23-03-2023 | Sabbir Rahman | treasuryXL | LinkedIn | We are so happy to introduce Sabbir Rahman as our newest treasuryXL expert. Sabbir is a treasury, corporate finance and capital markets leadership executive.
24-02-2021 | treasuryXL |
Award-winning Fintech company, SurePay, integrates the IBAN-Name Check into your business processes. This prevents fraud and errors and allows you to realize more efficient processes.
SurePay was founded in 2016 and has been providing the IBAN-Name Check to all major Dutch banks since 2017. In the years that followed, the group of customers expanded to corporates and partners. Today, SurePay provides the Confirmation of Payee service in the UK, while at the same time introducing new services in the Netherlands. At the beginning of 2020, SurePay became a Private Company and an independent part of the Rabobank Group.
Entering, using and checking customer data is often labor-intensive. By integrating the SurePay IBAN and name check into your systems, you make your processes more efficient, safer and reduce the risk of fraud.
This way, the online registration of new customers runs more smoothly, you collect from and you pay to the right person. Moreover, you know whether you are dealing with a private or business account! Various organisations, like insurers, municipalities and energy companies already use the IBAN-Name Check for organisations. The same solution makes sure that the Covid-19 payments are delivered safely, at scale and to the right people in both the Netherlands and the UK.
SurePay saw a spectacular growth of 1719% in the number of checks for organisations. More than 125 organisations now use the IBAN-Name Check.
See the complete 2020 year report here.
They use the service in the onboarding process of new suppliers and customers (KYC), in claims and payout processes, in direct debit processes and in fraud investigations. This makes processes more efficient, safer and reduces the risk of fraud and misdirection, avoiding all the damage and hassle that goes with it.
The results are impressive:
To know more about the IBAN-Name Check like features, roadmap, use cases and the team behind this proven solution, click on the following banner.
Thanks for reading, take care.
16-12-2021 | treasuryXL |
SurePay, SEPAMail.eu and StreamMind have announced the launch of the first cross-border Confirmation of Payee solution. This service enables companies and banks to check that the account information entered matches the intended beneficiary when initiating cross-border payments between France and the Netherlands and marks an important first step towards a pan-European solution in the fight against fraud.
Confirmation of Payee is a way to give consumers, banks and companies greater assurance that their payments are being routed to the intended recipient and are not being accidentally or deliberately misdirected.
Payments across Europe have increasingly shifted to digital channels, leading to a surge in fraud cases throughout the continent due to methods such as phishing, spoofing, APP scams and CEO fraud. Additionally, fraud is becoming increasingly international, whereby fraudsters are using foreign bank accounts for fraudulent purposes.
SEPAmail.eu offers an account check solution in France for more than 90% of bank accounts and SurePay’s IBAN-Name Check solution checks 99.5% of all online payments in the Netherlands.
This allows banks, consumers and companies in France and the Netherlands to check the accuracy of the account holder. This significantly reduces fraud and errors in payments. In addition, the IBAN-Name Check increases efficiency and improves the customer journey. In the Netherlands the IBAN-Name Check is used by over 150 companies such as insurance companies, lenders, government agencies, energy companies and many others, to prevent fraud or when accepting new suppliers, customers and employees.
08-09-2022 | Maximo Santos Miranda | treasuryXL | LinkedIn
What personality traits and qualities should make a good treasurer? The results of the Treasurer Test help to better understand a candidate’s natural predisposition to specific personality traits. Editor of the Treasurer Test, Máximo Santos Miranda, gives us his take on what the most important personality traits are that treasurers should have.
Source: Treasurer Test, brand by treasuryXL
By Máximo Santos Miranda
From my point of view, flexibility is one of the most important qualities a treasurer should possess. Each company is a different world, with a different corporate culture and non-identical needs. A good treasurer must adapt to each specific reality. Only in this way will he be able to achieve the best results for the company.
Another important trait that a good treasurer must have is proactivity. It is always possible to do things better and this is especially important in treasury, because of the great importance of treasury functions. An excellent treasurer should always think of new ways to improve the function and this fact also requires that our treasurer has a deep sense of curiosity and is open to changes and the new dynamics of the market. This means that the treasurer must be proactive in meetings with banks and explore new market trends and products launched by the financial system. It is also important to attend treasury meetings where our treasurer can see what strategies other colleges are using to solve problems that are similar or identical to ours. In this sense, our treasurer must constantly learn to stay informed and it is especially important that our treasurer be a technology enthusiast. In this sense, it is crucial to read trade magazines and take short courses, but not in a passive way. Our treasurer should always think whether or not the things he reads or listens to are applicable to the company he works for. This is the only way to continuously improve the treasury function, which means more and more efficiency in the use of financial resources.
In addition, our treasurer must have excellent communication skills. The treasury department must be in permanent contact with external suppliers (banks) and with internal customers (accounting, tax, human resources, purchasing, planning ….) for its own characteristics and this function cannot be developed properly if our treasurer does not have exceptional communication skills. It must be taken into account that for one reason or another, treasury is in contact with all the different departments within the company, either to ask for information or to provide information. When negotiating with banks or resolving operational incidents with them, this skill is critical if we are to be successful in both issues.
Accuracy and precision are other important traits a good treasurer must possess. Payments and collections, for example, must always be made on time (not before and not after) and good forecasting always requires a high degree of accuracy. This trait must be complemented by a quick mind. In treasury, you often have to make decisions very quickly. If you make a mistake, the consequences can be enormous and therefore a reliable treasurer must combine accuracy with a high and logical speed of execution. Common sense should always guide the behavior of an excellent treasurer.
And finally, the soft skills described earlier must be complemented by technical knowledge. A solid treasurer should have both skills and when this is combined with extensive experience in a wide variety of companies and sectors, our treasurer will add value that will be hugely positive for the entire organization and not just for the treasury department itself.
Your sincerely,
Contact manager of the Treasurer Wout directly. Together we will explore how the Treasurer Test can be of benefit to you.
Wout van Wijlick, Manager of the Treasurer Test & Marketing Coordinator at treasuryXL
30-08-2021 | Maximo Santos Miranda | treasuryXL
Máximo holds a PhD in Economics and is graduated in Law. After 18 years working in International Cash Management in several multinationals coordinating local treasury units with the headquarters or implementing new ones all around the world, he is working as a university professor of finance, treasury and business strategies in several Universities and Business Schools in Spain. He is also a regular contributor in international media such as Forbes México, Forbes Centro America or Revista Gestión of Ecuador for the last five years.
“My first job in treasury was the best you can wish for”
As a researcher he has published more than 30 articles in research journals about banking systems, treasury, finance in general, fintechs or international sanctions and at the same time he is a referee in postgraduate research journals. He also collaborates with Think Tanks and international institutions in different ways.
After finishing my studies in economics, my intention was to work for a bank. In fact, my first professional steps were in banking. However, one day I saw a job offer that looked very interesting and I applied for it. Normally, I always prepare the job interviews in detail but this didn’t happen at that time. So, I went to the interview with no visibility of the company I was applying for. After a couple of quick interviews, I was selected as a treasury analyst for Cemex European headquarters.
Everything was perfect. My first job in treasury was the best you can wish for. I was part of the team of international cash management and Cemex at that time was in the middle of fast growth movements. Cemex acquired different subsidiaries worldwide and I was in the center of all those financial flows. There was much stress but the work atmosphere was fantastic and the promotion possibilities were reachable.
Most of my career in treasury has been focused on the international side and that provides an unpayable extra value. Thanks to being an international treasurer I have learned a lot about how treasury and finance work worldwide. I have had the opportunity to see how the banks work in many countries and how different companies from different sectors and industries adapt their cash management to their operative peculiarities and the markets where they are inserted.
International cash management is my greatest strength in the treasury world. Most of the time in my treasury career I have worked as a coordinator of local treasury units. That role has allowed me to see different approaches to similar issues in different countries.
In my first years in treasury, I had to coordinate the movement of funds (in three currencies) between different subsidiaries located in different countries and different banks on the same day. The number of funds moved was very high and the number of countries where the money passed through was also high (more than 20 countries in three continents). I was preparing the operation for a week and finally everything went fine. For me it was quite stressful as the operation was completed finally in 15 hours and it was necessary to compensate several delays in the intermediate transactions. When you prepare in detail a complex operation like that and everything is completed as forecasted you feel very proud of all the work done. After that operation, I have coordinated other operations quite similar but the level of stress has been much lower compared with the first one.
In the year 2005 Cemex sent me to Italy for three years to set up a new treasury unit in the country. For me it was a big challenge. First of all, because I didn’t speak Italian when I went there and soon I realized that to speak Italian is a key point if you want to do your job properly. Secondly because although I worked for a big multinational, the Italian subsidiary was quite small and the approach of the local banks was completely different to that I saw in the Cemex European headquarters in Madrid.
Things work if you prepare them in detail. You can have a very complex operation in your hands but if this operation is prepared in detail (forecasting different scenarios and alternative solutions) the final success is almost guaranteed. Good preparation is the key to success.
The function has changed a lot. When I started in treasury in the year 2001 the administrative workload was the most relevant part of the treasury function, at least in time-consuming. Today instead and thanks to technology the time spent on administrative issues have been reduced significantly. That reduction has allowed the treasurer to dedicate more time to other issues that generate more value for the company. A good treasurer today must know much more than before about technology applicable to the treasury function and must also have strategic thinking.
The treasury teams will be smaller in the future. The technology will reduce all the administrative treasury tasks to the minimum. The treasurer of the future should be focused on technology, strategic thinking and create additional value for the company. To reach that goal, the corporate treasurer should be passionate about the function and must be always informed of the latest developments in the market. The corporate treasurer should know the latest developments in technology, in treasury products, in treasury strategies… always learning. The treasurers of the future should communicate better and invest time in treasury education and build treasury networks to exchange knowledge with other colleges or experienced treasurers. To sum up, the treasurers of the future should increase their impact in the companies thanks to the technology developments.
23-06-2021 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting |
Get inspired by the extensive and catchy interview with Robert-Jan Wekking about Enigma Consulting. Robert-Jan takes you into the warm corporate culture, mission, expertise, innovation and their continues investment in knowledge with great examples.
Enigma Consulting is a revolutionary knowledge hub in the field of Payments, Digitisation, Risk & Compliance and Treasury. They are a connecting factor in the financial sector thanks to our consultants’ engagement with their clients, both banks and companies and solution providers.
Robert-Jan has more than 25 years of experience in payment transactions and he advises corporate clients in the areas of treasury, risk management and bank connectivity.He understands the solutions in the market, both from the B2B and B2C perspective.
Robert-Jan switches easily between executive and operational level within companies and the banking sector, as he easily combines his strategic vision with substantive process and product knowledge. He has a wide network with contacts at all (international) banks, which can speed up the implementation of corporates connectivity with their banks.
We asked him 11 questions. Let’s go!
Enigma Consulting has in-depth knowledge of all ecosystems that are relevant in payments, transaction value chains and financial markets. Transactional connectivity and digitization increase the prosperity and well-being of consumers, companies and the public sector and thus serve a social interest. Our mission is to contribute to the development of efficient digital transaction traffic and to ensure that this is done in an innovative, sustainable, honest and effective manner with controlled business operations. Combined with a correct attitude and behaviour, this contributes to the translation of legislation and regulations into ethical business operations and a better market position. We follow developments closely, research, analyse and make connections. Our consultants reflect, structure and help organisations to achieve their goals.
Digitalization is all about the exchange of data, whether these are payments, information, identities, contracts, signatures or any other regular consumer or business transactions. The complexity of exchanging transactions is constantly increasing; regulations, fraud and data protection are just three of the factors impacting this complexity. On the other hand, innovative technology is continuously providing easier interaction between data, leading to better and integrated business propositions and making client journeys faster, more friction less and safer. This is exactly in this domain where Enigma operates. We leverage our in-depth knowledge of payments and transactions to advise and implement.
We distinguish ourselves from other players by looking at the end-to-end value chain, not only from the viewpoint of efficiency but also with a perspective on regulations and compliance. We understand the guiding laws and regulations and can translate them into practical advice to make sure that our clients remain compliant. We recognize that laws and regulations applying to financial institutions are becoming stricter and that attention is now also shifting towards corporates.
Our legal consultants are specialised in transaction and data related legislation, and we have strong connection with for example DNB and AFM in relation to our guidance of our clients.
Our consultancy practice focuses on the financial-, corporate- and retail sectors, hence we understand the complexities affecting those areas. With our knowledge of the ecosystems and vendor solutions we play the matchmaking role between individual client wishes and the solutions available in the market.
This combination of end-to-end view, legislation and compliancy, working in different sectors, and the matchmaker role gives us a unique position. The fact that we not only advise but also take responsibility for implementations during the past 20 years, makes us a trusted and recognized partner for our clients.
Our knowledge of payments and other transaction processes is often the starting point for customers to reach out to us. Our capability to advise and implement solutions from an end-to-end perspective is the basis for our interaction with our customers. Additionally, customers also appreciate the fact that we are able to advise at a strategic level, but at the same time are pragmatic enough to look for feasible and not theoretical answers.
We have strong relationships with a number of our clients, some even stretching back over more than 20 years. This is something we foster, not only by delivering more than what is expected, but also by working closely together. For instance, our Treasury Barometer is an example where we cooperate with the Rabobank, whilst at the same time we are participating in a number of their projects.
At the end, it all comes together with trust, in the quality of delivery, in our people and in the overall relation. This is how we ensure that we will be shortlisted again the next time.
The most challenging projects are when we are asked to take end-to-end responsibility for delivering a complete project. Quite often, this means that we have a team onboard and the client is looking at us as lead consultant to get the job done. A good example is the setup of a complete bank payments infrastructure. Apart from the fact that these assignments are exciting and demanding, it is always challenging to make it happen in an environment with its own complexities.
For our individual consultants, stepping into a new assignment always has its own challenges.
Customers ask for us for different reasons, and our consultants have to quickly adapt to start advising the client. This means not only understanding the clients’ business, but primarily building trust relations with the client and their stakeholders. Hence for every consultant the adaptability towards the new environment is always an important challenge.
For myself personally, I am proud to have led a number of strategic programs, like SEPA, Instant Payments and iDIN. Besides building completely new products, the key challenge is always to work and build bridges between internal and external parties (Banks, DNB, governmental bodies) with sometimes opposing objectives. Working with all these parties and ultimately developing a new product is what makes me happy and proud of my role as consultant.
One of the most exciting aspects of payments is the continuous innovation in the field. However, it is never a revolution but more an evolution. An example are the digital currencies. I believe that in the long run, these might become as important as, or even replace, the current way of paying. But it will take many years to get there. Where it started with the cryptos and Facebook’s Libra, the central banks are now seriously embracing it.
Additionally, the technical transitions to APIs and SaaS, Open Banking and Instant are ingredients for completely new business innovation. Through API and SaaS, corporates can select best in class software modules and integrate them, rather than select single platforms that will still sub-optimise their process. The introduction of Instant Payments in Europe will ultimately change the way the treasurer needs to forecast and manage their accounts.
In the B2C or C2C world, the client journey will continuously improve, seamlessly and friction less, with data integration as a key element.
Through our assignments, we are constantly in the middle of this innovation. For example, we are the leading consultancy firm in the Netherlands for supporting FinTechs, cryptos and payment software companies with their PSD2 application. Our role in digital identity and Mobility as a Service provides us with insights in yet other areas of innovation.
In order to keep all our consultants informed, we have a weekly meeting with our consultants to discuss the latest trends.
We also leverage this knowledge to assist our clients with their questions around innovation. For this purpose, we have initiated the Enigma Innovation Lab, an accelerator environment to answer client specific questions around innovation, vision building or technical solutions by injecting are our own knowledge combined with our ecosystem of solution providers and subject matter specialists, all facilitated by various methodologies like Design Thinking.
The differences are not that when you look at the regular payment products themselves. But we do see COVID as a steppingstone for digitalization. E-commerce and e-commerce payments have shown significant growth and people are spending increasing amounts of time online. The volumes of payments facilitated by Payment Service Providers are going through the roof.
Also “Cash is King” is the phrase that everybody uses, but this should now be “Digital Cash is King”. Volume of physical cash is dropping significantly, being taken over by contactless payments.
I believe these are just indicators for a bigger change, which is the acceptance of the consumer to step into a full mobile journey.
Customers are now more familiar with working with a cashless wallet and seem also to be willing to adapt faster to other contactless, digital processes. Examples are registration, ordering food and payments in restaurants (for example via QR). But also using mobile apps to order your groceries. Clearly, this has already been taking place for many years, but I believe that COVID has accelerated this transformation through necessity. People are therefore more willing to change their attitude. What is interesting is whether this transformation will continue, or whether people will step backwards to the old normal or step forward to a new normal.
For the retail sector and corporates, before COVID they already had to understand how to become more relevant in the mobile cashless digital world. COVID is demanding corporates to speed up this thought process.
Digital currencies will be an important element in our future, adopted stepwise, and will be overlooked by market systems and regulators. There will be a continuous drive for integrating payments in the client journey, seamless, frictionless and supporting the Internet of Things. Hence payments will be a key enabler of future growth towards the digital world. Digitization is also very attractive for fraudsters, money laundering etc, as your counterpart is not always visible anymore. The need for trustworthy digital identities will be an important building block for this roadmap.
At the same time, the pressure of fraud, regulations and compliance will shift from banks to other parties (corporates) in the end-to-end value chain. Where banks are currently the gatekeeper, corporates will have to integrate this responsibility in their own business processes.
Hence the roadmap to digital, whether it is digital payments, or any other data transaction, will demand continuous change from all parties in the value chain. This will be a stepwise change, but fast enough to need to keep an eye on it.
The biggest success for Enigma is that we have made a transformation from payments “only” to understanding the full transaction, risk and data value chain. For example, we have made a transition from bank payments to treasury payments and risk processes, but also from payments to compliance, and to integrated transactions and data models.
During this period, we have also changed our internal organisation. We have been running a number of Young Professional Programs. These next generation talents bring us a more diverse view of the world, which makes our proposition to the market stronger and our internal culture more diverse. As a result, we believe that we have the foundation for supporting our clients, now and in the future, with a passion for payments and transactions.
Our ambition is to be recognised as a though leader in the domain of payment and transactions. Investing in knowledge is the basis for our current and future advisory services.
This means that we continuously invest in gaining and sharing knowledge with our consultants and clients. We have organised this in a number of ways.
We have introduced the so-called Theme Lifecycle within Enigma. When we expect a theme becomes relevant for our business, now or the future, we start a workgroup to progress this theme from idea through different stages. It starts with writing a one pager based on study and analysis, called the exploring stage. We validate the readiness for every next stage (exploring, campaigning, harvesting) so that we invest time in those subjects that also become relevant for the market. All our consultants participate in one or more themes, which helps keep them engaged with innovation and market developments.
Every week we organise meetings to discuss news and articles. On turn, every consultant is responsible to select a number of articles to be discussed during this half hour meeting.
For our clients, we have regular Breakfast and Brains meetings to share our insights and to have open discussions on a specific subject. The success is that clients that even might compete in a certain sector, are always willing to learn and share from our and other clients’ experiences.
Finally, we also participate in and cooperate with FinTechs. We support them by leveraging our network of solutions, whilst their innovative ideas are a good source for future improvements, leading to a broader ecosystem that benefits our clients.
The best outlook would be that we leave COVID-19 behind us, however I think that COVID will strongly influence the developments and investments in 2021. There are a number of scheduled developments which will impact corporate clients. Corporates will have to put their capacity in the IBOR Migration. Also, the transition to XML messages will impact the operating architecture and bank connectivity of corporates. In parallel, the transition to instant payments including batches will have to be put on the calendar of the finance function.
And in parallel, it is recommended to continue to look at the potential of open banking and further integration of payments data in the corporate business processes. An example is how payment data can improve the risk profiles of insurance companies.
In summary, enough subjects to keep an eye on. Sitting still and waiting is not an option.
The why should never be a discussion, the real discussion is what you can do. One of our activities is the ZEPA challenge. Our consultants do like sports, and a lot of them love to cycle. When the transition to SEPA was going on, some of our consultants took the initiative for this challenge: cycling from Zeist to Paris in 24 hours. We have done this now 3 times, and a number of our clients’ employees have also participated. This year’s event was cancelled, but we are already “ready” for the next challenge. There is not a fixed charity goal, the last charity was support for the education of young refugees.
Apart from the above, we have a warm partnership with “Goede Doelen” charity organisations in Netherlands and facilitate a free payments helpdesk for them.
It is of crucial importance to us to participate in an open and honest society, in which diversity and inclusion are critical. This is important for our own culture, as as an organisation we benefit from our consultants and they, in turn, foster these values in their personal lives.
19-04-2021 | Philip Costa Hibberd | treasuryXL
With over 12 years of experience in the financial industry with the last four years in treasury consulting, Philip has recently launched his own consulting activity, Automation Boutique, specialized in (robotic) process automation for Treasury, Risk and Finance.
“I have been coding for fun since I was a kid. This skill has been very useful throughout my career but has become my trademark in Treasury.”
He recently developed the tool that was awarded the “2020 Best Fintech Solution – Adam Smith award” by Treasury Today magazine. He now tries to focus on what he has always enjoyed the most during his career: solving problems at the intersection between ‘numbers’, ‘people’ and ‘technology’.
As for many of us, it started somewhat by accident. After working in other areas of finance for many years, a few ethical questions started nagging me. Add a sabbatical, some romance, and a few lucky phone calls and I found myself joining the great corporate treasury team at Zanders (a consultancy firm specialized in Treasury, Risk and Finance).
I love the diversity of challenges. You are dealing with the financial heart of the company and need to make sure that the right amount of blood reaches every cell. This necessarily means dealing with different kinds of issues, topics and people. This keeps Treasury fun and in constant evolution!
I have been working as a consultant on very different Treasury projects, from interim roles to system implementations. I guess I am what you would call a generalist, but with a knack for using technology and social skills to solve problems. I have been coding for fun since I was a kid. This skill has been very useful throughout my career but has become my trademark in Treasury.
Going back to the cardiovascular metaphor for Treasury, the best experience was probably when I was called by a client to solve an urgent clot which was at risk of causing severe damage. An apparently simple data migration exercise turned out to be much more complex than anticipated and was at risk of causing severe delays to a multimillion project. The solution involved a robot, a laptop being flown up and down Europe, a wedding and unreliable hotel wi-fi. Surprisingly, instead of being the ingredients for a bad joke, this led to a happy client and to an award-winning solution.
My biggest challenge in Treasury was witnessing the clash of American, Dutch, Indian, Japanese and many more cultures during a global SAP implementation (going live during a pandemic). Holding three nationalities and being exposed to different cultures from an early age didn’t help me as much as I would have hoped. I would encourage anyone working with different cultures to read Erin Meyer’s book “The Culture Map”. It will be helpful.
No one is rational and analytical all the time, not even experienced treasury professionals. Good communication is more important than perfect data and models, especially during a crisis. Without it you will lead or be led by emotion and will certainly miss the best course of action. When fear creeps in your own monkey mind, don’t be afraid to have a good conversation with it. Assess how big the actual threat is compared to the shadow being cast by your amygdala.
Corporate Treasury has come a long way from its more transactional origins and – as expected – is taking more of an advisory and strategic role within organizations. The boundaries with other specialized professions have faded (risk management and FP&A just to name a few) and I think that this is a good thing. Skilled professionals should be employed to solve interesting problems and come up with great ideas. The best problems and ideas are usually found at the intersection between disciplines and it’s only natural that we tend to all meet there more and more often.
For the near future I expect the focus on the hot topics of the moment to continue: cash visibility, cash flow forecasting, operational efficiency etc.
For the further future, I won’t adventure on guessing exactly what hot topics the next crisis will bring. I will instead share my best guess on the evolution on the corporate treasurer as a person.
My guess is that she or he will be less of a specialist and more of a generalist. The ideal corporate treasurer will be ‘renaissance polymath’ if you will. Our rapidly changing environment makes it more difficult to remain a (useful) specialist for long. Technology also tends to favour the generalist by democratizing specialist’s skills. There will certainly always be room for very specialized knowledge, but the risk of learning too much about too little in a dynamic environment, is that after a while you risk knowing everything about nothing.
25-03-2021 | treasuryXL | XE |
Komt uw bedrijf in aanraking met vreemde valuta? Wybe Schutte legt in onderstaand interview uit hoe bedrijven de complexiteit van FX kunnen aanpakken.
Wybe Schutte is Head of Business Development Europe bij Xe. Wybe’s carrière is altijd gericht geweest op internationale bedrijfsontwikkeling en het beheren van relaties. Binnen XE spelen beiden een belangrijke rol, aangezien Xe wereldwijd de vertrouwde partner zijn van veel bedrijven en hun helpen bij het beheren en verminderen van het risico die gepaard gaan met internationaal zakendoen en valuta’s.
Bij Xe draait alles om valuta’s. De meeste mensen kennen Xe van de “Currency Converter”, maar we bieden al meer dan 25 jaar internationale betalingsverkeer diensten aan voor bedrijven. Xe’s Business Solutions ondersteunt bedrijven die in aanraking komen met vreemde valuta door hun te ondersteunen bij het beschermen van de winstmarges, en het verbeteren van de cashflow. Dit onder andere door het valutarisico waarmee ze worden geconfronteerd te kwantificeren en door strategieën te implementeren om dit te beperken. Zodat onze klanten zich kunnen concentreren op hun corebusiness en zich geen zorgen hoeven te maken over hun FX.
Binnen elk bedrijf kijken we waar de valutarisico’s zitten en hoe we deze risico’s kunnen beperken. Waarbij er verschillende opties zijn voor bedrijven om bescherming te bieden tegen het risico, zoals termijncontracten. Valutarisico kan worden onderverdeeld in drie soorten: 1) Transactie risico, wanneer een bedrijf zaken doet in een land dat verschilt van de basisvaluta; 2) Translational risico, wanneer een bedrijf een activa of passiva in een vreemde valuta op de balans heeft staan, en 3) Economisch risico waarbij een verandering in de wisselkoers een bedrijf een concurrentievoordeel kan geven in de markt.
FX-risico kan een negatieve of positieve invloed hebben op de bedrijfsresultaten. Als je terugkijkt op de afgelopen 10 jaar, valt er te zien wat de potentiële impact zou kunnen zijn in de meest extreme, minst extreme en gemiddelde scenario’s op een gegeven tijdlijn.
Dit kan worden gedaan door te kijken naar de hoogte- en dieptepunten van de markt en de valutapositie van een bedrijf. Deze stap helpt bedrijven te begrijpen wat de impact op het bedrijfsresultaat kan zijn.
Bedrijven die een transactionele risico hebben, kunnen een onderscheid maken tussen gecommitteerde of verwachte blootstelling aan valuta risico. Een gecommitteerde blootstelling is wanneer de prijs voor goederen of diensten in een vreemde valuta bekend en gecontracteerd zijn. Hierdoor heeft elke wisselkoersschommeling een directe impact op hun winst of kosten, tenzij ze worden afgedekt. Een verwachte blootstelling is wanneer een bedrijf een inschatting maakt om te zien wat hun vereisten kunnen zijn. De betrouwbaarheidsniveaus in de voorspelde perioden kunnen sterk variëren en het is normaal gesproken zo dat hoe groter de periode, hoe lager de betrouwbaarheidsniveaus.
Er zijn een aantal belangrijke stappen die een bedrijf kan volgen om de FX-volatiliteit te verminderen. De eerste is het type risico te identificeren om daarna de risico-elementen te kwalificeren en vervolgens een strategie te ontwikkelen en deze tijdens het implementatieproces te implementeren. In deze fases kunt u beslissen welke producten het meest geschikt zijn, zodat u vervolgens over kunt gaan op markttiming en uitvoering. Ten slotte moet u uw aanpak regelmatig analyseren, herzien en aanpassen. Het is belangrijk om te onthouden dat het niet om marktspeculatie gaat, maar om het beperken van uw risico.
Gezien de altijd onzekere wereld waarin we momenteel leven, kunnen financiële afdelingen en treasury teams op zoek zijn naar een strategie om met deze valutaschommelingen om te gaan. Een strategie die na verloop van tijd een aanzienlijke invloed kunnen hebben op de bedrijfsresultaten van een bedrijf. Een gestructureerde benadering van valutarisico’s kan een bedrijf in staat stellen om strategische beslissingen te nemen, in plaats van te proberen in te spelen op de dagelijkse ontwikkelingen in de markt.
Er hebben zich aanzienlijke bewegingen voorgedaan op de valutamarkten tijdens de Covid19-periode en er zijn nog steeds veel factoren die de dagkoersen beïnvloeden. In deze onzekere tijden zijn onze opdrachtgevers op zoek naar zekerheid en stabiliteit. En hoewel prijs altijd belangrijk is, werden andere sleutelfactoren zoals veiligheid en geloofwaardigheid belangrijker. Uiteraard was de impact op onze klanten heel verschillend en we hebben met hun samengewerkt om de oplossingen en flexibiliteit te bieden die ze nodig hadden. We hebben veel nieuwe klanten verwelkomd uit nieuwe industrieën terwijl ze groeiden, en we ondersteunen nieuwe en bestaande klanten die groeiden, het lastig hadden, of hun bedrijfsmodellen aanpasten aan de veranderende markt.
We werken nauw samen met onze klanten om hun behoeften continu te begrijpen en hierop aan te passen. Onze deskundige dealers houden de markt nauwlettend in de gaten. Inzicht in de bewegingen, weerstandsniveaus en belangrijke economische en politieke updates die de markt kunnen beïnvloeden zijn erg belangrijk, en we houden die in de gaten zodat onze klanten zich daar geen zorgen over hoeven te maken. Xe werkt ook nauw samen met onze zusterbedrijven en moederbedrijf Euronet Worldwide.
De nabije toekomst zou het hoofd kunnen bieden aan buitengewone niveaus van balansuitbreiding en recessie, wat mogelijk zou kunnen leiden tot een langer stimulerend/ expansief monetair beleid dat op zijn beurt de valutakoersen van de landen die ze dragen, zou kunnen drukken. De gevolgen hiervan op de korte tot middellange termijn zouden een gebrek aan grote economische expansie kunnen zijn, aangezien het kapitaalrendement vaak negatief is wanneer de inflatie wordt meegerekend. Dit kan betekenen dat we een herschikking van de FX-sterkte zien naar op commodity based valuta’s (CAD / AUD / NZD) en alternatieve veilige havens (CHF). We zouden deze verschuiving echter op langere termijn kunnen zien, aangezien met name de overheidsschuld houdbaarder en aantrekkelijker wordt tegen zulke lage rentetarieven en bredere investeringen zou kunnen uitnodigen voor landen en tot op zekere hoogte de particuliere industrie.
We zijn getuige geweest van een grote volatiliteit in de FX-markt door een grotere afhankelijkheid van een smallere data kern. Inflatie en rentetarieven, maar ook verhalen over de overheidsschuld en de uitbreiding van de balans hebben de meeste invloed op de renteschommelingen.
Een scale-up ondersteunen met hun complexe FX-vereisten en hen in staat stellen hun bedrijf in een korte tijd te laten groeien door het FX-risico te elimineren en gaandeweg aanzienlijke kostenbesparingen te realiseren.
Bij XE draait alles om Valuta. We bieden een uitgebreid portfolio van valutadiensten en -producten aan, waaronder onze valutacalculator, marktanalyses, valutagegevens-API en snelle, gemakkelijke en veilig betalingsverkeer voor consumenten en bedrijven.
XE faciliteert wereldwijd meer dan 13.000 bedrijven per jaar bij het beheren van hun vreemde valuta en het vooruit plannen om de risico’s van valutaschommelingen te beperken.
XE is onderdeel van Euronet Worldwide (EWI), een aan Nasdaq genoteerde wereldwijde aanbieder van elektronische en transactie verwerkingsoplossingen met een marktkapitalisatie van ongeveer 7,5 miljard dollar.
Internationale betalingen en beheer van valutarisico’s van ‘s werelds vertrouwde autoriteit op valutagebied. De concurrentie voorblijven is al moeilijk genoeg zonder de complexiteit van vreemde valuta. XE kan u helpen tijd en geld te besparen, zodat u kunt blijven doen waar u goed in bent: uw bedrijf runnen. Onze oplossingen bieden u zekerheid in een onzekere wereld en stellen uw bedrijf in staat om de juiste beslissingen te nemen.
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18-03-2021 | treasuryXL | XE |
Having a secure, reliable and cost effective international payment provider as well as the tools and expertise available to support you to weather market volatility is crucial.
Any business that deals with foreign currency, no matter the size or the industry, has the potential to be impacted by the ups and downs of the foreign currency markets. A change in exchange rates from one day to the next could potentially increase importing costs, increase capital expenditure costs, or increase overseas investment costs.
If you are a business in the healthcare and medical industry, preparing for market volatility and knowing how to respond to shifts in currency values is critical. Otherwise, you could end up paying more than you projected on goods or services, which can have a detrimental impact on your bottom line.
Whether you’re importing medical devices and distributing them to local pharmacies or healthcare providers, or purchasing chemicals as part of the medicine production process, having a secure, reliable and cost effective international payment provider as well as the tools and expertise available to support you to weather market volatility is crucial.
Working with a knowledgeable, experienced foreign exchange provider is the first step to safeguarding your business against ups and downs of the currency markets. No one can predict the future, but an FX provider can help you prepare for potential volatility, and will have the tools and guidance to help you respond in the event of unexpected shifts.
Opening an Xe Business account will allow you to take advantage of our full suite of products and services, so you can:
Protect costs for imports;
Save time through accurate forecasting and quick and easy payments;
Save money with cheaper rates and no fees (compared to banks).
We understand that no two businesses are the same. We work individually with each business in order to identify where their needs lie and what their risk exposures are, and develop an international payments and risk management strategy tailored to their operations.
We offer a range of products and services, including:
Spot transfers. Purchase currency and send your international payment at the current rate. If you need to make a quick payment, you can do it on the spot in just a few minutes.
Market orders. Identify a target exchange rate, and we’ll initiate your transfer when that rate is reached. If your payment isn’t time-sensitive, you can avoid potential volatility in the future.
Forward contracts. Lock in today’s exchange rate and send the payment on a set future date. If you have an upcoming transfer and don’t want to worry about the markets fluctuating, take care of it now for peace of mind later.
Risk management. Don’t have the time or the resources to devise a risk management strategy on your own? With our 25 years of experience in the currency markets and dedicated team of currency experts, we can help you to strategise the right one for your business.
Signing up for an Xe Business account is completely free, and will take just a few minutes. Interested in learning what the process entails? Contact our expert Maurits Houthoff for quick and transparant information.
01-03-2021 | treasuryXL | Enigma Consulting |
Last year November we published the article ‘Corporates: Caveat IBOR!’ regarding the IBOR phase out and the impact on corporates. Let’s have a look why today’s corporate treasurer should be even more aware of IBOR interest rate benchmarks.
It is highly likely that your organisation will be affected by the IBOR transition. Most corporate organisations underestimate the impact, thinking that the ‘only’ thing that will change is a base rate and its calculation method. Before you join their ranks, take some time to reflect on the following:
The IBOR will cease to exist, starting on the 31st December 2021 and be replaced by Risk-Free Rates (RFRs) with a different basis for calculation:
The good news is that there is still time to assess the impact of the pending IBOR changes on your organisation and to act upon it if needs be. The sooner you have a plan for the potential consequences for your organisation, the sooner you will be able to mitigate these. This understanding will also give you more leverage in the coming discussions with your bank(s).
Moreover, the IBOR phase out may bring a golden opportunity for corporates to re-evaluate the current contract agreements and look for better deals. Consider this: during the IBOR migration contracts are in fact ‘renegotiated’ and banks will need to come up with a new offer. Will you take that offer as a corporate client? That all depends on your level of understanding and preparation.
As the deadline approaches, you will need to know your level of exposure and impact in order to prevent surprises. What will the impact of the IBOR transition be on your TMS and ERP systems, your credit facilities, bank loans, cash pooling, bonds, ISDA agreements and intercompany agreements? What impacts will these have on your processes and supporting systems? Which complexities will need to be managed?
Having this information at hand will enable you to be a proper sparring partner for your banks when they renegotiate contract terms.
Depending on the complexity of your contracts, the IBOR phase out could substantially affect your corporate organisation. Prevent unnecessary loss by preparing yourself, following this five-step approach:
Corporates should start to build-up their knowledge regarding the IBOR phase-out and get up-to-speed with developments related to different kind of products and RFRs in order to be able to assess the IBOR phase-out impact. Each corporate organisation has a different situation and a variety of financial contracts. Complexity depends on the type of business. A larger organisation active across multiple regions in the world with more complex non-Euro instruments will be impacted higher than a smaller organisation that only is active locally within the Eurozone. Thorough knowledge about IBOR is a key starting point to assess the impact on your organisation and to be able to assess, plan and implement the migration to alternative reference rates.
The second step you should take is to analyse the IBOR related contracts in use throughout your organisation. Determine which contracts have an IBOR related component and the size of the exposure. Once you have assessed the complexity of your IBOR related contracts, analyse the impact on related areas (ranging from Tax and Legal to IT systems, and procedures, reporting, accounting (e.g. hedge-accounting), and the like).
The third step is to be prepared for a call with your bank to discuss an RFR offering! The magnitude of change is well-recognised by banks and financial institutions, and they are demonstrating an increasing sense of urgency to address contracts maturing after 2021. More and more newly issued IBOR related products by your bank(s) will refer to a new alternative reference rate during 2021.
Knowing the alternative RFRs is an important input on creating a detailed action plan. Define a project team governance to manage this action plan and the status of the transition across different areas, business lines, and geographical locations. In particular, take care to ensure external resource availability regarding e.g. Legal counselling and system provider experts, as demand for these specialists will rapidly increase as the IBOR transition deadline approaches.
Step five is the implementation of your action plan throughout the affected areas of your organisation. In this ‘Act’ phase it is important to maintain the conversation with external parties, such as banks and system providers. It is also of vital importance to support the implementation across all relevant business lines and functions, maintaining support for go-live readiness in line with the defined action plan and deadlines.
Enigma Consulting supports you in knowledge build-up by providing ‘tailor-made’ workshops in order to discuss the impact on your corporate organisation related to different RFRs for different products based on your specific situation and to help you to prepare and become a discussion partner with your bank.
IBOR may well be a golden opportunity, but it is up to you as a corporate treasurer to seize it by acting rather sooner than later! Corporates: Caveat IBOR and build up your knowledge!
If you are interested in how we can help you to build-up your knowledge and to assess your IBOR related contract complexity or if you want to understand how we can support your corporate organisation in the IBOR phase out transition, you can contact us on:
[email protected] or look at www.enigmaconsulting.nl
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