How Can Xe Help Your Business?

08-10-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

From simplifying international payments to monitoring the currency markets, Xe is ready to help your business make the best foreign exchange solutions.

At Xe, we don’t just facilitate individual money transfers between individual banks accounts. While we do help our customers make money transfers to pay bills, prepare for international travel, or send money to loved ones back home, we also provide a number of money transfer products and services to our corporate customers.

Each year, over 13,000 businesses in over 100 sectors turn to Xe for help managing their international money transfer and foreign exchange processes. What can Xe help with? We’d be happy to tell you.

Save on currency conversion costs

We’ve said this before, but it always bears repeating. When you’re consistently making international payments or exchanging to foreign currencies, if you aren’t prudent in your transfer method, you can easily find yourself on the hook for a lot of additional costs. Bank fees, wire fees, unfavorable exchange rates, and hidden transaction fees are just a few of the extra costs you can potentially incur when making international payments.

Don’t have time to watch the markets? Don’t know how to analyze market volatility, or figure out the best time to transfer money? No problem. When you work with Xe, we’ll watch the markets for you. We’ll help you to get the best exchange rates possible for your transfers, and let you know when you should be making your payments to minimize the added costs. You can also integrate our Currency Data API into your existing systems to easily access exchange rates for your chosen currencies.

Simplify and effectively manage your payments—all of them

When you’re making frequent—and numerous—global payments, it’s important that they clear on time, are free of any errors, and meet all necessary regulatory compliance standards. Fortunately, this isn’t something that has to be done manually and payment by payment. Our systems can help you to simplify and streamline your international payments, without sacrificing quality in the process.

Our Mass Payments solution will enable your business to process, execute and deliver multiple payments on a global scale from a single gateway or integrated into your own systems, easily and securely. This solution will vastly reduce the amount of time and manual work in your international payments, which will then allow you to devote more time and resources to other areas of your business.

Get advice from someone who knows the markets

If you don’t have a background in foreign exchange, trying to make sense of the financial markets can seem an impossible task. And when you’re a business owner, you likely don’t have the time to sit down and familiarize yourself with every minute detail of the foreign currency markets.

We’ve been in the currency business for over 25 years. We know the markets, and we can help you to understand them, recognize the issues they may present to your businesses, and determine the best solutions to navigate the markets and make the best decisions for your business.

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multi billion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

KYRIBA Global Summit

| 07-10-2020 | treasuryXL | Kyriba |

We are excited to invite you to the first ever Kyriba Global Summit, a free virtual event bringing together treasury, finance and IT teams from around the world to discuss their successes and the latest innovations in cash management, payments, bank connectivity, FX risk management and working capital management.

Hear successes and stories of transformation from some of the most recognized companies in the world with a globally diverse group of speakers.

REGISTER HERE

About Kyriba

Kyriba empowers CFOs and their teams to transform how they activate liquidity as a dynamic, real-time vehicle for growth and value creation, while also protecting against financial risk. Kyriba’s pioneering Active Liquidity Network connects internal applications for treasury, risk, payments and working capital, with vital external sources such as banks, ERPs, trading platforms, and market data providers. Based on a secure, highly scalable SaaS platform that leverages artificial and business intelligence, Kyriba enables thousands of companies worldwide to maximize growth opportunities, protect against loss from fraud and financial risk, and reduce costs through advanced automation. Kyriba is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in New York, Paris, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Dubai, Singapore, Shanghai and other major locations. For more information, visit www.kyriba.com.

TIS and Orchard Finance strengthen their partnership

| 06-10-2020 | TIS |

Both companies see huge opportunities with continuous growth in the BENELUX region.

Walldorf, October 6, 2020 – TIS (Treasury Intelligence Solutions GmbH), a leading cloud-based platform for corporate payments, and Orchard Finance Consultants BV, a leading, independent Dutch consultancy organization in the field of Debt Advisory, Treasury and Staffing, announced today that they have extended their partnership agreement.

Aderito Duarte, Senior Sales Executive BENELUX from TIS: “We are very happy about the collaboration with Orchard Finance and we believe the partnership will further strengthen our positioning in BENELUX to serve the best interest of our customers in treasury and corporate payments.”

Ariane Hoksbergen, Practice Lead Treasury Technology from Orchard Finance, is very excited about the prospect of the partnership: “Orchard Finance is expanding its ecosystem with selected knowledge and technology partners and TIS is one of our technology partners in the field of bank connectivity solutions for corporate treasury. We look forward to strengthening our collaboration!”

About Orchard Finance Consultants BV

Orchard Finance is a leading, independent Dutch consultancy organization in the field of Debt Advisory, Treasury and Staffing. We offer advisory, project management and (temporary) staffing services, tailored to the needs of our clients. Since the start in 2003, we have grown substantially, due to long-term partnerships with customers and well performing employees. Call us today and discover what we can do for you.

https://en.orchardfinance.com/

About TIS

TIS (Treasury Intelligence Solutions GmbH), founded in Walldorf, Germany in 2010, is a global leader in managing corporate payments. The Financial Times named TIS as one of “Europe’s Fastest Growing Companies” for 2019 and 2020.  Offered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the TIS solution is a comprehensive, highly-scalable, cloud platform for company-wide payments and cash management. The TIS solution has been successfully used for many years in both large and medium-sized companies, including Adecco Group, Hugo Boss, Fresenius, Fugro, Lanxess, OSRAM and QIAGEN. More than 25% of DAX companies are already TIS customers.

Your world of Payments. ONE Login.

https://www.tis.biz

Press contacts

Orchard Finance Consultants BV

Ariane Hoksbergen

Tower Athens – 5th floor

Bisonspoor 3002 – A601

3605 LT Maarssen

The Netherlands

Treasury Intelligence Solutions GmbH

Liang Fang

Altrottstrasse 31

69190 Walldorf

Germany

 

If you want to know more about TIS, visit www.tis.biz

Read the complete press release also here

Cashforce Webinar: Building a Resilient Supply Chain

| 05-10-2020 | Cashforce

We highlight the following event, held by our partner CashForce. Webinar: Building a Resilient Supply Chain

Over the last couple of months, many companies faced quite some disturbance value chain. During this session we unpack some of the trends and possible solutions towards building a resilient supply chain.

In this webinar, we will share how companies can define a new strategy to overcome this pressure on liquidity.

We are very proud to welcome the following speakers:
• Nicolas Christiaen, CEO & Co-founder at Cashforce
• Steven Lenaerts, Head of Product Management Global Channels at BNP Paribas
• Brian Shanahan, Founder of Working Capital consultancy Informita

Date, time and registration

Date: Tuesday, October 13th 2020

Start time: 1pm-2pm CEST

Register here

What kind of investor type matches my company?

05-10-2020 | by Rowan Hermes | Symbid

A venture capital financing process takes, for example at Symbid, on average about 3 to 6 months. Shorter is certainly possible with the right effort and focus. Trajectories of 1 or 2 months have occurred at Symbid. The exact duration of a process depends on various financial, legal and organizational aspects.

Blog continues in Dutch language:

 

Source

Should you choose Xe or wire transfers to send money abroad?

01-10-2020 | treasuryXL | XE |

We’ll take you through the process step by step to help you figure out the better option.

So, you’re looking to send money overseas. Obviously you’ve ruled out physically sending money via snail mail, so that leaves you with electronic methods. If you’ve done any online research, the most common terms you’ve probably come across are money transfer and wire transfer. You might’ve even seen them used interchangeably. Is there a difference?

Yes, there is a difference between wire transfer and online money transfer (also known as electronic funds transfer). While both methods transfer money from one bank account to another by electronic means, they’re not quite the same—and you won’t get quite the same experience with the two methods. We previously discussed the difference between transferring money with Xe and the banks. Now, it’s time to give the same attention to wire transfers. Where are you better off?

Which method is faster?

Both methods will take money around the world in a short amount of time. Wire transfers typically take around 3-5 business days, but this can vary. If the wire transfer involves an exotic global currency, if the transfer requires travel through intermediary banks, or you’re sending money to a country that doesn’t have a strong banking relationship with your country, the wire transfer could take even longer.

At Xe, your transfer will typically take 1-4 business days, though the majority of our transfers complete within 24 hours. Or, if you’re sending money to one of these countries, your money will reach its destination in just a few minutes. The timeframe will never be a mystery; we’ll communicate the expected arrival date before you confirm your money transfer, and we’ll communicate with you throughout the process so you’ll never feel that your money is lost in electronic limbo.

How much will they cost you?

Yes, both methods will cost you some money on top of the money that you’re already supplying to transfer. However, the costs will not be the same from provider to provider. You will be charged one fee to send a wire transfer. You may also be charged a fee from the receiving bank upon the money’s arrival. If the money travels through intermediary institutions, those institutions may also charge you a fee. And it’s not just fees: wire transfer providers can set their own exchange rates, and often add margins to those to boost their bottom line. Adding those together…you’re suddenly paying a lot more than you thought! When you transfer money through Xe, you will be charged one fee for your transfer. That’s it. One service fee, and it will be clearly displayed on our confirmation screen when you transfer money through the Xe app. You can even choose whether you’d like the fee to be taken from what you send or what your recipient gets, so there’ll be no mystery around how much money will make it to your destination.

What’s the process like? Is it convenient?

Some banks and providers have online wire transfer capabilities. But more often than not, you’ll need to go to the physical storefront, wait in line, and fill out the form each time. You’ll need to make sure that you have all of the information you need, otherwise you’ll be making another trip out to the wire transfer provider. Is it the most difficult thing in the world? Well, no. But could it be more convenient? Definitely.

The best part of online money transfers? You can do them anytime, anywhere. Just head to Xe.com or open the Xe app from your couch, your bed, or wherever you have internet access to initiate a transfer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can enter your information in the secure online form and save it if you’re planning on making future transfers to the same recipient, and if you have any questions later on you can easily reach out to customer service for support.

Overall?

Both wire transfers and Xe money transfers are fast, secure, reliable ways to get money abroad. However, if you’re looking for quick arrivals, minimal fees, and an easy-to-navigate transfer process, we think you’ll be happy sending money with Xe.

 

Get in touch with XE.com

About XE.com

XE can help safeguard your profit margins and improve cashflow through quantifying the FX risk you face and implementing unique strategies to mitigate it. XE Business Solutions provides a comprehensive range of currency services and products to help businesses access competitive rates with greater control.

Deciding when to make an international payment and at what rate can be critical. XE Business Solutions work with businesses to protect bottom-line from exchange rate fluctuations, while the currency experts and risk management specialists act as eyes and ears in the market to protect your profits from the world’s volatile currency markets.

Your company money is safe with XE, their NASDAQ listed parent company, Euronet Worldwide Inc., has a multi billion-dollar market capitalization, and an investment grade credit rating. With offices in the UK, Canada, Europe, APAC and North America they have a truly global coverage.

Are you curious to know more about XE?
Maurits Houthoff, senior business development manager at XE.com, is always in for a cup of coffee, mail or call to provide you detailed information.

 

 

Visit XE.com

Visit XE partner page

 

 

 

Nomentia – the new Nordic powerhouse for global cash management

| 30-09-2020 | treasuryXL | OpusCapita |

OpusCapita and Analyste join forces

Two leading cash management providers have joined forces to form a new company. OpusCapita and Analyste have merged to create Nomentia – a Nordic powerhouse for global cash management.

”This is a natural step in our journey. Combining forces will improve our offering to our customers, increase our capacity, speed up innovation, and enable us to offer solutions to our customers on a global scale”, says Mikko Soirola, the CEO of Nomentia.

The new company is owned by Providence Strategic Growth (‘PSG’), and Verdane – a North European growth equity investor – will own a minority stake alongside the companies’ management teams. The merger was announced on June 29, 2020.

While the name is new, the companies are not. Founded in the mid 1980s, OpusCapita and Analyste have brought cutting edge Nordic Fintech to the world for over 35 years. Nomentia has a strong heritage of innovation and trust with an average customer lifecycle of over 11 years.

“Our passion is to modernize payment automation and cash management processes and provide clients with the best solutions and tools. We will be able to combine best practices from both companies and create an extensive pool of experience from over 2.300 customers, which will allow for much wider best practice sharing”, says Mikko Soirola.

“We are proud of our Nordic heritage and innovation that we have continuously delivered to the cash management community for over 35 years. Our new brand and visual identity are a salute to our roots, while demonstrating that we have the courage and ambition to be different. From this moment, the name Nomentia shall stand for the Nordic powerhouse for global cash management. We combine best-of-breed solutions from both OpusCapita and Analyste in our cash management portfolio and are looking forward to take this to the world”, states Jukka Sallinen, Deputy CEO Nomentia.

About Nomentia

Nomentia is a Nordic powerhouse for global cash management. We believe in a world in which businesses can make the right decisions no matter how unpredictable the times are. Our SaaS-based platform offers solutions for cash forecasting and visibility, global payments with bank connectivity, reconciliation, in-house banking, guarantees, and FX dealing. We serve 2,300+ clients in over 100 countries processing more than 200 billion euros annually. Cash is king!

Media contacts

Mikko Soirola, CEO Nomentia, [email protected] +358 40 703 0553

Jukka Sallinen, Deputy CEO Nomentia [email protected] +358 40 590 6144

Wiebke Arendt, [email protected], +358 458731636

Cashforce is advancing cash forecasting innovation with the launch of its “Cashforce NextGen” platform

| 28-09-2020 | Cashforce | treasuryXL |

Cashforce has announced it is launching “Cashforce NextGen”, their new software platform, leveraging years of experience in delivering data-driven cash forecasting. With this new platform Cashforce wants to lower the barrier of entry for cash flow forecasting by introducing real-time data processing, a more intuitive user experience, enhanced scenario building capabilities and more AI-powered-algorithms. Cashforce NextGen will be launched in Q1 of 2021.

“Through years of experience in cash flow forecasting at organizations with various complexities, we’ve learned that the perfect solution should be able to adapt to the client’s maturity in order for them to scale their cash flow forecasting process at their own pace,” says Cashforce CEO Nicolas Christiaen. “Our NextGen platform will allow global & local users to start forecasting using an easy workflow and then perfect their process gradually using system integration capabilities, real-time data processing and smart alerting functionality. Simply said, Cashforce NextGen will deliver a swiss army knife for modern day cash forecasting.”

Current Cashforce users are also excited about the upcoming NextGen platform. “Thanks to Cashforce, we are able to analyze a lot more data at a higher quality than we had ever been able to before,” says James Kelly, Group Treasurer at Pearson. “Cashforce boosted our cash forecasting process with AI-powered algorithms and scenario-building capabilities generating significant savings in annual borrowing. With the NextGen platform, I’m most excited to use real-time data to improve the accuracy of our scenario models even further.”

The NextGen platform is being built in conjunction with clients and prospects (through an Early Adopter Program), top-tier treasury advisory firms and global cash management banks. The first rollout is scheduled for early 2021. Find more info on Cashforce NextGen and its launch!

 

About Cashforce        

Cashforce is a Cash Forecasting & Working Capital Analytics platform for corporates, focused on analytics, automation and integration. Cashforce connects the Treasury department with other finance / business departments by offering full transparency into its cash flow drivers, accurate & automated cash flow forecasting and treasury reporting. The platform is unique in its category because of the seamless integration with numerous ERPs & banking systems, the ability to drill down to transaction level details, and the intelligent AI-based simulation engine that enables multiple cash flow scenarios, forecasts & impact analysis.

 

Senior Analist Financieringen & Treasury (m/v)

25-09-2020 | Treasurer Search | treasuryXL

Onze Partner Treasurer Search is op zoek naar een Business Opbouwer (m/v) TMS / Financïele Software voor een opdrachtgever die al decennia actief is in de markt voor treasury management systemen. Samen met de sales manager ga je de Nederlandse markt veroveren:

  • Je buitenlandse collega’s werken je in, vertellen je waarom deze software de internationale treasury software markt tegenwoordig leidt, zowel qua technologie als qua groei. En op welke wijze zij succes hebben, wat je daar van kan overnemen en hoe ze je kunnen helpen;
  • Je bepaalt wat de klanten zijn die je het liefste voor je organisatie wint. En hoe je met hen een relatie op opbouwt.
  • Vervolgens snel aan de slag: heel veel bellen, maar ook events en social media!

Je vormt een tandem met de sales manager waarin hij buiten en jij binnen opereert. Vanzelfsprekend zijn door corona de kaarten opnieuw geschud en bedenk je met hem en je collega’s in London wat nu de beste aanpak is.

Ideale Kandidaat

Dit is geen baan voor mensen zonder ervaring. Je sprak al veel met financials, dat kunnen treasurers zijn maar ook CFOs en controllers. Op hun vakgebied hoef je geen expert te zijn, je moet wel vertrouwen en een relatie op kunnen bouwen. Je bent resultaatgericht en niet bang het eerste contact te leggen. Mogelijk is dit de baan die je al langer deed en doorzet, mogelijk wil en kan je verder in deze groeiende organisatie.

Onze Opdrachtgever

Onze opdrachtgever is al decennia actief in de markt voor treasury management systemen. De afgelopen jaren is er veel geïnvesteerd in technologie en is het bedrijf één van de weinigen die wereldwijd de markt bewerkt. De technologie is ijzersterk maar de organisatie is niet techniek-verliefd: klanten helpen en overtuigen, daar gaat het om. Commercie wordt op een heel doordachte manier gedaan, er is meer dan voldoende ruimte voor lokale initiatieven.

Salaris en vergoeding

De bedrijfscultuur is merkbaar prestatiegericht, de on-target-earning voor deze rol is €60K, waarvan een derde bonus. Deze is uncapped. De onderneming investeert in opleiding en een loopbaan ontwikkelen, in Nederland of internationaal, is mogelijk.

Voor kandidaten die passen en interesse hebben, is een uitgebreide beschrijving beschikbaar.

Contact person

Pieter de Kiewit

T: (0850) 866 798
M: (06) 1111 9783
E: [email protected]





Location

Nederland – Home Office


APPLY HERE

Blockchain becomes a reality: growing adoption

| 23-09-2020 | Carlo de Meijer | treasuryXL

Early July I wrote my blog Blockchain and Interoperability: key to mass adoption. There I concluded that “we may say that blockchain seems to be at the threshold of widespread acceptance and adoption”.

This conclusion was confirmed by Deloitte’s Third ‘Global Blockchain Survey 2020’ studying the investment and development trends in blockchain technology. This Survey showed that attitudes toward blockchain have obviously, and measurably, shifted in a positive way. It showed progress in the adoption and implementation of real-world blockchain solutions across a variety of businesses and sectors. Organizations have increased their investments, demonstrating their commitment to blockchain technology. But what about COVID-19?

Deloitte 2020 Global Blockchain Survey

Deloitte’s 2020 Global Blockchain Survey shows the results of a poll amongst almost 1500 senior executives and practitioners from 14 countries that was conducted between February 6 and March 3 this year. Those interviewed had at least a “broad understanding of blockchain, digital assets, and distributed ledger technology (DLT)”.

Main findings

The Survey observed a change in attitudes towards blockchain, with more positive feedback. One of the main conclusions was that blockchain is “solidly entrenched in the strategic thinking of organisations”.

According to the Survey “organizations appear to be more committed than ever” to blockchain. Compared to Deloitte’s 2019 Global Blockchain Survey, there was a significant increase in the interest and implementation of blockchain across businesses. This is further confirming blockchain’s maturity as a valid solution for many institutions and enterprises.

Blockchain already is an integral and vital tool upon which—and with which—new, innovative solutions are being created, and the Survey shows confidence amongst respondents that blockchain solutions will gain even greater traction within the global business community over the next 12 to 24 months.

General consensus, as a key takeaway from the report, was around acceptance of blockchain’s scalability, which continues to increase. 88% believe blockchain is highly scalable and will eventually become mainstream.

Strategic priority for organisations

But let’s look somewhat deeper into the various results. One of the main conclusions is that blockchain technology is increasingly becoming a true strategic priority for organisations. This was affirmed by 55% (2019: 53%) of respondents saying blockchain is critical and in their top-five strategic priorities, with 66% of executives forecasting investments of $1million or more in the next 12 months.

More than four in five respondents (83%) in the Deloitte Survey believe they will lose competitive advantage if they don’t adopt blockchain (2019: 77%). 63% said it was vital to move forward in the blockchain space.

Blockchain initiatives: real-world use cases

In terms of applications, increased advances of large-scale blockchain initiatives are occurring, such as blockchain-based financial infrastructure to simplify global money movement and commerce, as well as distributed ledger technology (DLT) for trade finance and blockchain track-and-trace platforms, among others.

The Survey also revealed increased blockchain initiatives in daily processes. These smaller-scale examples of blockchain adoption, such as title transfer and protection, patient data storage and retrieval, and more efficient voting or food sourcing tracking are “proving to be just as transformational in the way people live and the way work gets done”, according to the Survey.

Adoption of blockchain-based solutions

Adoption of blockchain-based solutions is increasing across organisations, with technology, media and telecommunications (TMT), financial services and non-food manufacturing industries leading the trend.

The number of companies around the globe now driving to intensify their blockchain (and digital asset) integration is speeding up according to the recent Survey. As to what drove them to innovation, 86% of respondents cited their executive teams saying that there are compelling business cases for the use of this technology.

This year, almost twice as many firms surveyed have integrated blockchain solutions compared to 2019. The Survey discovered that 39% of respondents had already implemented blockchain into their operations (2019: 23%), clearly showing this technology is gaining traction. The production figure was even higher at 46% for organizations with more than $1 billion in revenues.

When it comes to preparations for a blockchain-based future, 82% of respondents said they are already hiring new staff with blockchain expertise or plan to do so within the next 12 months (2019: 73%).

Where are corporations using blockchain?

According to the Survey, the top five use-cases for blockchain mentioned by the respondents include digital currencies (33%), data access and sharing (32%), data reconciliation (31%), identity protection (31%), and payments (30%), while track- and trace and asset protection, were adopted by between 27% and 33% of respondents.

Proliferation of digital assets

An interesting part of the Survey is the growing acceptance of digital assets. The Survey unveils the growing role and evolution of digital assets in the near future. 70% of respondents consider the pace of regulatory changes for blockchain and digital asset solutions as very or somewhat fast.

“Digital assets are now enabling enhanced commercialisation models across industries and geographies.” Deloitte Survey

Nearly 89 per cent of those surveyed believe that digital assets will be very or somewhat important to their industries in the next three years.

“Our survey confirms what we see in the marketplace — a proliferation of digital assets used as a means of exchange, a store of value, digital representations of specific assets, or equity in a company,” Rob Massey, partner, global and US tax leader for blockchain and digital assets, Deloitte Tax LLP

Digital assets can be used for a variety of purposes. Respondents who considered digital assets in their business models were most focused on enterprise controlled (64%) followed by general asset-backed (63%), while cryptocurrency comes at number three, with 59%.

A majority of respondents from each country, 83% of the respondents (and even 94% in China) said they strongly (or somewhat) believe digital assets will serve as an alternative to, or even replacement for, fiat currencies in the next five to ten years.

“While our survey revealed great faith in digital assets’ future importance, it shows no clear or specific consensus about exactly how those assets will be used or the specific role they will play—a kind of incoherence that we have seen in blockchain use cases in the past and today,” Survey

A vast majority of respondents expressed confidence that they will meet their regulatory burdens. Some 80% claimed to be very or somewhat prepared to deal with the regulatory aspects of digital assets (KYC, Tax, GAAP/FAS, etc.).

Other areas

The Survey also deep-dived into the issues of global digital identity and consortia and governances.

The Survey explored the use of global digital identity. 90 % of respondents believe global identity will be very or somewhat important in their future blockchain and digital assets strategies. Among the applications of digital identity, global financial transactions (29%) and data privacy (27%) stand to benefit the most.

The 2020 Survey studied the issues faced by enterprises when joining a consortium. It revealed leadership perspectives around joining consortia and an increased understanding of the benefits of consortia to help address regulatory and other complexities of implementing blockchain.

These same leaders thereby shared concerns about how consortia are run, how decisions are made, and how profits are shared across memberships. The most prominent challenges for 41% of the respondents of joining a consortium were the inability or incompetence  to create fair and balanced governance rules and poorly defined roles and responsibilities of members.

These concerns can be exacerbated further based on geographic, namely cross border, and industry-specific governance.  I described that in detail in one of my earlier blogs “Blockchain consortia need good governance: but how?”.

Blockchain and the regions

While global adoption has increased, blockchain adoption proved to be uneven in different countries. Countries’ averages are varying wildly whereby China turned out to be one of the biggest supporters of blockchain and digital assets.

While in China 59% of the respondents stated that their companies have already incorporated blockchain into production, this figure is almost twice as small (31%) in the US. The APAC region stood at 53%. Other countries are also outpacing America in terms of blockchain integration. Throughout the European Union including the United Kingdom, blockchain is witnessed as a matter of priority with multiple approaches.

Countries worldwide also follow multiple approaches. Asia Pacific responses revealed a widespread recognition of blockchain’s strategic value, while China expressed concerns over cross-border implications. Germany exhibited substantial activity around crypto regulation.

The UK market is seeing ongoing and increasingly mature activity across key sectors with several substantial projects now live, typically among industries reliant on complex, multiparty, and international supply chains. UAE is evolving as a digital assets hub with a consistently growing ecosystem. While Israel is emerging as a leader in blockchain innovation.

Sceptics

However, sceptics about blockchain remain. It is important to note that 54% of respondents said that blockchain is overhyped, compared to last year’s 43%. This has all to do with remaining barriers. The respondents claim there are still a number of organisation or project barriers that prevent them from adopting and implementing blockchain.

According to the Survey the top barriers of blockchain adoption include: implementation: replacing or adapting an existing legacy system (35%), concerns over sensitivity of proprietary information (34%), potential security threats (34%) an lack of regulatory clarity.

As companies develop use cases and adopt digital assets, the most significant problem areas are new tax and regulatory compliance structures. A patchwork approach, different regulatory treatments, or improperly defined parameters could threaten the underlying advantages of these blockchain solutions. But companies are not impressed by this, and some 80% claimed they were prepared to deal with regulatory aspects of digital assets.

Along with regulatory uncertainty, 58% of respondents said cybersecurity was also impacting their blockchain and digital asset strategy. Meanwhile, 21% said cybersecurity was the only hindrance to advancing their strategy.

But what about the impact of COVID-19?

According to the KPMG COVID-19 Survey that was published in August, blockchain investments fell by 63% because of COVID-19. The report compiled by KMPG International and HFS Research, is drawing on a survey of 900 technology executives from different organizations on the Forbes Global 2000 list of the largest companies in the public that have more than $1 billion in annual revenue.

According to the report roughly 40% of the executives indicated that they had moved to entirely cease investment into the emerging technology initiatives. Distributed ledger technologies (DLT) slid from the largest emerging technology sector with an average investment of $18 million in March/April,  to the second smallest with $6.5 million in May/June.

7% of the executives said COVID-19 had significantly changed strategic priorities for emerging technologies. In the earlier survey, the priorities were cost reduction and improved brand value. Since May/June, emerging technologies are now assessed based on survival.

The report also found that 59% of the executives believe that the pandemic created an impetus to accelerate digitization initiatives. After the heavy funding cuts for blockchain that occurred in 2020, global companies are looking forward to the technology as a way to regain a competitive advantage in the business landscape after the Corona crisis. They predicted that blockchain will be one of the five emerging technology sectors that will see increased investments from enterprises over the next 12 months.

Blockchain won’t be cut across the board. Projects that are close to production or already live are less likely to be put on hold if they can show reasonably quick returns. Blockchain tools that can help improve a company’s visibility into its own supply chain are the sorts of candidates that could attract budget. Applications that combine blockchain with other more “survival oriented” emerging technologies could also do better.

Blockchain is a reality already!

The Corona-crisis will undoubtedly have negative impact on blockchain for some time. Companies will turn their interest towards less ambitious, more targeted projects.

But the substantial portion of respondents of the Deloitte Survey who already have blockchain in production in their organization highlights the growing maturity. There is however still substantial work to be done. The report does note that “it remains an iterative process, with bumps remaining in the road”.

“As companies adopt and implement blockchain solutions, and as leaders increasingly accept blockchain as a fact rather than a future breakthrough, there remains an underlying level of uncertainty about current and future applications of blockchain technologies.” “We don’t expect that organisations will sort this all out right away – this process will continue to take time, depending on industry, maturity, risk tolerance, and budgets.” Deloitte Survey

But the sentiment at companies towards blockchain has definitely changed. This technology is increasingly becoming a reality for many of them, not just in the future but already!

 

 

Carlo de Meijer

Economist and researcher

 

 

 

 

Source