Best Treasury Management Systems & Services

By Anita Hawser

BEST TREASURY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS & SERVICES

BEST ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SERVICES

Bottomline Technologies
Bottomline provides a range of payment, e-invoicing and document management solutions for a wide range of companies. File upload, invoice creation via Web entry and scanning of invoices are just some of the methods it supports to help companies automate paper-based invoices for a more streamlined account payables’ process. By automating the payables process companies are more likely to get paid earlier or on time. Its solution also enables buyers and sellers to negotiate discounts for early payment.

BEST ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SERVICES

J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan’s Receivables Edge is a Web-based platform that facilitates access to consolidated payment and remittance information from processing locations around the world, including North America, Asia, Europe and Mexico. It also takes in information from the bank’s ACH, wire transfer and electronic payment platforms. It then automatically matches this information with invoices and provides a “same-day exception repair” service. Last year J.P. Morgan received a model bank award from Celent Research for its Virtual Remit for remote capture of remittance data, which when combined with Receivables Edge provides companies with a truly consolidated view of their remittances and receivables.

BEST ELECTRONIC INVOICE PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT SERVICES

Basware
As Basware supports an open network, e-invoices can be exchanged globally without having to install proprietary technologies. Its e-invoicing network supports more than 320,000 companies, and transaction volume across its Open Network increases by more than 50% annually. Basware’s e-invoicing solutions, including its Invoice Automation solution, has helped companies save hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by eliminating paper invoices. Basware says it can reduce invoice-processing times by at least 60%.

BEST PAYROLL SERVICES

ADP
ADP provides payroll solutions for businesses of all sizes. Its solutions handle payroll processing and tax filing and support a wide range of payments, even providing a mobile payroll option for remote management and payroll approval. Earlier this year ADP acquired Indian payroll company Ma Foi Consulting Solutions as part of its strategy to expand its global footprint.

BEST CORPORATE CARDS AND EXPENSE SERVICES PROVIDER

MasterCard International
As part of its Corporate Card program MasterCard provides a wide range of tools to help companies keep track of their travel & entertainment expenditure, and its reporting data on card spending can be easily integrated with systems companies already have in place. It also provides a range of security and control features for setting spending limits. Its Corporate MultiCard enables firms to manage all their expenses via a single account.

BEST PURCHASING CARD PROGRAM

Citi
Citi partnered with Visa’s financial supply chain solution, Syncada, to develop a solution for handling payables in the freight and transportation sector. By working together, they were able to provide a solution to address the specific and complex needs of billing, payments and financing in the supply chains of these companies. The bank is also helping companies replace checks with one-time-use virtual cards for their accounts payable and has developed major purchasing card programs for US-based public sector organizations and charities to streamline payables in the procurement process.

BEST ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS PROVIDER

SunGard AvantGard PayNetExchange
While SunGard AvantGard has more of a reputation in the treasury management space, its PayNetExchange solution was specifically designed as a B2B payments platform supporting a range of different payments, including ACH, Swift, wire and virtual card. PayNetExchange’s overarching aim is to help companies make the transition from paper-based to electronic forms of payment in order to realize substantial cost savings and efficiencies.

BEST LOSS PREVENTION/BUSINESS CONTINUITY SERVICES

IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency Services

In the business continuity space, technology providers like IBM have the advantage of implementing and running a lot of the IT systems that companies use everyday. It also has experience in dealing with large complex organizations. Given its strong track record when it comes to implementing and supplying software and services, IBM’s support services are also far-ranging. IBM also provides ongoing testing of firms’ programs against its Resilience Maturity Model.

BEST PENSION PLAN ADMINISTRATION SERVICES

Mercer
Mercer Retirement Solutions provides a range of administration services for different pension plans, including defined benefit and defined contribution schemes. It incorporates administration and other services, such as payroll, reporting, accounting and benefit calculations. It provides administrative services for thousands of pension schemes in the UK, and other countries around the world it provides localized solutions. Its solution can readily scale according to the size of the plan.

BEST TECHNOLOGY SERVICE PROVIDER

SunGard
SunGard provides a wide range of solutions across most aspects of the financial services industry encompassing treasury management for both banks and corporates, as well as trading, risk, compliance and data management. SunGard AvantGard provides a range of treasury management software solutions for corporate treasurers looking to manage their treasury operations, payables and receivables. SunGard Ambit provides corporate banking solutions specifically focused on areas such as treasury management, exceptions and reconciliations. SunGard supports more than 25,000 customers in more than 70 countries.

BEST TREASURY WORKSTATION PROVIDER

SunGard AvantGard
SunGard AvantGard is a popular choice for treasurers looking to better manage their global treasury operations. In the current economic climate where bank credit is not as freely available, treasurers are seeking solutions that can help them gain global visibility over their cash and liquidity and better manage the risks they face in their business. SunGard’s treasury management workstation enables treasurers to automate a number of key processes so that staff can concentrate on more value-added tasks.

BEST TREASURY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

IT2 Treasury Solutions
With more than 10,000 users globally, IT2 Treasury Solutions’ software is used by both banks and corporates. In recent years it is has expanded its footprint from focusing largely on Europe to supporting operations in the US and also Asia. It says its operations in the US now account for 41% of its global revenues. IT2 prides itself on rapid deployment of treasury software solutions. The latest version of its software is designed to provide treasurers with greater levels of transparency so they can better utilize their cash and liquidity and reduce bank fees and connectivity costs.

BEST CASH FORECASTING SOLUTION

IT2 Treasury Smart Cash Modeler
Smart Cash Modeler is integrated within IT2’s treasury management software. In 2011, IT2 enhanced the underlying data filtering components, accuracy and usability of the solution. The solution enables subsidiaries to submit timely forecasting data using customized templates, which enhances accuracy. Users of Smart Cash Modeler can also set it up so they are alerted when pre-defined conditions are met.

BEST CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTION

Reval
Reval, which has a strong track record in financial risk management for corporates, combined its risk management expertise with the cash and liquidity management functionality from its ecofinance acquisition to provide corporates with a single SaaS platform for enterprise treasury and risk management. Reval provides treasurers with tools they need to better manage their risk across multiple instruments including derivatives, while also providing functionality to better manage cash, liquidity and related exposures.

MOST INNOVATIVE NEW SOLUTION

Nordea’s Global Cash Pool
As treasurers look to unlock liquidity from their global operations, a solution that provides real-time cross-border cross-currency access to liquidity is a must. Nordea says its Global Cash Pool, which it launched in 2011, eliminates the need for companies to operate multiple local cash pools. Instead they can build a single, multicurrency credit facility with transactions recorded in local accounts automatically updated in real time. Non-Nordea accounts can also be incorporated, and the pool can be viewed and managed using Nordea’s Corporate Netbank.

BEST MOBILE SOLUTION PROVIDER

Wells Fargo
As one of the first banks to embrace the Internet for corporate cash management, Wells Fargo is also ahead of the curve in the mobile solutions space. In 2007 Wells Fargo introduced mobile corporate banking. Customers can view account information remotely via CEO Mobile. In 2011 it launched commercial card mobile functionality for credit limit and transaction checking and launched an iPhone app for check deposits.