Training: Treasury Management and Credit Collections

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07-11-2022 | François de Witte | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

treasuryXL expert François de Witte will be giving a treasury training at the House of Training in Luxembourg on 22 November. We would like to highlight this valuable training which is available for only 255 euros!

Register here

Description

In his day-to-day work, the accountant must in particular be able to follow/manage the cash flow and the credit collections of the company. Cash management starts from a different dimension than the accounting perspective, namely that of flows and cash management.

The objective of this training is to give an overview of the treasury dimension, flow and cash management, monitoring of client settlement (Credit Control) and risk management in terms of financing the company. In addition, we will also look at how best to manage the banking reporting, the reconciliation and the bank relationships.

 

Objectives

At the end of the training, the participant will be able to:

  • Identify the cash flow components and their interactions with accounting
  • Understand the basics of a company’s day-to-day cash management
  • Optimize flows in the company
  • Manage customer collections and the development of a “Credit Control”
  • Better understand banking reporting and reconciliation
  • Know the organization of a treasury department and its tools
  • Identify basic tools for hedging risks, managing debt and excess liquidity

Programme

  • Definition of treasury objectives
  • Relations and interactions with other departments including accounting
  • Optimizing the management of financial flows in the company
  • Cash and liquidity management
  • Basic cash management techniques
  • Identification and management of financial risks
  • Financing and banking management
  • Technical tools available to the treasurer

Target Audience

Anyone interested in learning how accounting works and understanding corporate cash flow

Prerequisites

Basic financial and accounting knowledge

Register here

 

 

Francois de Witte

 

François de Witte

 

 

 

How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree?

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31-10-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

The fifth edition in which we discuss the latest poll, is available for your reading. We show how treasurers voted to express their opinions on a current issue, and several of our treasury experts will talk about their perspectives.

We thank our experts Konstantin Khorev,  Arnoud Doornbos and François De Witte for sharing their valuable views on this topic in this edition.

How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree?

There are plenty of education and training courses in treasury, with the aim of obtaining treasury certificates. We wanted to explore how important you think this is, in the job market or for other things. There was a very good participation in the poll, resulting in a record 113 votes. Thank you everyone for actively participating, and join us in voting for the poll that is currently live and let’s try break the record votes right away!

Question: How important is it for you that someone has a well-known Treasury degree? On the job market or for other things?

Geen alternatieve tekst opgegeven voor deze afbeelding

How do treasures think of a treasury degree?

We see a considerable spread of votes. A large proportion of treasurers value expertise more than a degree. On the other hand, a large proportion considers a treasury degree minimally of high importance. Some of our treasuryXL experts from different backgrounds explained their views on the subject.

View of treasuryXL experts

Konstantin Khorev

Konstantin voted for the option that a treasury degree is a guarantee of quality.

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” Specific, treasury-focused education certainly makes sense.”

From the perspective of a recruitment manager who has conducted a number of interviews, I find that a standard academic programme does not focus enough on the topics relevant to the treasury function.

For example, I note that too many candidates for treasury positions find it difficult to understand or don’t know FX forward pricing (relationship between interest rate differential, spot and forward pricing), or don’t understand the difference/relationship between net income and cash flows, etc.

And, of course, these are only general topics; other topics – like cash pooling or hedge accounting are just not part of the regular curriculum. Therefore, specific, treasury-focused education certainly makes sense.

Arnoud Doornbos

Arnoud voted for the option that a treasury degree is just one of the key aspects.

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” There are also elements that you can never learn from a book”

A treasury degree is a great start to a career in treasury. But after having interviewed many candidates in my life, I am also convinced that practice is also a very good learning opportunity. There are also elements that you can never learn from a book. You must have done that. But a treasury degree is a nice theoretical framework to start with.

In treasury you have to think in terms of cash flows and risks. In addition, you still need some understanding of financing, how to price it in relation to the risk that the bank runs on your company.

I don’t have a treasury degree myself, but I am completely self-made man. After 25 years in dealing rooms of banks and then 9 years as a treasury consultant, I think I have seen all facets of the profession.

François de Witte

François voted for the option that a treasury degree is a guarantee of quality.

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” It is key to ensure that both the candidates and the current treasury staff keep their treasury knowledge updated”

Within Finance, Treasury is a fast-moving activity, which requires in addition to the soft skills a lot of technical skills and competencies. We are in the war for talent, and we experience more and more staff rotation. Hence it is key to ensure that both the candidates and the current treasury staff keep their treasury knowledge updated.

Several programs have been developed, the most well known being the ACT Certificate in Treasury Fundamentals. In the Netherlands NIVE also organizes the QCM (Qualified Cash manager) and QT (Qualified Treasurer) training. In Luxembourg, ATEL organizes with the House of Training the Certificate in International Treasury Management and Corporate Finance, with a Fundamentals version and an Advanced version.

Some treasury associations partnering with universities to provide treasury certification. In France, the AFTE has teamed up with the university of Paris Sorbonne, the university of Rennes and the University of Lille to develop a full master program in Treasury Management.

We also have in the Netherlands the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam who organizes the postgraduate Executive Treasury Management & Corporate Finance program combining two finance disciplines which largely overlap and are inextricably connected: Treasury Management and Corporate Finance. It has now been running for more than 20 years.

Beside this we have a lot of other treasury trainings organized by organizations such as Van Groningen, Finsiders Academy, Orchard Finance, etc. However, they do not offer a certification.

In an ever more sophisticating environment, and in view of the increased regulations, it is for me key to look at certified trainings to build a solid background in a Treasury Management field. It enables to meet other talented treasurers and teachers. In addition, thanks to the certification, based upon an examination and/or end paper, you can get a additional quality label, which can be very useful in your career.

In this respect, I wish to share my personal experience in a completely different area. I am currently looking for Board Mandates and realized that there also a certification can be useful. Hence I have started the Guberna programme to become a Guberna Certified Director.

In the event that due to circumstances, you cannot follow certified trainings, you can also get a certification thanks to the Treasurer Test developed by treasuryXL

Would you like to explain your own vote for this poll? Join the discussion in the comments. And above all, don’t forget to give your opinion on our latest poll question

Geen alternatieve tekst opgegeven voor deze afbeelding

International Treasury Management and Corporate Finance

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22-09-2022 | François de Witte | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

The following event, which features our Expert François de Witte, is something we’d like to call your attention to. To learn more about corporate finance and international treasury management, register below.

Register Here

Description

 

The treasurer is the custodian of the company’s daily liquidity. He manages, anticipates and secures cash flows by ensuring that financial needs are covered. This cursus will give the ability to assist directly and practically the treasurer of large corporates or to take over the treasury responsibilities in a SME. The different modules will allow you to acquire the fundamentals of the different areas of the “Corporate Treasurer” profession.

 

Module 0  – Introduction to Treasury Management

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

 

  • Bank account opening/closing

  • KYC

  • Payments and bank connectivity

  • Liquidity structures

  • Cash forecast

  • Importance of working capital

  • Factoring/reverse factoring

  • Main financial measures

  • Economic thinking

  • Risk Measures

  • Hedging

  • Fraud risk

  • Credit risk

  • General context

  • Bank guarantees

  • Letters of credit

Module 1 : Payments, Cash Management and Banking Relations – Fundamentals

Speaker François De Witte / Consultant  

 

  • Payment and interbank clearing and settlement methods.

  • Payments instruments, processes and tools

  • Electronic banking channels

  • Working capital, cash and liquidity management – basic concepts

  • Day to day cash management

  • Organisation of the cash management and tooling

  • Financing the company

  • Basic insights in managing banking relationships

Module 2 : Risk Management Applied to Treasury – Fundamentals

Speaker: François Masquelier / Group Treasurer

 

  • FX, Interests
  • Counter-parties
  • Others (Reputation, etc…)
  • Objectives of hedge accounting
  • Required documentation and formalization of hedge accounting relationships
  • Different types of hedges (Fair Value, Cash Flow, Net Investment)
  • Booking adjustments of different hedge types
  • Typical examples of different hedge types

Module 3 : Trade Finance Applied to Treasury – Fundamentals

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

 

  • General contact, cultural aspects
  • Why trade finance in treasury
  • Bank Guarantees, Burgschafts, Surety bonds, Letters of credit, Cash against documents
  • Alternative security instruments
  • Disruptive technologies

Module 4 : Credit and Collection Applied to Treasury

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

 

  • Introduction to credit risk management
  • Concepts & Practices/Types of credit risks
  • Understanding financial statements and ratios
  • Credit Scoring/Ratings – S&P, Bloomberg models
  • Collection:
    • Collecting overdue receivables – setting priorities
    • Strategies dealing with overdue invoices
    • Debt collection services development

 

Module 5 : Cyber-fraud: what you need to know to manage this ever increasing risk

Speaker: Thierry Hamon / Cash management & Cybersecurity expert 

  • Getting an overview of the different cyber-attacks techniques currently used
  • Understand the possible consequences of cyber-fraud and what needs to be protected
  • Learn 50 ways to protect
  • Special focus on IT backup, fraudulent emails & disaster recovery plan for treasury
  • Co-construction of counter-measure list for all main cyber-attacks
  • Personal action plan definition for each participant

 

Public cible

Anyone who wants to acquire basic knowledge of corporate treasury and put this knowledge into practice.

Prerequisites
  • Basic background in finance or accounting
  • For the advanced Excel workshop, a preliminary (good) knowledge in Excel is required.

Conditions

Training material

Course material will be provided at the beginning of the course.

Location
Chambre de Commerce Luxembourg

7, rue Alcide de Gasperi
L-1615 Luxembourg
Luxembourg

 

Register Here

 

 

Francois de Witte

 

François de Witte

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Treasury learning platform at Finsiders-Academy (Dutch)

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15-09-2022 | François de Witte | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

Wij vragen de aandacht voor de volgende opleidingen, waarbij onze Expert François de Witte betrokken is. Namelijk een nieuw intitiatief van Finsiders-Academy om een Treasury opleiding op te zetten, en goed nieuws want de eerste modules zijn klaar!

Wat is Finsiders?

Finsiders is een financieel projectconsultancy bureau dat organisaties ondersteunt in hun tijdelijke nood naar ondersteuning, op vlak van controlling, accountancy, treasury en transformatie. We leveren operationele ondersteuning maar denken ook strategisch mee met de organisatie.  Daarnaast begeleiden we onze consultants uitgebreid met persoonlijke coaching en begeleiding, onder andere via het online leerplatform van de Finsiders Academy. Daar kunnen ze tijds- en plaatsonafhankelijk zichzelf verder ontplooien en bijleren, alsook zich voorbereiden op een nieuw project.

Welke leer modules zijn momenteel beschikbaar?

Op dit moment zijn de volgende modules klaar:

  1. Working Capital Management: https://www.finsiders.be/nl/opleidingen/working-capital-management
  2. Cash Forecasting and Cash & Liquidity Management: https://www.finsiders.be/nl/opleidingen/cash-forecasting-liquidity-management
  3. Financing & Bank Relations: https://www.finsiders.be/nl/opleidingen/financing-your-company.
  4. Globaal packet Cash Management: https://www.finsiders.be/nl/opleidingen/cash-management-opleidingspakket.
  5. Optimizing the Financial Flows: https://www.finsiders.be/nl/opleidingen/optimizing-financial-flows.

Voor wie zijn deze opleidingen extra relevant?

De opleidingen zijn relevant voor finance professionals die een dieper inzicht willen krijgen in het cash en liquidity management.

Wat moeten geïntresseerden nu doen?

Geïnteresseerden kunnen via de website inschrijven voor een e-learning naar keuze. Ze hebben 1 jaar toegang tot het online leerplatform en kunnen op eigen tempo en volgens hun eigen agenda tijdsonafhankelijk aan de slag.

Vind hier alle opleidingen

 

 

Francois de Witte

 

François de Witte

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discussion LinkedIn poll | What is the expected conclusion of crypto volatility for Corporate Treasury?

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A couple of weeks ago we launched a poll on our LinkedIn page about the impact of crypto volatility on corporate treasury.

The poll received 72 votes in total, which is a great number! Thanks to everyone who joined the poll.

Scroll down to read our recap with the results and treasuryXL expert opinions. 

08-06-2022 | treasuryXL | LinkedIn |

Crypto volatility for corporate treasury

QUESTION


Currently, we see Crypto volatility crushing Stablecoins. What is the expected conclusion of these events for Corporate Treasury?

 

VOTES

              • Crypto is too risky (25x) 35%

              • We need more regulation (19x) 26%

              • Crypto is the solution (8x) 11%

              • Let’s wait and see (20x) 28%

What do our treasuryXL experts say about the impact of crypto volatility on corporate treasury?

 

Francois De Witte

 

 

“There is a clear need for more regulation”



It is quite clear that cryptos present a high-risk profile. The volatility is high, and it is not easy to hedge these risks. In addition, payment transactions in cryptos take more time and energy than existing payments systems like the instant payments.

Currently, cryptos are held within the blockchain and are based upon a consensus. As a corporate, you do not have a control over these assets. In addition, you do not have the stringent KYC and AML checks which you have in the classic payment systems. The KYC and AML controls occur only on the moment that an individual or a company buys cryptocurrencies with its bank account or card, or when the proceeds of the sales of cryptocurrencies are paid to their bank account.

 

For this reason, there is a clear need for more regulation. Although the 5th AML Directive covers certain crypto assets under the term “virtual currencies”, it does not provide a harmonized approach. This problem will be addressed by the proposal of the EU Commission for the Regulation of Markets in Crypto Assets (abbreviated as MiCAR), which aims to create an EU framework for crypto assets falling outside the scope of other existing EU financial regulation and is expected to enter into force by end 2024. Let’s hope that this will bring more clarity in this complex topic.

 

Pieter de Kiewit

 

 

“Let’s see what will happen”

 

 

Rejecting crypto currencies or even blockchain before fully understanding the concept is like holding on tohorse and wagon when seeing the first cars. And current inflation following the QE strategy of the ECB shows that stability is not guaranteed in the traditional system. At the same time, treasurers are there to manage risk and the current crypto landscape seems very risky. So let’s see what will happen.

 

 

Carlo de Meijer

 

“Without well thought-out regulation, the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies will continue to make stablecoins vulnerable to various risks”

Regulation of stablecoins has long been on the agenda of regulators worldwide. To date, however, the crypto sector in general and the stablecoin segment in particular remain largely unregulated.

Stablecoins continue to come under scrutiny from regulators, given the rapid growth of the $130 billion market and its potential to impact the broader financial system. As stablecoins are deemed increasingly important to the system by regulators, with the potential to disrupt payment and settlement transactions.

The recent collapse of stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) and the resulting fall of Bitcoin below the $28.000 level have provided an additional argument for speeding up the regulatory process and coming up with adequate regulatory measures.

 

With a growing number of traditional financial institutions, investors and also companies entering the Crypto and DeFi market, regulation becomes urgent to prevent such collapses in the future. Buyers need to understand the risks of these algorithmically stablecoins in particular. Therefore, standards are needed.

Without well thought-out regulation, the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies in general but also of some types of stablecoins, will continue to make these stablecoins vulnerable to various risks, and make using these instruments for treasury purposes a difficult activity. The lack of transparency about what assets are being used and whether they have enough dollars to support all the digital coins in circulation also amplifies this consequence.

 



Would you care to explain your vote on this poll? Or would you like to explain your vote in a future poll? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us!

Embedded Finance Explained, by François de Witte

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Embedded Finance: Setting the Scene

This has brought new providers to come up with new solutions competing with the incumbent banks, which we call “Embedded Finance” Solutions. They leverage a greenfield environment to benefit from innovations such as cloud, microservices and APIs.

Read more

International Treasury Management and Corporate Finance

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17-01-2022 | François de Witte | treasuryXL |

We would like to draw attention to the following event, which includes our Expert François de Witte. Register below to learn more about International Treasury Management and Corporate Finance.

Registration

 

In order to be accepted to this certified path it will be asked to complete this application form .

This training will be planned and will start when a sufficient number of participants has been reached. You will then be informed at least 2 months before the course starts.

However, you can still fill in your application and we will contact you.

If you do not wish to be certified but are interested in the topics, almost every course can be purchased independently by clicking on the title in the content below. This certified path is a blended training which contains both physical and virtual classroom, e-mentoring, teamwork, etc.

Description

 

The treasurer is the custodian of the company’s daily liquidity. He manages, anticipates and secures cash flows by ensuring that financial needs are covered. This cursus will give the ability to assist directly and practically the treasurer of large corporates or to take over the treasury responsibilities in a SME. The various modules will allow acquiring an in-depth knowledge of the various areas of the “Corporate Treasurer” profession.

 

Objectives

 

At the end of this programme, the participant will able to:

  • assist directly and practically the treasurer of large corporates
  • take over treasury responsibilities in a SME.

The various modules will allow to acquire an in-depth knowledge of the different areas of the “Corporate Treasurer” profession.

 

Programme

 

Module 0: Introduction to Treasury Management

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

  • Corporate Treasurer’s responsibilities
  • Cash management (bank account opening, closing, KYC, Cash pooling, Payments and bank connectivity)
  • Liquidity management (importance of working capital management,
  • Risk management (foreign exchange, fraud, credit risk)
  • Trade finance (general context, intro to bank guarantees and letters of credit)
Module 1: Financial Maths in Excel (Focus on treasury & corporate finance)

Speaker: Hugues Pirotte / Professor of Finance at Solvay Brussels School

  • Focus on treasury & corporate finance
  • Time Value of Money
  • Vocabulary
  • Compounding intervals
  • Discount and annuity factors
Module 2: Payments, Cash Management and Banking Relations

Speaker François De Witte / Consultant

  • Payments (Process, Tools)
  • Liquidity Management
  • Cash-Flow Forecasting
  • In-House Banking
  • Banking Relationship
Module 3: Trade Finance in context of uncertainty

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

  • General contact, cultural aspects
  • Why trade finance in treasury
  • Bank Guarantees, Burgschafts, Surety Bonds, Letters of Credit, Cash against Documents
  • Alterative security instruments
  • Disruptive technologies
Module 4: Introduction to Counterparty Credit Risk Management and Cash Collection

Speaker: Benjamin Defays / Treasury Manager

  • Concepts & Practices/Types of Credit Risks
  • Understanding Financial Statements and Ratios
  • Credit Scoring/Ratings – S&P, Bloomberg models
  • Collecting overdue receivables – setting priorities
  • Strategies dealing with overdue invoices
  • Debt collection services development
Module 5: Practical Aspects of International Finance Regulation

Speaker: Lievin Tshikali  

  • KYC, GDPR, EMIR, Bale III
  • International sanctions and their impact on transactions & overall business activities
  • Anticorruption (FCPA, UK Bribery Act)
  • EU competition law compliance
  • INCOTERMS
  • Drafting a contract (main considerations)
Module 6: Risk Management applied to treasury

Speaker: François Masquelier / Group Treasurer

  • FX, Interests
  • Counterparties
  • Others (Reputation, etc…)
  • Objectives of Hedge Accounting
  • Required documentation and formalisation of Hedge Accounting relationships
  • Different types of hedges (Fair Value, Cash Flow, Net Investment)
  • Booking adjustments of different hedge types
  • Typical examples of different hedge types
Module 7: Technologies applied to treasury

Speaker: François Masquelier/ Group Treasurer

  • New Technologies
    • Blockchain, Crypto-currencies, Smart Contracts
  • Treasury Console (Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters)
  • TMS, Financial Technology
Module 8: Cyberfraud: what you need to know to manage this ever increasing risk

Speaker: Thierry Hamon / Cash management & security expert

  • Getting an overview of the different cyberattacks techniques currently used
  • Understand the possible consequences of cyberfraud and what needs to be protected
  • Learn 50 ways to protect

Some homework might be proposed for some modules, there will be continuous control in the form of intermediary exams (under the form of QCM) and a final exam will be sanctioned by an attestation delivered by ATEL (The Luxembourg Association of Corporate Treasurers).

There might also be one or two “extra-activity”, such as a visit in a bank trading room or/and a special guest speaker addressing the cursus participants on a specific subject (still to be defined, optional events).

 

Target Audience

 

Anyone willing to acquire an in-depth knowledge in corporate treasury and wishing to exercise this knowledge in practice.

 

Prerequisites

 

  • Basic background in finance or accounting
  • For the Advanced Excel workshop, a preliminary (good) knowledge in Excel is required.

Course Material

 

The course material can be downloaded free of charge via your portal the day before the start of the course (download the Client Portal User’s Guide here).

 

Certificate

 

At the end of the programme, the participants will receive a “Certificate of Attendance” delivered by the House of Training, and an attestation of “Exam Success Pass” delivered by ATEL.

In order to get certified, an 80% rate of attendance and a 60% average score on the examinations are required.

The participants will also receive a one-year free membership to ATEL (www.atel.lu) giving a number of advantages.

 

Register Here

 

 

Francois de Witte

 

François de Witte

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beheer uw Financiële Middelen | Cash- en werkkapitaalbeheer

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| 29-10-2021 | François de Witte | treasuryXL |

Een bedrijf financieel gezond houden kan niet zonder een gedegen werkkapitaalbeheer. In deze basisopleiding bekijken we alle inkomende en uitgaande geldstromen (debiteuren, crediteuren, voorraden en cash). U leert hoe u deze geldstromen kan beheren en optimaliseren. Een aanrader voor iedereen wie interesse heeft en de noodzaak inziet van een transparant treasury- en creditmanagement. Deze opleiding gaat klassikaal door in campus Gent.

Omschrijving

Productieprocessen, (internationale) logistieke processen en verkoopprocessen brengen grote geldstromen in beweging. Een bedrijf financieel gezond houden kan niet zonder een gedegen werkkapitaalbeheer. In deze basisopleiding bekijken we alle inkomende en uitgaande geldstromen (debiteuren, crediteuren, voorraden en cash). U leert hoe u deze geldstromen kunt beheren en optimaliseren. Een aanrader voor iedereen wie interesse heeft en de noodzaak inziet van een transparant treasury- en creditmanagement.

Voor wie is deze opleiding bestemd?

Deze module richt zich tot bedrijfsleiders, alsook alle financieel verantwoordelijken, leden van het treasury team, controllers, financieel adviseurs, accountants, accountmanagers en productmanagers bij financiële instellingen.

Voorkennis

Financieel basisinzicht is vereist.

Bijkomende info

Het programma komt in aanmerking voor 9 uren permanente vorming bij ITAA.

Methodologie

Het programma is doorspekt met cases die samen met de deelnemers behandeld worden. Naast voorbeelden uit de praktijk die de theoretische onderbouw concretiseren, is er steeds aandacht voor de opmerkingen en vragen van de deelnemers. Om deze reden is het aantal deelnemers beperkt.

Lesdata

DATUM STARTUUR EINDUUR
woensdag 01/12/2021 9:30 12:30
woensdag 01/12/2021 13:30 16:30
woensdag 8/12/2021 13:30 16:30

Meer informatie en inschrijven: Klik Hier

 

Francois de Witte

 

François de Witte

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recap #3: Round Table “Digital currencies for a digital future?” | Toekomst Betalingsverkeer

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20-10-2021 | François de Witte | treasuryXL | LinkedIn

 

Here is my third and final recap where I will highlight the round table topic: Digital currencies for a digital future?

 

1. Introduction

On September 9, 2021, the event “Toekomst Betalingsverkeer”  has taken place in Amsterdam. Amongst others, following topics were covered:

  • The Fintech evolution of banking.
  • Platform strategies & developments big tech.
  • Customer experience strategies.
  • Open banking.
  • Instant payments.

I hosted two round table sessions on “Payment Challenges in a Post-Covid” World and we made a deep dive on the following 3 topics:

Click on the above links to read my previous articles where I discussed the first two topics.

2. Setting the Scene

Facebook’s Libra announcement in June 2019 has shaken up the finance industry, forcing regulators around the world to take a closer look at it. This has sped up analyses and projects around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

Moreover, the fears that the Covid-19 virus might live on banknotes and coins, fostered the development of CBCDs.

In the context of this article, CBDC is regarded as general-purpose central bank digital currency, which has 3 elements:

  • It is a digital currency and therefore only exists electronically.
  • Issued directly by a central bank;
  • Universally accessible.

Several countries started CBCD projects: e.g., China, The Bahamas, The Marshall Islands, Sweden, the UK and the EU.

For the digital Euro: According to the ECB, this will take 2 more years from now to establish its characteristics (See announcement ECB) .

3. Positioning of CBCDs versus the cryptocurrencies and the stablecoins

In the table below, you will find the positioning.

 

 

4. Current Status of the CBCDs

Below you can find an overview of CBDC adoption across global markets.

5. CBCDs: Benefits and Challenges

CBCDs offer several benefits such as:

  • Playing a role in retaining public money for general use. The increasing adoption of user-friendly digital money reduces the demand for cash, currently the only public form of money.
  • Acting as a backup for the critical infrastructure in the payment system, as physical cash currently has a function as backup during failures in non-cash payment. CBDC could serve as a parallel backup and its role could gradually become more prominent.
  • Considering the preferences of the public, related to privacy and the use of data. Some citizens and businesses value privacy when paying, as is the case with cash. Central banks could restrict the use of data generated by CBDC transactions to just that information required for public duties such as compliance with anti-money laundering legislation.
  • Facilitating financial inclusion: especially in countries whereinto everybody has access to a bank account with a commercial bank.
  • Enable new monetary policies: If central banks now want to pump money into the economy, the CBCDs are a new channel to get money directly into the economy.
  • Providing Financial security: There is less need for fractional banking and your bank can hardly fall over. This makes the deposit guarantee scheme virtually superfluous.
  • Capitalizing on « Trust », as it is supported by a central bank, whereas a stablecoin is merely capitalizing on technology and is not supported by a « Trusted » Party.

However, there are also some challenges such as:

  • Ensuring that the infrastructure for CBDC is sufficiently segregated from the current infrastructure to prevent both from becoming disrupted.
  • Time to market. The ECB is now starting to investigate what a digital euro might look like. This investigation phase will start in October 2021 and last for about two years. Other countries like Sweden and China seem to have a quicker time to market.
  • The risk that some central banks focus resources on other topics like instant payment and open banking models, rather than digital currencies.
  • A potential negative impact on the potential of commercial banks to cross-sell profitable products if customers were to switch to CBDC entirely. Banks use the payment account as an anchor to offer and grant higher-margin products such as mortgages and personal loans. Customers switching to CBDC entirely could put pressure on their profitability. The ECB took this into account by putting a maximum amount on CBCD accounts per citizen.

Thank you for reading!

To see all my previous blogs, click here.

François de Witte

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recap #2: Round Table “The bridge between customer convenience and reconciliation” | Toekomst Betalingsverkeer

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04-10-2021 | François de Witte | treasuryXL |

 

Here is my second recap where I will highlight the round table topic: Request to Pay: the bridge between customer convenience and reconciliation?

 

1. Introduction

On September 9, 2021, the event “Toekomst Betalingsverkeer”  has taken place in Amsterdam. Amongst others, following topics were covered:

  • The Fintech evolution of banking.
  • Platform strategies & developments big tech.
  • Customer experience strategies.
  • Open banking.
  • Instant payments.

I hosted two round table sessions, the other round table named “Payment Challenges in a Post-Covid World”, and you can read the recap here.

2. Setting the Scene

The Request to Pay (RTP) is a payment technique allowing a business or individual wishing to receive a payment, to send an electronic request for that payment to the debtor account.

The request will be received by the payer – most likely via an electronic interface such as a mobile banking app showing the requested amount and the due date. The payer will then have some choices:

  • Pay in full.
  • Pay part
  • Ask for an extension
  • Decline payment

If the payer chooses to make a payment, the payee will be notified whether the payment is in part of in full and when it has been confirmed.

The scheme is operational in the UK.

The European Payments Council has published the first version of the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) Request-To-Pay (SRTP) scheme rulebook, which is expected to go live during 2022.

3. Outline of the scheme

 

Source: IS REQUEST TO PAY THE SYSTEM FOR A WORLD OF NEW NORMS? Finextra July 2020

 

4. Request to Pay: Benefits and challenges

The major advantage of the scheme is the convenience: when consumers want something, they want it quickly—immediately, if possible— and they want to pay for it as simply as possible, preferably using contactless payment. And, if possible, without even leaving the couch to dig out their card or account details.

Another advantage for the payor is that keeps a full control of the payment process.

For the Merchant, there are also important advantages, such as:

  • The follow up of the payment process.
  • The certainty of the payment: once the payment has been done, it is final, which is not the case for direct debits, where the payor has a refund right.
  • The easy reconciliation at the Merchant’s side, as the payment message in the RTP is not altered.

The challenges are to find the right and secure network to send the invoices and to channel the payments – there are already providers positioning their offer, to get the consent of the payer to receive his invoice through the RTP and to come to a standardization of the different schemes. This will be a key driver of success.

The SRTP (SEPA Request to Pay) is a good step in this direction. Following on a 3-month public consultation, the EPC expects to publish on 30/11/2021 its next rulebook (entering into effect 6 months to 12 months later – to be confirmed).

 

Thank you for reading!

To see all my previous blogs, click here.

François de Witte