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AUTOMATING BANK FEE ANALYSIS AND BECOMING BEST IN CLASS

| 15-4-2019 | Vallstein | treasuryXL |

About Vallstein

Vallstein was built around the philosophy that transparency in bank relations should be equally relevant from the perspective of a corporate client towards its banks as vice versa. The history to date has proven Vallstein´s vision right. Clients applying Vallstein´s BRM solutions gain and maintain pro-active control over their banking charges based on sustained information advantages, enabling ongoing monitoring and business allocation based on transparency and best-practice benchmarking.

Why Vallstein

By opting for Vallstein, companies will not only gain access to the WalletSizing® Bank Fee Edition but will also avail itself of the know-how of over 18 years of experience in the development and management of Award-winning WalletSizing® and Bank Fee Management solutions and the associated global lead position in Bank Relationship Management.

The Bank Fee Edition enables the efficient implementation of this important initiative in controlling banking fees. Bank invoices will be uploaded and interfaced into the Bank Fee Edition in a seamless matter. Based on the insights and analytics and the associated benchmarks provided by Bank Fee Edition, companies will establish a solid basis for transparency and control on all its banking charges in cash management. Vallstein software solutions enable ongoing monitoring and reporting of the banking landscape, ensuring embedded pro-active control and compliance with banking policies and cash management pricing agreements negotiated with the banks.

Unlike other treasury systems and treasury consulting firms, Vallstein is solely and fully dedicated to BRM.

The nature of our client relationships varies and is entirely driven by the tailor-made approach from client to client. The majority of our clients operate in multiple countries, where in turn they maintain multiple local banking relationships. In supporting our clients on their bank relationship management Vallstein has thus developed a unique and extensive database covering market data on banking products and services from over 300 banks worldwide.

Furthermore, all the prices for Cash Management will be benchmarked on the basis of size and quantities per product and this will provide the company with the necessary insight in the business value of its Cash Management wallet. With this knowhowthe best practice prices in the market can be negotiated. For many of our clients this has lead to substantial savings on their annual Cash Management fees and an improved relationship with their bank(s).

Clients of Vallstein

Vallstein has served hundreds clients directly and indirectly in cooperation with its partners. These clients represent a wide range of industries and vary in size from EUR 30 mln to well over EUR 300 bln in annual sales. The clients are headquartered in a wide range of countries, including countries in the Middle East, Europe and North America and have operations in 180 countries world-wide. In many cases, the client relationship is multi-year, with our oldest client relationship indeed dating back to the year of inception of Vallstein in 2000.

Do you want to explore the possibilities for your company? Please contact Salco Herschberg.

Email: [email protected]
Tel. +31 (06) 46 59 73 34

Salco Herschberg

Country Head at Vallstein

Bank Account Management | A treasurer’s guide

| 01-04-2019 | TIS Treasury Intelligence Solutions | treasuryXL

Risk and liquidity management are top of mind for treasurers in today’s business climate highlighting the importance of bank accounts. They are necessary to pay, receive and store money and also to protect resources and facilitate treasury management. Companies must have at least one bank account, some have hundreds and a few require thousands of bank accounts to conduct their business. Bank accounts are also the means by which companies are connected to other businesses, people and the banks where the accounts are held. This makes the business of bank account management not only an important task but in the current hyper-connected environment of cybercrime, terrorism, fraud and tax evasion a mission critical function. Failure to properly manage bank accounts has the potential to cause material disruption or business failure for the account holders.

Complexity is not your friend when it comes to managing, closing or opening bank accounts worldwide.

Do you have real-time information and visibility about signing authorities, local bank accounts and bank fees?
Are you ready for an audit with the information you currently have?
Do you have sufficient audit trails, security and compliance elements in place?

We understand the wealth of information at hand, as well as the importance of making use of it in an efficient, safe and cost-eff ective manner. The TIS SaaS solution enables organizations regardless of industry or ERP environment to maneuver their bank account landscape by providing a user-friendly and central “single source of truth”—all in one platform. Complete transparency across users, workflows and bank accounts along with the rights to manage these is what empowers our users.

Bank Account Management

(BAM) consists of the policies, procedures and actions taken to open, close or modify accounts held by a business with a financial institution.
This includes the negotiation and management of account services and fees, mandates governing the account, authorized users of the account and methods of communication regarding account activity. It also includes managing the interrelationships among accounts, regulatory reporting and compliance.

Companies address bank account management (BAM) in many different ways but may not be addressing all of the elements in an expanding universe of tasks. The dimensions of the challenge include:

-The need for banks to know their customers and the customers of those customers to protect against money laundering and the financing of terrorism. This is familiar to treasurers through KYC, KYCC, FCPA and AML.

Do you want to find out more about this topic? Then read the whole guide. Download it for free!

CREDIT CARDS EN BUITENLANDSE VALUTA: WAT ZE JE NIET VERTELLEN

| 23-05-2018 | Pieter de Kiewit | treasuryXL|

Weet jij welk deel, van wat je betaalt aan de buitenlandse winkelier, naar financiële dienstverleners gaat? Het vakantie seizoen is weer gestart en de economie draait goed. Toeristen en zakenmensen vullen de vliegtuigen en Schiphol draait vast. Mede op basis van dit artikel: https://www.forbes.com/sites/geoffreymorrison/2014/07/30/pay-in-local-or-home-currency/#778b32b73307 wil ik jullie met mijn beperkte-leken-blik informeren over de financiële keten die hoort bij jouw aanschaf van een kop koffie in London, New York of Rio de Janeiro.

Allereerst heeft winkelier een deal met een bank en vaak ook nog met een credit card company. Een vast bedrag per maand en een percentage of vast bedrag per transactie is de standaard. Een pinpas (debit card) is goedkoper dan een credit card voor de winkelier. Voor jou als consument maakt het niets uit.

Als je besluit die buitenlandse kop koffie met je credit card betaalt waarbij je alleen geïnformeerd wilt worden over jouw euro’s, dan betaal je daar een service fee over. De meesten van ons hebben geen ponden- of dollarrekening, dus daar ontkom je niet aan. Als je bijvoorbeeld een Mastercard hebt bij de ABN Amro en de winkelier handelt de credit card deal af met zijn bank, bijvoorbeeld de RBS, dan is, afhankelijk van de afspraken tussen die partijen, er een scenario mogelijk dat alle drie de partijen een transactie fee berekenen. Zijn er verschillende valuta in het spel, dan zullen partijen deze fee verhogen.

Dan hebben we het nog niet gehad over de koersen die worden gehanteerd. Wellicht weet je dat de prijs die je betaalt bij de bank voor een dollar hoger is dan wat de bank je er voor terugbetaalt als je hem terug wisselt. Terecht, iedereen verdient zijn marge. In deze deal weet je wat de koers is. Weet je wat de koers is als je je credit card gebruikt? Wie bepaalt deze?

Met deze blog wil ik niet aansluiten bij de vele bank bashers maar je wel uitnodigen door te vragen. Ik heb het gevoel dat sommige partijen misbruik maken van ons kennisgebrek en onzorgvuldigheid. Weet iemand hoeveel van een kop koffie van $2 er bij de US verkoper blijft? Of het verschil in kosten tussen een pinpas en een credit card?

Heb een goede vakantie,

Pieter de Kiewit
Owner Treasurer Search

R3CEV Corda Platform: the blockchain app store

| 04-12-2017 | Carlo de Meijer |

In May this year, fintech start-up R3 raised $107 million from a consortium of the world’s top banks. The New York-based blockchain company that works in collaboration with more than 90 banks and other financial organizations world-wide, plans to use the money to invest in further developing the Corda platform (see my blog: Corda: distributed ledger ….. not blockchain! April 6, 2016) as well as “encouraging entrepreneurs to start building on the platform though training videos and hackathons”.

Fundraising

R3 gained momentum when it achieved this record distributed ledger technology funding in its last funding round. This figure that was raised by 40 institutions from more than 15 countries across the world (including names like Barclays, SBI, UBS, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC, ING, and Wells Fargo), is known as the largest single investment in a blockchain company to date. This is also seen as a signal that R3, with their Corda Platform, is moving in a right direction, according to many in the banking industry. This notwithstanding some of the early members left.

“R3 will use the funding to: [A]ccelerate technology development and expand strategic partnerships for product deployment. The company’s efforts will be focused on Corda, R3’s DLT platform for regulated financial institutions, and its infrastructure network, which will support a vast range of partner-built financial applications that interoperate seamlessly with each other, existing systems and networks.” R3’s press release

New members

Notwithstanding a number of early partners left the R3 consortium including JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Santander, it still attracts new members showing their viability in the blockchain arena. Like the Bahrain based Bank ABC (Arab Banking Corporation), Abu Dhabi Global Market and the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (IFTA). The latter will be involved in the various trade finance projects. Recently also the Banco de la Republico Colombia, the Colombian central bank, joined the R3 consortium. The partnership with various central banks is part of R3’s plan to diversify its consortium membership by the addition of financial regulators and government agencies.

Read the full article of our expert Carlo de Meijer on LinkedIn

Carlo de Meijer

Economist and researcher

Funding Planning & Execution with your Bank, a Consultant, an Interim Manager or DIY?

| 14-10-2016 | Pieter de Kiewit |

In my work as a treasury recruiter I speak with financial managers on a regular basis about their funding. Both in the funding strategy as in the execution hereof, it can be noticed that entrepreneurs and their CFO’s intensify their search for the proper partner. This is what I hear so far:

Funding has been the primary trade of the bank, they do have wide and broad knowledge. Over the last years they have lost their credibility due to scandals, but also because they did not supply when the need was high. The banks themselves also struggle with increased regulation and are trying to adjust their business model to changing market circumstances. Can the advice of a supplier be fully objective?

The objectivity of consultants depends upon their business model. There is a portion that is on the broker side that is paid upon success, either by the supplier or their client. They will be deal driven and will not only have the interest of the client in focus. At the same time, without them quite often, there will be no deal, no funding. The consultants that are paid a fixed fee or hourly rate can be expected to be more impartial. They often have the knowledge base, but will not take responsibility. Also their rate can be steep.

The third solution is an interim manager who has been responsible for funding in the past. Often his rate is more acceptable and he will better speak the language of the entrepreneur. Also he is an obvious candidate to do much of the operational work. Of course he will not have an organisation to fall back upon and will not accept any liability. I notice interim managers are getting a bigger market share.

Finally a CFO and entrepreneur can do the funding planning and execution themselves. At first glance this may be the cheapest option.

What questions did you ask before funding your company? Who did you chose to accompany you?

Cost, expertise, success, liability, gut feeling….. So many variables, no easy answer. I look forward to your input.