Treasury Management’s Tech-Driven Evolution
Beyond monitoring the bank accounts, beyond the day-to-day ebb and flow of cash in the corporate coffers, treasurers’ roles are changing.
And, increasingly, technology is the prime enabler of that change.
A recent spate of headlines tied to capital raises by FinTech and partnerships between traditional financial services firms and digital-only enterprises highlight the broadening portfolio, so to speak, that treasurers must handle. These individuals, and their staff, are increasingly tasked with risk management and helping shape the strategies of their organizations, particularly as so much business is conducted on a global stage.
In recent news, Embat, a FinTech that offers tools for real-time corporate treasury management, said late last month that it raised 14.7 million euros ($15.96 million) in a Series A round. The company’s platform, according to its site, enables real-time bank connectivity, treasury forecasts and payments functionality, where users approve, sign and monitor transactions with automated reconciliation.
Elsewhere, and as noted here, Treasury4 raised $20 million to expand its software platform for treasury and finance practitioners in its own Series A funding round. The company’s platform helps with global cash management and forecast management. The platform also enables automated ISO 20022 messaging, to SWIFT onboarding for corporates.
A Place for AI, Too
It’s no surprise, too, that artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly viewed, and used, as a tool to help streamline and improve decision-making in the back office, which has positive ripple effects across markets, commercial transactions and supply chains.
As recently as this week, news came that JPMorgan Chase’s own AI offerings have cut manual work by almost 90% by automating the categorization and visualization of client payment flows. AI, we noted, can analyze historical data, market trends and various parameters to provide more accurate and dynamic cash flow forecasts.
Platforms and embedded options — PNC teamed with treasury platform Koxa, which retrieves real-time balance and transaction information — are coming to the forefront at a time when treasurers are looking towards new growth opportunities.
“Navigating the Unexpected Playbook,” a PYMNTS Intelligence and Citi report, noted that treasurers eyeing strategic and proactive roles should seek out simple cross-border payments setup, easy access to global payments at scale and plug-and-play interoperability with ERP and forecasting tools. Separate PYMNTS Intelligence research has found that a majority of CFOs and treasurers from industries as far-flung as retail and manufacturing have been honing their plans to invest in working capital management and back-end AP/AR modernization efforts. And 90% of mid-sized firms — those generating between $3.5 million and $15 million in annual revenue — said they were planning to automate their AP and AR processes expect to achieve more accurate and efficient data reporting and analysis.
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