2022: A new start?

21-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Cashforce | LinkedIn

Nicolas Christiaen of Cashforce looks ahead to a year of challenge and opportunity for treasury. 

If there is one constant in business, it’s the fact that change will always happen – whether we like it or not. And the past half decade has seen more transformative disruption than much of the previous half century. Markets, models, economies – all have seen seismic shifts. And that’s before we were hit with a global pandemic.



It doesn’t take a soothsayer to predict that the coming year promises to throw up a whole new set of challenges for treasurers across the UK. How they address those challenges may determine how well positioned their businesses are to capitalise on the eventual recovery.

Clearly, the volatility that has characterised the previous two years isn’t going anywhere. What we have seen is that, while many treasurers and their teams have adapted to the new world we are now living in, COVID-19 is not over yet and there is a constant flow of new variables. COVID variants emerge periodically, and the different approaches to containing the virus will continue to cause volatility in the markets.

It’s fair to say that the treasury teams most likely to prosper in the coming year will be those that have not only demonstrated operational transformation or transactional excellence, but those that have also focused on continual improvement and the nuts and bolts of treasury activities – whether that means reviewing risk management processes or implementing new technology.

There’s little doubt that there remains the potential for further disruptions in global supply chains, which will inevitably bolster the demand for more visibility into cash. So, what will that mean for treasurers? From the conversations we’ve had with our clients across a range of sectors, our belief is that scenario analysis will continue to be top of mind for treasury teams over the next 12 months as new macroeconomic variables drive the need for multiple forecasts.

 

Technology for treasurers

 

The key to surviving the uncertainty will be to adopt technology that fits acute needs within a treasury’s view and then to implement it. On the adoption side, it amazes us that in 2021 we still see critical treasury processes and information housed in spreadsheets.

The good news is that the funds available for ‘Office of the CFO’ software as a service solutions (including cash management, treasury and forecasting solutions) have increased and are still growing. Even better is that ‘best-of-breed’ solutions, which typically have lower barriers of entry, are surging, as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ type of solution is shown to be excellent in some areas but simply not viable in others.

Finally, it is also worth noting that the longer we have to live with COVID-19, the more normal it will become to acquire technology in front of a computer screen (rather than meeting face to face).

On the implementation side, internal IT processes and architecture alignments are still a roadblock to implementing even niche solutions. The reason is simple: there is not enough IT capacity, due to a general lack of IT skills in the marketplace. A war for IT resources results in increased internal costs and pushes out project time frames. Digital transformation programs, while beneficial in the long term, seem to guarantee that business users of technology won’t realise tangible benefits for many months. Therefore, more focus should be put on quick wins or proof of concepts and building further from there.

While there are certainly challenges to adopting and implementing technology effectively, the need for visibility (and the automation to support scaling that visibility up), security, validation and auditing has not decreased. We feel that the above will continue to drive conversations with treasury technology providers.

Ultimately, treasurers occupy a unique position: they are, in many ways, the first line of defence in protecting businesses from the headwinds that can buffet them in stormy times. We firmly believe that by adopting the right approach to technology investment, they will continue to play their vital role.


 

Nicolas Christiaen

Managing Partner at Cashforce

 

 

Tame the ghost! Cancellations & currency management in Travel

20-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn |

How to automate the FX treatment of cancellations

It is no secret that the wave of cancellations following Covid-imposed travel restrictions has been a nightmare for travellers, airlines, hotel chains and tour operators alike. In the United States alone, cancelled domestic flights peaked at 137 thousand in April 2021. Largely due to cancellations, air traffic in Europe in 2021 was barely equivalent to 43% of the level seen before the pandemic.

Given the amount of time and resources devoted to adjusting their refunding policies, many players in the industry are still scared by the ghost of cancellations. But is that fear warranted? Not when it comes to FX management. This is because Currency Management Automation gives travel companies the tools to minimise the P&L impact of cancellations.

When it comes to FX management, the message is crystal clear: the ghost can be tamed.

Cancellations and FX exposure

FX risk management is a process in three phases: the pre-trade, the trade and the post-trade phase. Cancellations are an important element of the pre-trade phase, when the exposure to currency risk is collected and processed. Now, the type of exposure and the way it is managed depends, crucially, on each business’ pricing dynamics (see: “The hidden secret behind the different types of FX exposure”).

In the Travel world, dynamic prices are the norm (see: Currency Management Automation in Travel Distribution). OTAs, Bed banks, Hotel chains, DMCs and others frequently update their FX-denominated prices, and their cash flows are at risk from the moment of the bookings till settlement. For this reason, most Travel distribution firms apply micro-hedging programs that take those ‘firm commitments’ as the key FX exposure item.

This is where cancellations kick in. A cancelled FX-denominated booking diminishes the exposure to currency risk if the corresponding hedge has not been executed, or if an already executed trade is closed out at the same FX rate. Otherwise, there would be a situation of over-hedging. Manually adjusting hundreds or thousands of individual pieces of exposure to their corresponding hedges can quickly become an impossibly complicated task.

Taming the ghost in FX-related cancellations

Currency Management Automation provides treasurers with a number of tools to tame the ghost of cancellations. The first line of defence is to include —as part of business rules defined in the process of FX automation— an automatic cancellation rate. For example, if managers set an average cancellation rate of 10%, Kantox Dynamic Hedging® will hedge the remaining 90% hedge of the bookings.

As more information becomes available, this cancellation rate can be refined and adjusted by management when it so desires. While it is good practice to try and anticipate events, perfect accuracy cannot be expected in matters related to travel cancellations, especially in the current situation. This is why a second line of defence is provided by what our FX automation software takes as ‘negative entries’, a more efficient way to deal with cancellations. Let us briefly see how that works.

An entry is an individual piece of exposure. As part of the implementation phase of the software, risk managers establish a set of business rules that include —for each currency pair— the accumulated value of the entries they wish to hedge. These instructions also include a rule for setting negative entries from their own ERP, Booking Engine or Data Lake in the event of cancellations. API-transmitted negative entries automatically cancel the corresponding FX exposure.

But what happens when a negative entry is pushed after the corresponding hedge has been executed? Not much. Because travel-related FX exposure typically includes hundreds/thousands of individual transactions, new positions are constantly entered for the same currency pair and value date. The more granular the information included in these entries, the more accurate the FX hedging process, and the better the traceability of each piece of exposure.

Conclusion: speed is the name of the game

As the effects of the global pandemic still loom large, the ability to quickly process cancellations is a must for airlines, hotel chains and wholesalers in general. FX management is an integral part of this process — and it relies mostly on automated micro-hedging programs for bookings or ‘firm commitments”.

These micro-hedging programs, in turn, automatically treat cancellations as a key element of the ‘pre-trade’ phase of exposure management. If your aim is to tame the ghost of cancellations —while relieving the finance team from performing repetitive, resource-consuming and potentially risky manual tasks—, FX automation is the starting point.

The time to act is now!

Survey | Anomalous Payments Detection

15-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Nomentia | LinkedIn |

Our partner Nomentia and Netguardians, are conducting a survey for treasury and finance professionals to get a better understanding of the current challenges companies are facing in identifying and preventing anomalous payments. This way, we can provide more relevant solutions and share industry knowledge with the treasury and finance community.

Payments are growing in volume and gaining speed, with “instant payment” gradually becoming the norm. With increasing speed and volume, the risk of processing anomalous or fraudulent payments increases simultaneously. These anomalous payments may be caused by human errors or by fraudulent activities such as fraudsters impersonating CEOs, sending fake invoices, and other scams. This results in both operational and financial losses for the company.

By filling out this survey you will help advance the solutions that are needed to fight anomalous payments. You can fill out the survey completely anonymously. It takes around 5 to 10 minutes to complete the survey depending on the answers you provide throughout the survey.

We thank you for your kind participation!

 

 

Currency Volatility Is A Catalyst for Response by Treasury

15-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Kyriba | LinkedIn |

The Q2 2021 Kyriba Currency Impact Report showed a strong tailwind for many US corporates driven in large part by the strengthening of two main trading currencies for many US corporates, EUR and GBP.

Both currencies strengthened steadily through Q2 2021, but currencies have since retreated through Q3 2021, setting up a return of relatively strong headwinds for the Q3 earnings season.

Euro-US Dollar Rate
British Pound-US Dollar Rate

As we look forward to Q3 and Q4 currency impacts, it is very likely we will see increased levels of negative currency impacts for North American and European corporates as a result of continued business activity expansion combined with the return of a stronger USD and general market uncertainty. The recent impact of the newest COVID variant, Omicron, has also added a new level of uncertainty-driven volatility and questions about how businesses and central banks will respond.

Beyond the general level of market uncertainty there are a few other economic and operational challenges that are adding to the complexity of managing currency risk and liquidity.  With inflationary conditions starting to take hold in the US and other parts of the world, Treasurers and CFOs are having to contend with increasing supply chain costs. In addition, the supply chain disruptions are increasing the uncertainty of business operations. Many treasury teams are far less confident in their long-term cash flow forecasts which has many reconsidering their hedging and liquidity needs.

How are Corporate Risk Managers responding to the currency markets and supply chain disruptions? 

Treasury teams are faced with a complex set of variables in the current market environment. Their long-term cash flow forecasts are less and less reliable due to uncertainty related to supply chain disruptions. The disruptions are impacting both the supply side and the revenue side of the forecasts. There is increased uncertainty around both the value and timing of supply chain cash out flows. On the revenue side, there is also uncertainty around the value and timing of future inflows as manufacturers are having a hard time getting products on the shelves. In addition, the currency markets are adding to the complexity as the USD is strengthening or at least holding strong against a broad basket of currencies.

As a result, many treasury teams are re-focusing on the things they can control. Daily and even intra-day cash position monitoring is the norm now and combining that with an increased focus on FX hedging for working capital positions on the balance sheet are critical best practices to ensure treasury teams have the right amount of cash in the proper currency at the right time to cover vendor and supplier payments and ensure they maintain a strong liquidity position as they ride out the supply chain storm.

Another challenge FX risk managers are having to contend with is the by-product of improper posting of multi-currency transactions within their ERP system(s). When volatile currency markets are creating significant directional moves in various currency pairs, it often uncovers multi-currency accounting posting mistakes as well as missed exposures. This missed exposures and improper accounting postings can results in very surprising results that often create significant FX losses. The most frustrating aspect of these types of FX impacts is that they are entirely self-inflicted.  With proper Exposure Data Integrity Analytics and robust and dynamic exposure capture processes, these self-inflicted currency impacts can be anticipated and avoided.

Ultimately, Treasury teams that can monitor and manage their liquidity and working capital FX exposure in a single integrated platform have a distinct advantage in the current market.

 

How does BRITA GmbH use Nomentia Payments in Germany?

| 01-12-2021 | treasuryXL | Nomentia | LinkedIn |

BRITA GmbH, a German water filter manufacturer with total sales of 617 million euros in the business year 2020 and 2,205 employees worldwide at the end of 2020, is the market leader in drinking water optimization and individualization. The company is represented by 30 national and international subsidiaries and branches as well as shareholdings. Brita has manufacturing facilities in Germany, Italy, China and the United Kingdom.

The challenge

Brita has a complex business. The company’s products are distributed globally in over 70 countries on all 4 continents.

Brita’s treasury department was facing the following challenges:

 

– The used multibank payment tool was discontinued.

– Lack of a system that is independent of banks.

– Lack of centralization of treasury and cash management.

 

Currently, cash management is not centralized in the company. But there are group requirements setting a minimum standard for banking systems. However, rolling out the project in Germany was the first step to evaluate the possible adoption also by the subsidiaries.

To roll out Nomentia worldwide and achieve the goal of having one system for all payment transactions, first, Brita needs to take a few vital strategic moves, such as ensuring that all subsidiaries are using a group bank and the same ERP system, as well as setting up connectivity with all the group banks to be able to handle also those payment types that cannot go through Electronic Banking Internet Communication (EBICS).

The solution

Instead of working with as many as 7 different banks just within Germany to process payments, Brita chose to use Nomentia, as a single tool that is independent of banks.

Currently, Brita is connected to two major global banks and a few local banks through EBICS. They are currently discovering the possibility to add more connections, like a host-to-host connection to a major global bank.

In the beginning, Brita’s treasury and IT departments had to work closely with Nomentia to set up the project that required a lot of communication from both parties.

 

“Once our IT understood that Nomentia can do magic by connecting to our ERP system, retrieve a file from the bank and send it to our ERP in the right format, it was easy to get their buy-in. Our team had a lot of experience with long ERP projects and they were impressed with Nomentia’s capabilities” – said Doreen Lenk, Manager Group Treasury & Risk Management.

 

Nomentia’s Payments solution is currently used by almost all Brita’s German branches and they are currently in the middle of rolling out the solution in Italy. In case that’s a success, they may look at starting to use Nomentia in other countries as well.

The benefits

Rolling out a new product for treasury management can often be a challenge. It requires strategic planning from the department, cooperation with IT, and working closely with the solution provider. In addition, aligning the group in different countries also requires a lot of paperwork as well as training.

Brita has realized three key benefits of working with Nomentia. These benefits can be even further realized after further adoption of the solution.

1. One system for all in Germany for better processes and decreasing the number of errors

 

The biggest benefit has been that German branches can use one tool to communicate with all German banks. Without Nomentia, Brita would be working with several systems from several banks. Now all transactions go through Nomentia which makes the process less error-prone.

2. Automated processes

 

The processes have been automated for the German branches and this saves a lot of time for the accountants. As Nomentia is also integrated with SAP, they can see all the invoices from SAP, too.

3. Avoid fraud

 

With having just one system in place, it’s easier to have the highest level of transparency of the transactions and access rights.

 

 

CONTACT US 

 

 

The hidden secret behind the different types of foreign exchange exposure

23-11-2021 | treasuryXL | Kantox | LinkedIn

Fresh from leaving the famous Genesis rock band that he helped found, songwriter and musician Peter Gabriel came out with an innovative album called Exposure, where his fascination with electronics and new recording techniques was openly on display. In the eponymous song, he kept on droning the E-word over and over:

Exposure
Exposure
Exposure
Exposure
Exposure

WEBINAR ALERT | Everything you need to know about payments for future-proof cash and treasury management

treasuryXL | Nomentia |

 

Date & time: December 2, 2021 at 2.00 pm CET | Duration 45 minutes

Finding the optimal payments process can be challenging. Therefore, TreasuryXL and Nomentia experts join forces to discuss payments in more detail.

Join the webinar to learn more about: 

  • Introduction TreasuryXL and Nomentia
  • Payment set-ups for a future-proof multinationals
  • Areas of new developments and challenges
  • Dealing with different bank connections and ERP interfaces
  • The involvement of IT in technical payment set-ups 
  • User management
  • Fraud management
  • Putting it all together

At the end of the webinar, we’ll have time for a short Q&A session to answer your questions.

Click on the banner for registration.

Meet the speakers

Kees-Jan Kindt

Seasoned Treasury Expert
TreasuryXL / Gazprom

Huub Wevers

Huub Wevers

Senior Sales Manager
Nomentia

Tapani Oksala

Solutions Manager
Nomentia


 

 

Expert-led Conversation | The Digitalisation of Treasury: Your FX Risk Management toolbox for 2022 | 30 November 2021

treasuryXL | Kantox

 

Date & time: November 30, 2021 at 9.30 am CET | Duration 45 minutes

2022 is just around the corner, and we want to make sure you’re armed with the best technology tools to help push your treasury department to the next level. 

Join Kantox and TreasuryXL in this expert-led conversation on the future of FX risk management and the treasury trends to tap into in 2022.

Online checkout starts before the payment solution (Dutch Article)

| 17-11-2021 | treasuryXL | EcomStream | Ramon Helwegen |

Het sleutelmoment in de e-commerce-funnel is de betaling. Online betalen blijft een hobbel, zeker in vergelijking met het gemak van contactloos en zonder pincode betalen in de winkel. Snelle en gemakkelijke betaling online verdient daarom speciale aandacht.

Het is goed om je te realiseren dat een klant online meerdere processen doorloopt voordat een conversie kan plaatsvinden. Tijdens dit proces bied je de klant zoveel mogelijk aandacht, beleving  en gerichte informatie over dat waar hij of zij naar op zoek is. Dit alles binnen de ‘wetten’ van de optimale online klantbeleving.

Snel betalen

Maar zodra de klant de keuze definitief heeft gemaakt volgt het betaalproces. Voor jou als verkoper is dat een belangrijk proces op weg naar conversie, maar voor je klant is het een noodzakelijk kwaad waarin hij inhoudelijk veel minder geïnteresseerd is. De keuze is gemaakt en je klant wil gewoon zo snel mogelijk weg. In dit proces is snelheid dus van het grootste belang. Hoe sneller je klant kan betalen en vertrekken, hoe kleiner de kans dat hij  alsnog afhaakt.

De online sales funnel is geen lineair proces. Knip het daarom in tweeën:

  • Online shoppen = Aandacht en beleving
  • Online afrekenen = Snelheid

Schematisch zou je er zo naar kunnen kijken:

De snelheid van het afrekenproces bepaalt mede of je klant het inderdaad gaat halen tot en met de betaling. Hoe meer tijd je klant kwijt is aan dit proces, hoe groter de kans op afhakers (drop-offs).

Het grootste deel van het afrekenproces bevindt zich overigens buiten het domein van de betaalprovider. Er zijn uitzonderingen, bijvoorbeeld wanneer je klant met PayPal betaalt, maar dan gaat het dus om een situatie zonder vrije keuze van de betaalmethode. Ook is de afweging vanuit het ‘kosten-versus-conversie’-oogpunt in dit geval vaak uitdagend.

Het online afrekenproces eindigt bij de betaaloplossing

Mooi zo: je klant heeft het gehaald tot aan de betaalpagina. In dit laatste gedeelte van de checkout is de betaaloplossing van je betaalprovider wél van grote invloed op de conversie. Zowel net vóór de betaling als net ná de betaling door je klant.

Enkele aspecten van net vóór de betaling waarbij de betaaloplossing van invloed is op de conversie lees je hieronder. Het gaat hier over zaken die van toepassing zijn op de betaalpagina. Het gaat hier over aspecten die van toepassing zijn op de betaalpagina. Dus vanaf de keuze van betaalmethode, ofwel het moment dat je klant daadwerkelijk wil gaan betalen. Ook noem ik aspecten van net ná de betaling waarbij de betaaloplossing van invloed is op de conversie. Het  gaat hier om aspecten waarbij je klant het hele checkout-proces met succes heeft doorlopen, op de laatste betaalknop heeft gedrukt, en er toch een kink in de conversiekabel komt.

  • De juiste mix van relevante betaalmethoden. Je PSP kan je hier onderbouwd inzicht in geven. Welke betaalmethoden zijn in je marktsegment noodzakelijk om een optimale conversie te behalen. Kijk hiervoor ook naar verschillende landen en voorkeuren. Maar maak per betaalmethode ook de ‘kosten-versus-conversie’-afweging.
  • Zorg dat alleen klanten voor wie de betaalmethoden relevant zijn deze te zien krijgen op de betaalpagina. Het heeft bijvoorbeeld geen zin om een Engelse klant te confronteren met iDEAL als mogelijke betaalmethode.
  • Zorg ervoor dat je klant de betaling doorloopt in de look & feel van je bedrijf. Ook als je nog gebruik maakt van een redirect-pagina naar je betaalprovider.
  • Geef klanten de mogelijkheid om betaalgegevens op te slaan. Dat stimuleert niet alleen herhalingsaankopen, maar het invoeren van een 16-cijferig creditcardnummer geeft een grote kans op fouten.
  • Een responsive mobiele klantbeleving met een finger-friendly numeriek toetsenbord en een numerieke veldherkenning is wel zo prettig voor je klant.
  • De ‘achtergelaten winkelwagen’-recovery. Een verlaten winkelwagentje opvolgen in een branded e-mail kan je klant motiveren om toch af te rekenen.
  • Retries: wordt de betaling toch niet geaccepteerd? Zorg er dan voor dat je klant een alternatieve betaalmethode krijgt aangeboden, maar zonder dat de winkelmand per ongeluk wordt geleegd.
  • Fraude: een klant kan met een gestolen credit card afrekenen, of het geleverde ter discussie stellen. In beide gevallen staat de conversie op losse schroeven. Verkoop je een fraudegevoelig product of een fraudegevoelige dienst, zorg dan voor een goede fraudemanagementoplossing waarmee je de balans tussen je conversie en  je frauderatio goed kunt managen.
  • Het optimaliseren van autorisatie-success rates op creditcardtransacties: dit is vooral  interessant als je veel naar relatief ‘exotische’ landen verkoopt waar de autorisatie success rate op creditcards laag kan zijn. Steeds meer PSP’s bieden netwerkoplossingen waarmee ze de autorisatie-success rate kunnen verbeteren.

Conclusie

In de winkel betalen kan tegenwoordig makkelijk en snel. Je houd je telefoon dicht bij de terminal en klaar. Online betalen is helaas vaak nog tijdrovend. Want zodra je klant in het online winkelmandje op “bestellen” klikt wordt een checkout-proces doorlopen. De optimalisatie van dit proces vindt plaats binnen en buiten het domein van je betaalprovider. Een snel checkout-proces met een geoptimaliseerde klantbeleving helpt je klant om deze laatste fase van je funnel met succes te doorlopen.

 

 

 

Ramon Helwegen

 

 

 

 

About EcomStream

EcomStream is an independent consultancy and is specialized in optimization of online, omnichannel and marketplace payment solutions, and optimization of checkout flows.

The goal is to achieve much lower costs for you while creating a much better customer experience for your customers.

Thanks to its lean organisational model, EcomStream will help you to reduce the cost of ownership of your payment solution and to improve your ROI, fast.

Changing priorities of corporate treasurers post-pandemic

| 15-11-2021 | Eurofinance | treasuryXLLinkedIn

More than 18 months have passed since treasury professionals around the world had to leave their offices at short notice due to the escalating covid-19 crisis. In April 2021, EuroFinance carried out a survey to find out more about the different ways the pandemic has affected treasury professionals. Alongside the adoption of remote working, the subsequent report highlights treasurers’ accelerated adoption of digital technologies, and the contribution that treasurers make to board-level decision-making during a crisis.

What are the key takeaways from this report?

  • The importance of cash flow forecasting has been underlined by the crisis. Almost three quarters of treasury professionals have increased their focus on cash forecasting during the crisis, while 54% plan to prioritise cash forecasting in the future.
  • Cash management and liquidity management remains a top priority for treasury professionals. Seven out of ten said cash management/liquidity management was a top priority going forward.
  • Covid-19 has accelerated digital transformation. Alongside the rise in remote working, treasury teams have increased their adoption of robotic process automation (RPA), APIs/cloud, machine learning/AI and virtual accounts/in-house banks.
  • Treasurers have been more involved in board-level decision making during the pandemic, with 39% of treasurers saying they are more involved since the crisis began.

Want to see the full report?

Download here