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The challenge

The last five years have seen very rapid growth, with global revenues rising from just under US$3bn to just under US$4bn.

In the company’s APAC operations, that growth is even more rapid. By early 2020, with multiple local banks and accounts across 12 entities in six countries, multiple and disparate payments processes, and growth continuing at a rapid pace, it was clear change was needed.

That was when US-based Marci Lerner, Treasurer, and UK-based Craig Mertins, International Treasury Director, embarked on a request for proposal (RFP) to transform its banking, payments and liquidity processes in the APAC region including the following requirements:

• Flexible and comprehensive treasury and trade solutions addressing:
  • Account rationalisation across six countries (China, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand).
  • A China domestic cash pool and CNY cross-border pool.
  • Regional host-to-host (H2H) connectivity for payments and reporting.
  • Standardisation and automation of payment processes across the region.
  • Credit facilities for supporting bank overdrafts, guarantees and export letters of credit (LCs).
• Customer service with dedicated local contacts speaking the local language.
• Senior management support that would be responsive when an issue needed to be escalated.
• In-person meetings with the individual team members that would manage implementation and provide ongoing relationship support.
• A streamlined, non-onerous know your customer (KYC) process.

Four banks were invited to bid. Lerner and Mertins have been working with the chosen bank, Bank of America, for some time and have developed a strong collaborative relationship with the bank.

The solution

The chosen bank, Bank of America, best met these requirements with two areas worthy of note. The first was the in-person meetings. It was critical to Lerner and Mertins to meet the core team who would be ‘in the trenches’ with them during and post the implementation process.

Bank of America was one of only two banks that arranged for its core team from APAC to meet with the Hologic team in Massachusetts. Hologic was immediately impressed by the team who would end up being instrumental in what Lerner described as among the top three bank implementation projects she has experienced in a career’s worth of bank implementation projects.

The second key area was KYC processes. The bank proposed a streamlined process that was critical to an on-time completion of the implementation.

COVID-19 was an unforeseen challenge when Hologic embarked on its treasury transformation plans in APAC. However, the challenge of implementing in a work from home (WFH) environment epitomised Hologic’s first class relationship management and ability to coordinate and collaborate with its bank to successfully complete implementation on time. KYC and implementation were completed in just six months from start to finish, requiring coordination and collaboration across multiple Hologic and bank teams globally, regionally, and locally.

Best practice and innovation

Hologic’s clear vision and communication of essential requirements in the RFP process and rigorous assessment of the banks’ abilities to meet those requirements in the selection process set the stage for a very successful initiative in APAC and further development of a first class relationship with the bank they selected. Best practices were employed at every stage of the selection and implementation process. The result is an implementation that was efficient, executed expeditiously and completed ahead of schedule, which Hologic had described as “five-star service”.

Key benefits

• Number of banks reduced from 12 across six countries to a single bank.
• H2H connectivity.
• Increased standardisation, automation and streamlined KYC process.
• Enhanced flexibility.
• Improved visibility and control.
• Collaborative and responsive relationships established.

“During an unpreceded global event that challenged and changed how everyone lived, worked and interacted together, our relationship remained steadfast, endured and flourished,” concludes Marci Lerner, Treasurer.