterthought.”

Results & Impact

These outcomes reflect Berkeley Bank & Trust’s “Banking Upgraded” program in practice—reliability, transparency, and built-in controls clients can feel.

Operational metrics — Berkeley Bank & Trust’s cross-border modernization:

Compliance & control enhancement: The KYCC framework and collaborative approach strengthened Berkeley Bank & Trust’s risk posture. “I can appreciate the robustness of their compliance functions… that gives me comfort,” notes Mrs. Huntley-Wells. Built-in 2FA and maker–checker eliminated compensating controls while improving audit trails.

Business growth enablement:

• Berkeley Bank & Trust simplified client instructions and increased transaction volumes (enabled by Ionfi’s routing).

• Berkeley Bank & Trust has delivered consistently reliable performance (enabled by Ionfi’s platform and workflows) and built the confidence to expand its cross – border transactions and other services.

Why it matters to bankers:

• Operational risk down. Clearer wiring and embedded controls reduce execution risk and audit pain.

• Client trust up. Faster, cleaner payments shore up custody relationships where timing and transparency are non-negotiable.

• Capacity unlocked. Less firefighting → more time for high-value client and service work.

Lessons Learned & Success Factors

• Make compliance a co-owner. Early involvement of compliance and legal produced clarity on KYCC expectations and accelerated post-implementation confidence.

• Design for controls, not around them. Matching 2FA and maker–checker inside the platform strengthened governance without sacrificing speed.

• Over-communicate during transitions. The U.S. bank cutover succeeded because both ops teams stayed on top of dependencies and aimed for immediate BAU.

• Simplify the client’s job. The partner bank route reduced layers, lowered error risk, and cut callbacks—small UX improvements with major operational impact.

• Measure reliability in behavior. Even without public NPS/ ROI, two signals stand out: more volume routed to Ionfi and the absence of real complaints.

Why it matters to clients

For clients, reliability and transparency are prerequisites. Berkeley Bank & Trust’s “Banking Upgraded” approach delivers predictable turnaround, clear instructions, and control-aligned workflows—so clients stay confident and informed at every step.

Voice of the Client

“Ionfi was a breath of fresh air. Their team made the transition seamless, and their platform has been one of the most reliable we’ve used in our seven-plus years of operations. They’re coming forward to serve the Caribbean when a lot of U.S. banks were pulling back. So far, as a client of Ionfi, I don’t have any complaints. I’m quite happy with the service.”

— Arletta Huntley-Wells, General Manager, Berkeley Bank & Trust Ltd

Future Vision: Banking Upgraded at Scale

Berkeley Bank & Trust’s roadmap builds on its mantra, “Banking Upgraded”— delivering reliability and control at scale across more currencies and deeper automation. With Ionfi as one of its technology partners, the Bank will add to its options for multi currency offerings, deepen API-driven straight-through processing, and add custody-adjacent services.

Multi-currency/FX. Berkeley Bank & Trust will broaden currency coverage to unlock additional client flows and custody-adjacent activity.

Deeper integration. Berkeley Bank & Trust will advance API-driven, straight-through processing to compress cycle times and manual touchpoints.

Volume ramp. With custody growth and a proven operating rhythm, the Bank expects transaction volume to continue shifting onto Ionfi’s rails. These steps do not reinvent Berkeley Bank & Trust’s model; they extend it—more robustness, more automation, same governance spine.