Seven-year global transformation journey delivers for BP
Published: Sep 2025
Best Treasury Transformation Project
Overall Winner
BP
Photo of David McGowan, BNP Paribas, Camille Drummond and Tony Fargher, BP and Eliane Eysackers, Zanders.
Yvonne Hurst
Programme Director
UK
BP (formerly The British Petroleum Company p.l.c. and BP Amoco p.l.c.) is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. It is one of the oil and gas ‘supermajors’ and one of the world’s largest companies measured by revenues and profits.
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The challenge
A digital transformation is a journey not a destination and this saying is certainly true in the case of the BP global cash and banking hub programme. Projects that span multiple teams, business units, geographies and organisations are inherently complex with Gartner’s research revealing 75% of ERP implementation projects get derailed along the way. However, the starting point for this BP global treasury project was 2017 and covered an extremely complex, inefficient and costly cash management landscape: embracing 24 countries across the BP group, covering 350+ legal entities, 150 banking partners, 2,000+ bank accounts, 65 ERP systems including SAP and JDE operating on different versions and with no standard connectivity, operational processes and limited overall cash visibility. With global scale comes a global size challenge with the odds stacked against the project for a multi-year digital transformation. In November 2024, the cash and banking hub project completed its final core release covering the Castrol operations in India, Korea and Thailand marking a successful end to a seven-year programme. However, the BP strategic transformation initiative is continuing with further new projects planned to continue the drive to treasury excellence.
The solution
The programme objectives focused on the following core areas:
Bank partner rationalisation to five strategic regional banking partners.
Establish an in-house banking structure to minimise FX transactions using payments-on-behalf-of (POBO).
One standardised connection to the regional banking partners using Swift through a Bottomline service bureau that also provided sanction screening capabilities.
Introduction of S/4HANA as the hub system to support standardised payment methods in addition to leveraging the latest in-country payment innovations, like Osko in Australia, e-Withholding Tax in Thailand, AUDDIS in the UK and the new instant payments scheme in Vietnam, plus status and reporting capabilities all based on the CGI-MP ISO 20022 XML implementation guidelines.
To introduce standardised process controls covering payment fraud, duplicate payment prevention and system integration security.
Acceleration of reconciliation processes through the automated processing of intraday and end-of-day bank camt.052 and camt.053 bank statements.
Improve overall liquidity visibility and accessibility.
Harmonise operational processes and toolkits globally.
Develop a robust BCP framework.
Reduce and eliminate the use of proprietary bank portals through a centralised ‘manual’ payment option within the S/4HANA hub system.
Improve tracking of payments files and transactions through SAP’s BCM module.
Implement bank proprietary technology where it further elevates performance, for example the flow banker (FX) module provided by Standard Chartered across Asia.
Implement a robust, scalable outsourced DD capability in India, due to system limitations within JDE.
Best practice and innovation
This seven-year digital transformation has redefined best in class in several areas and aligned with current best practice in others. This digital transformation standardises technology and operations for global cash management. The project has also introduced global adoption of the XML payment and direct debit messages, following CGI-MP guidelines, ensuring a harmonised and standardised implementation across strategic banks, eliminating proprietary complexities.
Global adoption of camt.053 and camt.052 statements enhance cash visibility, accelerates reconciliation with ISO BTC codes, and provides real-time liquidity updates for timely hedging. Liquidity management has been enhanced with a design based on a combination of ZBA sweeps and in-country non-core partner bank sweeps due to the regulatory landscape and local market customer behaviour.
A single secure Swift interface combined with PGP encryption and file compression has minimised network fees. This secure standard file interface reduces the cyber threat landscape that typically exists with a plethora of different partner bank connections.
Key benefits
Cost savings.
Headcount savings.
Process efficiencies.
Return on investment.
Increased automation.
Risk mitigated.
Improved visibility.
Errors reduced.
Number of banking partners/bank accounts reduced.
Manual intervention reduced.
Increased system connectivity.
Future-proof solution.
Exceptional implementation (budget/time).
Improved key performance indicator (KPI) metrics.
In total, this transformation programme has realised benefits rising to a sustainable US$8.5m per annum.
Andy Chaplin
Director – Cash Management, Barclays Global Transaction Banking
Congratulations to BP on winning the Best Treasury Transformation Project award as part of the annual Adam Smith Awards. This prestigious recognition celebrates BP’s leadership in revolutionising global treasury operations through its Cash and Banking hub. As a strategic banking partner, we’re proud to have supported this seven-year transformation journey that streamlined operations across 24 countries. The programme’s success in bank rationalisation, real-time cash visibility and standardised connectivity sets a new benchmark in treasury excellence. Its success is a testament to BP’s commitment to operational excellence and innovation.
in partnership with
David McGowan
Director, International Treasury Specialist, BNP Paribas
On behalf of BNP Paribas, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to BP on their outstanding achievement in winning the Best Treasury Transformation Project award. BP’s seven-year global cash and banking hub programme is a testament to their commitment to excellence and innovation in treasury management. The team’s dedication to standardising technology and operations, improving liquidity visibility, and reducing costs has resulted in a truly impressive transformation. We are thrilled to see the significant benefits that this programme has delivered, including impressive cost savings. BP’s leadership in treasury transformation is an inspiration to us all, and we are honoured to have the opportunity to work with such a forward-thinking and innovative company. Our warmest congratulations on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for this successful collaboration.
in partnership with
Eliane Eysackers
Director, Zanders
Congratulations to BP on winning the Best Treasury Transformation Project! This award recognises the ambition and complexity of a truly global programme. Over seven years, BP’s treasury team delivered a major digital transformation across more than 24 countries, simplifying operations, increasing visibility and driving long-term value. It’s been a privilege for Zanders to support this journey alongside BP’s dedicated teams and key partners. We’d also like to thank ANZ, Barclays, BNP Paribas, J.P. Morgan and Standard Chartered for their critical contributions to this achievement.
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The Adam Smith Awards are the industry benchmark for best practice and innovation in corporate treasury. The 2025 awards attracted 454 nominations. To find out more please visit treasurytoday.com/adam-smith-awards
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