Revolutionising Treasury

Revolutionising Treasury

This article was first published in SA Treasurers Journal

What does revolutionising Treasury mean in the context of Treasury and Trade Solutions?

Corporate treasury is moving away from being a business support function, to becoming a strategic function.  The heart of the Treasury function is to serve the company’s growth through optimal cash management, with digital technologies being the key enabler to making strategic business decisions, and the digital capabilities of their bank partners becoming the key differentiator.

A modern stance on payments and trade finance solutions is vital to the response to global trends, treasurer’s needs, and the genuine belief that pioneering digital tools can bring deeper insight and greater efficiencies. However, our approach to digital is founded on decades of diverse experience and builds on our dedicated teams’ expertise in the treasury and trade needs across the African continent.

With extensive experience in the corporate treasury realm and the provision of banking services to major Corporates across South Africa, Broader Africa and internationally, we have been exposed to the way treasuries function at an in-depth level, and the underlying processes that make up day-to-day treasury operations. As technology and the needs of businesses evolve, it has become clear that there are new complexities in modern financial management. These fast-paced changes need to be met with a banking partner that can walk the path with them.

How digital solutions can improve treasury and trade solutions

Transforming treasury and trade with digital tools is not a quick fix. It involves multiple layers of support and insight, which all work together to enable cash visibility, real-time processing in both payments and collections, seamless cash sweeping and embedded automation wherever possible. By digitalising these processes, corporates save time, enhance decision making, and eliminate as many manual checks as possible.

In this context, a bank must focus on strategies that shows their commitment to modernising treasury management through transformational strategies that aligns to their clients’ needs. This includes embracing payment innovations, as well as integrating various trade platforms available, to provide their clients with control and efficiency in their financial goals. They must actively and consciously integrate new technologies like AI and robotics into their solutions which will result in the automation of routine tasks, resource optimisation, faster turnaround times, consistency and accuracy.  

Embracing AI integration into its treasury toolbox?

It is important that a bank understands the importance and power of AI and other new technologies. Banks need to build a comprehensive value proposition that can provide any Treasurer with real-time insights, predictive analytics and risk management tools to enhance strategic decision-making capabilities.

A key investment by banks is to offer a modernised business-to-bank channel that supports multiple currencies and products, offering features like self-registration and auto-provisioning. These channels need to enable integrated connectivity, with a choice of standards-based API or host-to-host protocols with a Treasurer’s line of business, or ERP systems to the bank. Direct connections between corporate systems and banking platforms, facilitating faster and more efficient payment processing is now a non-negotiable feature.

Furthermore, banks and companies can now partner with third party FinTechs to realise efficiencies, providing better options for Treasurers. As an example: to maximize the benefits of digital trade finance, robust digital platforms that streamline financial processes, ensuring efficiency and scalability can quickly unlock real value. This includes third party platforms to standardise secure instructions, automate document handling, real-time pricing and risk assessment. Leveraging this, trade finance capabilities are enhanced with modernised payments capabilities, APIs, and AI to deliver optimal financing solutions.

Payment innovations

Payment harmonisation is critical for accurate cash flow management. Strong payment offerings support compliance, is safe and secure and provides insights that aid financial management and effective decisioning. By adopting cutting-edge payment technologies and partnering with banks that understand this, corporate treasuries can achieve real-time visibility and operational excellence, positioning themselves for strategic agility in a rapidly evolving financial landscape.  Diverse payment methods such as digital wallets and contactless payments meet the varying needs of stakeholders, including the ability for Treasurers to realise value quicker with a diverse range of collection capabilities.

Conclusion

Digital solutions such as APIs, AI and payment automation allow corporates and their treasury teams to quickly and cost-efficiently benefit from more streamlined processes, enhanced cash flow visibility, and better insight on their treasury management. This has a powerful impact on their business, but also the consumers they serve. Payment innovations allow South Africans from a diverse range of backgrounds to pay and get paid, including the previously unbanked.  Together these provide comprehensive tools for Treasurers to unlock value.

At RMB, digital technologies are built on top of a foundation of historic and contextual understanding of banking on the continent, which allows us to innovate for powerful business and social change.

RMB Treasury and Trade Solutions