The need for real-time cash visibility demands centralised payments hubs, real-time payment execution with tracking and new payment platforms. Real-time working capital efficiency demands all of this, plus more efficient multi-bank management.

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In a recent webinar, Marcus Hughes, Head of Strategic Business Development at Bottomline Technologies and Patrick Verspecht, Group Treasurer, Trillium Flow Technologies, Board Member & Secretary of the Board at the ATEB, shared their views on how the latest technology can help towards an easier and faster path to digital transformation.

“For sure, the payments industry is going through a period of unprecedented change. A range of factors are driving this: new regulations, payment instruments, payment schemes and formats, as well as new technology. Increasingly, the treasurer is expected to do more with less, while the size of treasury teams is getting smaller and smaller. So, it’s not possible now, in our day-to-day work as treasurers, to cope without technology tools,” says Verspecht.

The treasurer is responsible for managing the project, implementation, testing, resources, timelines and then “going live”. It’s perhaps surprising that today this focus on projects has expanded to become almost 50% of a treasurer’s role. Thanks to technology, many operational matters can be automated, meaning the treasury team can focus on more strategic matters.

A customised solution

Instead of joining SWIFT, Trillium Flow Technologies used Bottomline’s BIC as a service solution. The Payments and Cash Management (PCM) solution is network agnostic and works with full SWIFT SCORE membership, EBICS, H2H or direct local ACH clearing. The solution’s standard environment comes with embedded routing rules and standard formats, like MT940/942; PAIN 002 PSR; MT101; PAIN 001, Standard 18. PCM formats are based on CGI ISO 20022. This means that Bottomline was able to take the company through the various project phases very quickly; from development, QA, UAT and then live.

Now that the company has put in place the cash reporting functionalities, it is planning to implement multi-bank payments, and more features in the future.

Poll 1: What is the SINGLE most important factor in any digital treasury transformation decision?

(The other options; time to implement, cyber-fraud, budget, security and multi-bank solution, each accounted for less than 10% of audience selections.)

Bottomline’s approach

The following key factors emerge from the way Bottomline approaches its proposition:

• Mitigation of risks by real time visibility and strict control to avoid fraud.
• Cost efficiency by automation and technology.
• Centralised platform payment and statement hub.
• The benefits of an aggregated infrastructure and connectivity to multiple payment schemes.
• More insight at your fingertips presented in simple but intuitive formats to drive faster and more accurate decision making.

Successful transformation

Hughes closed the session with three top tips for a successful and rapid digital transformation:

Start simple and small. For example, utilise bank statement monitoring tools for enhanced real-time visibility of transactions in your main bank accounts and combine with BIC as a Service to leverage the SWIFT network without the overhead membership.

Then expand and roll out in a controlled way. For example, with a centralised payment and collection hub to view the status of all payments and take the necessary action to ensure seamless execution and reduce the risk of fraud.

Finally, aggregate the status of all payment flows for a complete and real-time view of visibility for more effective cash management and working capital optimisation.

If you missed the webinar and would like to hear the full recording:

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