Open Banking

For corporate treasurers, the move to Open Banking centers on using direct, secure API connections to improve daily work. This replaces the need to manually log into multiple bank portals, wait for batch files like MT940s, or deal with inconsistent data formats. The main benefits are clear:

How Treasurers Use It: Real-World Applications

The benefits translate into specific, daily improvements for treasury teams.

• For Cash Managers: The constant task of logging into various portals to compile a global cash snapshot is eliminated. APIs provide a consolidated, real-time view, allowing you to see exactly what is happening in your sterling, dollar, and yen accounts simultaneously.

• For Payments & Reconciliation: You can initiate payments directly from your TMS and get instant confirmation, removing file uploads and portal hopping. Transaction data arrives cleaner and faster, making reconciliation—especially for high-volume flows—much smoother.

• For Strategic Decisions: With a live view of liquidity, you can make quicker, more confident decisions on funding, investments, or hedging. This real-time data also fuels better forecasting models and scenario planning.

• For Smaller Teams: A key advantage is that Open Banking gives smaller treasury teams and SMEs access to sophisticated multi-bank cash management tools that were previously only cost-effective for large corporations.

The Technology Behind It: APIs

This shift is powered by secure Application Programming Interfaces (APIs). Think of an API as a standardized, digital bridge between your treasury system and your bank’s systems. It enables:

• Secure Data Access: Your TMS can securely pull balance and transaction data on demand.

• Direct Action: You can send payment instructions directly over this channel.

• Standardized Connections: While formats can still vary, APIs move towards a more consistent way of connecting than legacy methods.

This API-driven model is at the heart of the move toward a “real-time” or “instant” treasury.