GOLD STANDARD
By Rebecca Brace and Anita Hawser
Global Finance presents the winners of its annual Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers awards.
Global multinational corporates may have come out of the 2008 global financial crisis better off than the banks in terms of balance sheet strength, but they are now confronted with a transaction banking sector that has yet to come to grips with new forms of regulation.
“Basel III’s leverage, liquidity coverage and net stable funds ratios will transform the relationship between corporate treasury departments and their banks by changing the characteristics of some of their most popular transactions,” writes Fitch Ratings in a June 2013 note. According to Fitch, liquidity ratios under Basel III will make corporate cash deposits a less attractive, more expensive form of funding for banks.
Money market reform on both sides of the Atlantic is also on the horizon. Where to invest their excess cash and liquidity is likely to become a major concern for corporate treasurers as money market reform and Basel III force banks to seek long-term rather than short-term deposits.
While the full impact of these reforms has yet to fully take hold in the treasury and cash management space, the upshot is that the relationship dynamics between cash management banks and treasurers will change substantially. The interbank correspondent banking model will also not escape unaltered either, as banks’ choice of clearing banks will be influenced by factors other than the long-standing nature of those relationships. And as some of the large global cash management banks retreat from some markets to focus on customers or markets that are more central to their business, this retreat presents numerous opportunities for regional or in-country transaction banking players to step in and fill the gap.
Corporate treasurers are increasingly concerned about risk—commodities risk, FX risk, interest rate risk, counterparty risk—and anything their treasury and cash management banks can do to provide visibility into these risks and help with managing them is likely to be welcome. Hence the move by some of the global transaction banks into the treasury analytics space, an area that was traditionally the preserve of software system providers.
This year’s World’s Best Treasury & Cash Management Providers awards are not just about recognizing the banks that continue to innovate. Treasury management system and software providers are also having to offer greater levels of visibility into transaction processes and extract more information at different stages along the transaction life cycle, from the initiation of an order through to payment for goods delivered, in order to help treasurers better manage their accounts receivable and payable and enhance overall working capital and liquidity.
Global Finance editors—with input from industry analysts, corporate executives and technology experts—used a variety of subjective and objective criteria in selecting winners across more than 60 categories. Factors considered include: profitability, market share and reach, customer service, competitive pricing, product innovation and the extent to which treasury and cash management providers have successfully differentiated themselves from their competitors around core service provision. In addition, we polled our corporate readers and factored in the results.
| Best Overall Bank for Cash Management | Citi |
| Best White Label System Provider | BNY Mellon |
| Best Overall Bank for Cash Management | |
| North America | Bank of America Merrill Lynch |
| Western Europe | Deutsche Bank |
| Nordic Region | Danske Bank |
| CEE | UniCredit |
| Latin America | Citi |
| Asia-Pacific | Standard Chartered |
| Middle East | Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank |
| Africa | Standard Bank |
| Best Bank for Liquidity Management | |
| North America | Bank of America Merrill Lynch |
| Western Europe | Deutsche Bank |
| Nordic Region | Danske Bank |
| CEE | Royal Bank of Scotland |
| Latin America | Citi |
| Asia-Pacific | HSBC |
| Middle East | HSBC |
| Africa | Standard Bank |
| Best Provider of Money Market Funds | |
| North America | J.P. Morgan Asset Management |
| Western Europe | Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management |
| Nordic Region | Nordea Asset Management |
| CEE | Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management |
| Latin America | Santander |
| Asia-Pacific | HSBC Global Asset Management |
| Middle East | Banque Misr |
| Africa | Standard Bank |
| Best Bank for Risk Management | |
| North America | Bank of America Merrill Lynch |
| Western Europe | Deutsche Bank |
| Nordic Region | Danske Bank |
| CEE | Raiffeisen Bank International |
| Latin America | Citi |
| Asia-Pacific | HSBC |
| Middle East | HSBC |
| Africa | Citi |
| Best Bank for Payments and Collections | |
| North America | Wells Fargo |
| Western Europe | Deutsche Bank |
| Nordic Region | Danske Bank |
| CEE | Raiffeisen Bank International |
| Latin America | Citi |
| Asia-Pacific | HSBC |
| Middle East | National Bank of Abu Dhabi |
| Africa | Standard Bank |
| Accounts Payable Services | Basware |
| Accounts Receivable Services | SunGard AvantGard Receivables |
| Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment Services | Ariba |
| Payroll Services | ADP |
| Corporate Cards and Expense Services | MasterCard |
| Multichannel Payments Services/Solutions | The Logic Group |
| Loss Prevention/Business Continuity Services | IBM Business Continuity & Resiliency Services |
| Pension Plan Administration Services | Mercer |
| Treasury Workstation | SunGard AvantGard |
| Hosted TCM Solutions | SunGard AvantGard |
| Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Offering | Kyriba |
| ERP Solution | SAP |
| SWIFT Utility Access | Fundtech |
| Cash Forecasting | SAP |
| Treasury Analytics | Reval |
| Corporate Risk Management Solutions | Reval |
| TCM Consultancy Services | EY |
| Most Innovative New Solutions | Garanti Bank |
| Best Mobile Solutions | Wells Fargo |
| Best Cloud-Based Offering | SunGard |
BEST OVERALL BANK FOR CASH MANAGEMENT: Citi
With over 20,000 transaction services employees in more than 90 countries worldwide, Citi is a global leader in cash management services. Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions serves 65,000 corporations, including 97% of the top 300 on the 2012 Forbes Global 2000. Last year, the bank processed an average of $3 trillion in payments value per day. “Our teams have worked diligently to ensure our solutions are the most relevant and sophisticated in the market,” says Ebru Pakcan, global head, payments and receivables, Treasury and Trade Solutions, at Citi. “Coupling our innovative offerings with our consultative advisory approach allows Citi to remain at the forefront of the market.”
BEST WHITE-LABEL SYSTEM PROVIDER: BNY Mellon
Winning the award for best white-label system provider for the seventh consecutive year, BNY Mellon has provided private-label treasury services to over 150 financial institutions since 1989. Offering private-label services ranging from wire payments and cash concentration to integrated payables and trade finance, the bank continues to invest heavily in its infrastructure, expertise and development.
| Best Overall Bank for Cash Management |
NORTH AMERICA: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has over $200 billion in corporate deposits in North America and is the largest wholesale international bank in Canada. “Our goal is to help our clients build ‘operating leverage’ into their treasury platforms through transaction automation and value-added information and reports—enabling them to make nimble, timely decisions to strengthen their business,” says Dub Newman, the bank’s head of Global Transaction Services North America.
WESTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank offers fully integrated services from its own branches and partner banks in 14 countries across Western Europe. Over the past year Deutsche Bank invested heavily in a state-of-the-art SEPA processing engine and launched Autobahn App Market, the financial services industry’s first app-based electronic client offering, expanding its liquidity and investment suite to include Call Deposits that specifically align with Basel III.
NORDIC REGION: Danske Bank
Scoring highly in the Global Finance readers’ poll, Danske Bank is not only Denmark’s largest bank but also a leading cash management provider in the Nordic region, offering diversity and quality in developing customized solutions in cash management. Its long-term IT strategy focuses on its “One Group—One System” single technology platform, which is able to provide customers with such unique solutions as true real-time cross-border cash pooling.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: UniCredit
UniCredit serves over 400,000 corporate customers worldwide and has a direct presence in 14 countries in Central and Eastern Europe, with the region accounting for 20% of the group’s revenues and almost half of its employees. The bank offers a full breadth of local services in CEE, and its cash management offerings include pan-European zero balancing, e-invoicing and reconciliation based on virtual accounts.
LATIN AMERICA: Citi
Citi has a presence in 24 countries in Latin America, serving more than 11,000 clients. “We have become the house bank for over 200 Shared Service Centers in Latin America,” says Fernando Iraola, Latin America region head, treasury and trade solutions, Citi. “We are also supporting Latin American multinationals to expand in the region and globally. We continue to invest and grow in the 24 countries where Citi is present as we are committed to delivering the best client experience.”
ASIA-PACIFIC: Standard Chartered
Standard Chartered continues to focus on its core markets, including Asia, and is investing in building infrastructure and enhancing its systems capabilities in these markets. Notable achievements within Asia-Pacific include being the first foreign bank to offer cross-bank direct debit in China, being the primary hub for renminbi trade settlement in Hong Kong and having the largest branch network among foreign banks in India.
MIDDLE EAST: Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank
Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is the fourth-largest bank in the UAE and the third-largest in Abu Dhabi by assets. ADCB’s cash management solutions include ProCash, its online banking platform, as well as a comprehensive suite of payment solutions, file-based host-to-host direct-debit collection services and automated multilayer liquidity management solutions.
AFRICA: Standard Bank
Standard Bank, the largest banking group in Africa by assets and earnings, continues its commitment to cash management in the continent. “Given Standard Bank’s intent to be the leading transaction bank for, in and across Africa, we are delighted to be rated the Best Overall Bank for Cash Management,” says Sachin Shah, head of cash management at Standard Bank.
| Best Bank for Liquidity Management |
NORTH AMERICA: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Liquidity Platform provides integrated liquidity solutions for its corporate clients, drawing upon such capabilities as in-depth reporting, flexible interest allocation parameters and intelligent sweeping logic. “At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, we will continue to provide our clients with market-leading tools and consultation to manage their liquidity needs,” says Greg Kavanaugh, the bank’s global head of liquidity and investments.
WESTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Bank
“Deutsche Bank continues to prioritize platform development to allow us to offer our clients global cash visibility, access to local and global market and transaction data and the ability to mobilize cash based on the findings,” say Andrew Reid and Jens Mikolajczak, co-heads of corporate cash management, EMEA, global transaction banking, Deutsche Bank.
NORDIC REGION: Danske Bank
With an 18% share of the overall Nordic liquidity management market, Danske Bank offers advanced cross-border and liquidity solutions with its “One Group—One System.” The platform’s one-file-format type covers all the Nordic countries and offers the bank’s clients real-time online balance and transaction reporting, regardless of country, giving the bank’s customers full control over their liquidity.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: RBS
RBS’s payment and collection factory proposition enables clients to achieve visibility over internal payments and control over their funding arrangements, leading to liquidity optimization. The bank has also continued to expand the RBS Online Client Service tool, an electronic communications service channel that is integrated with the bank’s online banking channel and supports corporate clients in managing liquidity on a day-to-day basis.
LATIN AMERICA: Citi
Citi Liquidity and Investment Management provides a range of fully automated, end-to-end liquidity management solutions in Latin America. These incorporate concentration/optimization solutions—which include target balancing/zero balance account, interest optimization, tiering and bracketing in 14 countries. Still in expansion in the region, the bank’s Multibank Target Balancing solution allows clients to automate their intraday cross-border or interbank transactions.
ASIA-PACIFIC: HSBC
“HSBC is committed to working in partnership with our clients to deliver innovative, needs-driven solutions to help them achieve their business potential,” says John Laurens, regional head of global payments and cash management, HSBC Asia Pacific. “Our extensive global footprint, combined with our comprehensive range of integrated payments, receivables and liquidity solutions, provides our clients with visibility over their working capital and efficient control of their treasury processes.
MIDDLE EAST: HSBC
The most widely represented international bank in the Middle East, HSBC is currently focusing on Egypt, Saudi Arabia and UAE as priority growth markets. HSBC provides robust liquidity management services within the region and scored highly in the Global Finance readers’ poll in this category. Sunil Veetil, regional head of payments and cash management, HSBC Middle East and North Africa notes: “In today’s competitive environment, businesses need the best tools and advice available to make capital work hard for them. In MENA, we are fully committed to providing our customers with these tools to help them grow their business.”
AFRICA: Standard Bank
Standard Bank has an established presence in Africa, with operations in 19 African countries. The bank’s dominant market share of over 30% of total deposit balances in South Africa represents the largest base of liquidity management solutions in the country. The bank is therefore well positioned to support the needs of the many corporations choosing to locate regional treasury centers and shared service centers in South Africa.
| Best Provider of Money Market Funds |
NORTH AMERICA: J.P. Morgan Asset Management
One of the largest asset management firms in the world, J.P. Morgan Asset Management has over $1.5 trillion in global assets under management. In the US, J.P. Morgan Asset Management provides 13 dollar-denominated money market funds, including JPMorgan Prime Money Market Fund, the largest institutional money market fund in the industry, with assets of $115 billion.
WESTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management
Rainer Habisch, head of liquidity management, EMEA, at Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management, notes that the asset manager provides a full suite of cash investment products to help clients manage their cash needs globally. “These include short-term and regular money market funds, cash-plus funds (which offer additional yield potential) and separately managed accounts—across the world’s major currencies.”
NORDIC REGION: Nordea Asset Management
Managed by Nordea Investment Fund Company Finland, Nordea’s Short-Term Money Market Fund invests in short-term money market instruments and bonds issued by banks and other financial institutions, as well as governments, state-guaranteed issuers, municipalities and other public-sector entities.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management
DeAWM attracted a high score in the Global Finance readers’ poll in the Central and Eastern Europe category. Rainer Habisch, head of liquidity management, EMEA, says that low interest rates represent a challenge for institutional clients, particularly as many are holding substantial cash balances with a significant cost of carry. “Efficient cash management is critical in putting these balances to work in a safe and effective manner,” he adds.
LATIN AMERICA: Santander Asset Management
Santander Asset Management has a presence in five countries in Latin America—Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina—and had global assets under management of over €156 billion as of June 2013. The international asset manager has developed an investment process based on fundamental analysis in combination with strict risk controls and innovation. In 2013, Santander sold a 50% stake in its AM arm to Warburg Pincus and General Atlantic—aiming to double its assets under management within five years.
ASIA-PACIFIC: HSBC Global Asset Management
HSBC Global Asset Management had assets under management of over $419 billion as of September 2013, including a well-established business in Asia Pacific. “This award reaffirms our dedication in helping customers to make their cash reserves work harder through intelligent investment solutions and money market funds,” said HSBC Global Asset Management. “The win also marks the achievements of our seasoned investment and credit teams with local and regional liquidity expertise across both core and emerging markets.”
MIDDLE EAST: Banque Misr
Banque Misr’s “Yom b Yom” Fund, with assets of over EGP18.8 billion ($2.7 billion) as of September 2013, is the largest money market fund in Egypt. When launched in 2004, it was the first of its kind in the country. The fund provides investors with the liquidity and flexibility offered by a current account while achieving returns made available through savings deposits.
AFRICA: Standard Bank
Standard Bank relaunched its money market funds in 2013 as the Stanlib Money Market Funds in order to distinguish itself as a unique brand with its own identity within the Standard Bank Group. Present in eight African countries, Stanlib manages over R500 billion ($45 billion) in assets for more than 400,000 retail and institutional clients.
| Best Bank for Risk Management |
NORTH AMERICA: Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Bank of America Merrill Lynch scored highly in this category in the Global Finance readers’ poll. “We offer a one-stop-shop experience, where our team of experts provide holistic solutions to address a company’s payments, concentration and hedging requirements,” says David Kretz, cross-currency payments executive, Global Transaction Services at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
WESTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Bank
“Risk management has been a top priority for corporates since the onset of the 2008 global financial crisis,” say Andrew Reid and Jens Mikolajczak, co-heads of corporate cash management, EMEA, Global Transaction Banking, Deutsche Bank. To support clients’ growth efforts, they explain, the bank has expanded its end-of-day investment offerings to better align with corporate investment policies, which now demand greater diversification.
NORDIC REGION: Danske Bank
Danske Bank has a Risk Advisory team of experienced analysts dedicated to performing customized analyses of clients’ financial risk and hedging strategies in areas such as asset allocation, asset-liability management, risk management and the use of derivatives.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: Raiffeisen Bank International
Relying upon its network of banks in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as its strong presence in Asia, RBI provides a range of solutions designed to minimize the risks associated with foreign transactions, including export financing solutions, letters of credit and guarantees.
LATIN AMERICA: Citi
Citi offers a number of solutions in the region that help corporate clients manage their risks, including Citi Treasury Analytics and TreasuryVision. In 2013, as part of Citi’s risk management strategy and as a drive to provide safer and more efficient payments in the region, protect its clients from fraud and optimize the execution of transactions, the bank converted a large number of paper-based client instructions into electronic fund transfers.
ASIA-PACIFIC: HSBC
HSBC provides a suite of payment and cash management solutions designed to help corporate clients improve security and simplify reconciliation and risk management, including account services, liquidity management, integrated payments and integrated receivables solutions. The bank attracted the highest score for risk management in Asia Pacific in the Global Finance readers’ poll.
MIDDLE EAST: HSBC
HSBC scored highly in the Global Finance readers’ poll for risk management in the Middle East. Helping corporate clients in the Middle East manage risk effectively, the bank provides a range of services, including tailored cash management solutions, top-flight e-channel services and strong liquidity management and transaction management offerings.
AFRICA: Citi
Voted the best bank for risk management in Africa by Global Finance’s readers, Citi is present in 55 markets across EMEA, including 15 countries in Africa. The bank, which was the first overseas bank to open branches in African countries, provides a range of products within the region that help clients monitor and control their international commercial transactions and mitigate associated risks.
| Best Bank for Payments and Collections |
NORTH AMERICA: Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is a leader in mobile corporate banking in the US, having been the first major US financial services company to offer such a service. The bank is also a leading ACH electronic payment originator among financial institutions based in the United States, and its share of total transactions represents one in six ACH domestic payments.
WESTERN EUROPE: Deutsche Bank
“While representing the cornerstone of most cash management banks’ offerings, payments and collections need not be a standardized service,” say Andrew Reid and Jens Mikolajczak, co-heads of corporate cash management, EMEA, GTB, Deutsche Bank. “Our solutions are all designed to give corporates better control over cash flow, speed up the cash conversion cycle and simplify reporting.”
NORDIC REGION: Danske Bank
Danske Bank has supported Nordic companies for over 140 years and holds a leadership position in the Nordic treasury market. A full member of local clearing systems in Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany and the UK, Danske Bank is able to offer all domestic and international payment types.
CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE: Raiffeisen Bank International
With its headquarters in Vienna, RBI has regarded Central and Eastern Europe as its home market for 25 years. The bank operates an extensive network of subsidiary banks across the region, as well as leasing companies and a range of other specialized financial service providers in 15 markets. RBI’s payment capabilities include domestic, cross-border and SEPA payments as well as tailor-made, complex and innovative cross-border solutions.
LATIN AMERICA: Citi
Citi has developed its payment capabilities in line with local clearing systems across Latin America. The bank’s award-winning electronic banking platform CitiDirect BE is available via CitiDirect BE Mobile and is present in 22 countries in the region and in three languages. Three major Latin American markets launched the Citi Prepaid cards program in 2013, and Citi’s commercial cards program is currently present in 12 markets in the region.
ASIA-PACIFIC: HSBC
Voted the best bank for payments and collections in Asia-Pacific by readers of Global Finance, HSBC offers a range of integrated payments and integrated receivables solutions via its payments and cash management business. The bank also provides a range of up-to-date region-specific resources and market information to its corporate clients.
MIDDLE EAST: National Bank of Abu Dhabi
Present in 18 countries and operating the largest network in the Middle East, NBAD offers customers real-time information, enhanced cash flow and improved reconciliation via its receivables solutions. Payables solutions are designed to improve customers’ payment processes and enhance their operational efficiencies.
AFRICA: Standard Bank
Standard Bank, with its physical presence in 18 African markets and over 1,230 full-service branches across the continent, is a recognized leader in payments and collection solutions. “Africa is a complex mix of regulatory environments, currencies and payments infrastructures,” says Sachin Shah, head of cash management. “However, the continent is also leading the way in innovations—especially in embedding mobile payments and in the collections space.”
ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SERVICES: Basware
Accounts payable has become a catchall phrase for the purchase-to-pay process. With its open, Cloud-based purchase-to-pay and e-invoicing solutions, the Finnish headquartered company, which has subsidiaries in the United States, Europe and Australia, is well placed to help companies streamline AP using automation. The Basware Commerce Network, an open buyer/supplier collaborative network that connects users in 900,000 companies across 100 countries, makes electronic invoice exchange and buyer/supplier collaboration easier. The network recently joined forces with MasterCard to provide a B2B payment solution. Basware’s AP automation suite includes solutions such as InvoiceReady, which reduces invoice-processing time to help speed up payables and the working capital cycle.
ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE SERVICES: SunGard AvantGard Receivables
Despite competition from bank-led accounts receivable solutions, SunGard continues to dominate this category. Its global reach, number of customer implementations and relentless focus on helping companies unlock working capital by enhanced management of their accounts receivable, including a predictive analytics tool to help identify potential late payers and nonpayers, are key differentiators.
ELECTRONIC INVOICE PRESENTMENT AND PAYMENT SERVICES: Ariba
Few e-invoicing providers boast a network as large as Ariba’s, which connects more than 1.2 million companies in 190 countries and processes more than $500 billion in transactions annually. Ariba has always had a strong e-invoicing offering, but it has built on this with its PO-Flip solution for purchase orders, and its contract invoicing solution where suppliers can convert contracts into invoices. In the past 12 months, Ariba says, it increased by approximately 50% the volume of electronic invoices processed from its catalog and contract-invoicing suppliers.
PAYROLL SERVICES: ADP
ADP was among the leading payroll services providers featured in our readers’ survey. According to BestPayrollServices, an independent authority on payroll services, ADP, which boasts more than $5 million in annual revenues, scores highly for 401(k) services, payroll software and tax management. Its payroll software is noted for its ease of use, range of features, automation, customer support and reporting.
CORPORATE CARDS AND EXPENSE SERVICES PROVIDER: MasterCard
According to 2013 research conducted by PayStream Advisors, the most popular purchasing card network was MasterCard (47%), followed by Visa (42%). Our reader’s survey also pitted Visa and MasterCard closely together. Purchasing cards or P-cards are a type of corporate card that companies are increasingly using to make electronic payments. According to PayStream’s research, P-card usage continues to rise. It increased from 64% in 2012 to 69% in 2013.
MULTICHANNEL PAYMENTS SERVICES/SOLUTIONS: The Logic Group
Although in previous years this award has gone to the likes of Clear2Pay and Fiserv, Europe-based The Logic Group provides a truly multicurrency, multichannel payment gateway that includes card present, card not present, and mobile forms of payment. It joined forces with Near Field Communication provider ViVOtech to offer integrated mobile payment services for merchants. In the UK, The Logic Group processes more than a third of all UK card transactions and has introduced Europe’s first multichannel, PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard)– compliant managed-payment service.
LOSS PREVENTION/BUSINESS CONTINUITY SERVICES PROVIDER:
IBM Business Continuity and Resiliency Services
IBM won by a large margin in our reader’s poll for this category. It has been in the business resiliency and information protection business for more than 40 years. According to research firm, Forrester, IBM continues to lead the traditional disaster recovery market, where it is the largest player and offers a comprehensive range of services.
PENSION PLAN ADMINISTRATION SERVICES: Mercer
Mercer featured well in our readers’ survey. Mercer Retirement Solutions is well versed in providing solutions for different types of pension schemes, whether defined-benefit, defined-contribution or hybrid. For those companies with a global focus, Mercer provides a Web-based retirement financial management system and also benchmarks the retirement plans of S&P 1500 companies.
TREASURY WORKSTATION PROVIDER: SunGard AvantGard
Competition in the treasury workstation space is now concentrated in the hands of fewer providers than in the past as a result of such players as Wall Street Systems snapping up competitors like IT2 and City Financials. However, treasurers are demanding more from their treasury management systems (TMS), particularly when it comes to risk management and analytics capabilities. Users of SunGard AvantGard’s treasury workstations applaud its “powerful interface for advanced risk reporting.” The latest version of SunGard AvantGard establishes specific analytics and models for multinational scenarios and global financial risk analysis.
HOSTED TREASURY & CASH MANAGEMENT SOLUTION: SunGard
SunGard AvantGard Hosting and Managed Services draws on the parent company’s strong track record and experience in disaster recovery and managed services. One treasury customer remarked at the speed with which SunGard moved its treasury management solution to a hosted environment. To support growing demand for hosted treasury management solutions, SunGard recently opened a regional support center in Jacksonville, Florida, and is establishing service teams in London and Manila.
SOFTWARE-AS-A-SERVICE (SAAS) TCM OFFERING: Kyriba
Since its beginnings in 2000, Kyriba is still one of only a few treasury management providers whose business model is predicated on a true software-as-a-service IT architecture. It has established an impressive user base of 750 customers worldwide, with more than 30,000 individual users. In the past year, it says, it signed more than a hundred new customers. It also launched Kyriba Pro, an SaaS platform for mid-market treasury operations wanting rich functionality but at a more affordable price point.
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SOLUTION: SAP
Exactly how ERP giant SAP will integrate and leverage Ariba, which it acquired in 2012, is something that analysts are still scratching their heads about, but one can see numerous advantages when it comes to more closely aligning ERP systems with e-procurement and e-invoicing programs. On the pure ERP front, having cornered larger corporations, SAP is going after the small and midsize enterprise segment. It also astutely anticipated market appetite for less-implementation-intensive ERP applications with its software-as-a-service and Cloud offerings.
SWIFT UTILITY ACCESS: Fundtech
With approximately 800 nonbank corporates connected to SWIFT, a number of players in the market now provide access to the interbank network. However, Fundtech, which is also a payment solutions provider, has a 16-year track record in this field via its service bureau, which connects more than 270 corporations and financial institutions in more than 30 countries to SWIFT.
CASH FORECASTING: SAP
There once was a time when treasurers rarely utilized the treasury management functionality within ERP systems. That time has passed. SAP beats traditional TMS vendors hands down in our reader’s survey for this category. Notoriously one of the most difficult areas of treasury and cash management to get right, accurate cash forecasting is often about central treasury gaining the support of local subsidiaries and providing them with the tools to submit up-to-date information. SAP provides a wide range of tools (analytics, data, bank communication and receivables management and invoice-to-pay) that help improve cash visibility, predictability and availability.
TREASURY ANALYTICS: Reval
Although bank-owned solutions have put an increasing array of analytics at the treasurer’s fingertips, Reval has the embedded risk management and analytics expertise to help treasurers to monitor, model and manage an increasing array of risks. “Clients can analyze, hedge and report on global commodity exposures while also seeing the impact of related derivative settlements on corporate cash flow and making related payments using our all-in-one [treasury and risk management] solution,” says Reval.
BEST CORPORATE RISK MANAGEMENT SOLUTION: Reval
Reval started out as a risk management provider and then bolted on the treasury management side of things with its acquisition of Germany’s ecofinance. Its integrated treasury and risk management application gives treasurers the best of both worlds but with a strong risk focus. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of commodities risk. The latest version of the Reval platform enables treasurers that are hedging commodities to import commodity exposures as FX positions. The new version also supports Cash Flow at Risk for both FX and commodities exposures.
TCM CONSULTANCY SERVICES: EY (formerly Ernst & Young)
EY’s team of treasury consultants harnesses a breadth of experience across IT, banking and treasury management. Clients also benefit from its expertise in other related areas, such as transaction banking and taxation. Its knowledge of treasury management software and systems is demonstrated by its regular market surveys, which assess the latest IT and software tools on the market as well as the companies and financial institutions that provide treasury and cash management services.
MOST INNOVATIVE NEW SOLUTION: Garanti Bank
Working capital is something that we are hearing a lot about these days from corporate treasurers. Turkey’s Garanti Bank devised a solution for car dealers, who historically had problems accessing working capital to buy second-hand cars from prospective buyers looking to exchange an old vehicle for a new one. The Web-based second-hand inventory financing system (Exchange Finance) provided by Garanti offers dealers additional working capital or credit at a lower cost via an online e-pledge system where the second-hand car is used as collateral. The solution benefits not only car dealers and buyers but also auto manufacturers, who want to sell more vehicles. And as most of the steps in the process are conducted online, capital is provided more or less when needed.
BEST MOBILE SOLUTION PROVIDER: Wells Fargo
Despite most leading cash management banks’ coming out with mobile offerings in the past few years, San Francisco–based Wells Fargo is still streets ahead when it comes to the range of functionality it supports via mobile devices. A case in point is its CEO Mobile Deposit service, which enables corporate customers to scan in images of checks and money orders on mobile devices. Other services that can be accessed through CEO Mobile include commercial card expense reporting, loan balances, letters of credit and supply chain financing.
BEST CLOUD-BASED OFFERING: SunGard
Cloud, ASP (application service provider), software-as-a-service—there are now a number of ways that treasurers can deploy the latest software functionality. SunGard AvantGard was quick to recognize treasurers’ sensitivities when it came to accessing applications and data in the public Cloud. So it set up a “private Cloud” environment that gives treasurers peace of mind when it comes to security but still delivers the level of flexibility, scalability and functionality expected when accessing solutions in the Cloud.
