Money matters: why bank connectivity is a boon for treasurers

Any good treasurer knows that the ball is always rolling. As an engaged treasurer, it’s essential to keep tabs on the company’s financial health anytime, anywhere. A treasurer’s scope of work includes cash visibility, cash management, liquidity, cash positioning, monitoring risks, provisioning for working capital requirements and more. Keeping an eye on and monitoring all the financial activity isn’t an easy task. With the help of seamless bank connectivity, treasurers can get an accurate picture of finances.

Bank connectivity is an everyday problem that all sizes of companies face. Some see it as a hassle, while for others it’s taking time away from more important strategic tasks. Whether or not a business uses the jargon, they are probably employing some form of ‘bank connectivity’. That lack of seamless connectivity with banks is like a pebble in the shoe, and somewhere along the walk, it will start hurting.

Manual data entry

It’s common knowledge that manual processes can be tedious and time-consuming. For over a decade, computer-driven solutions have been replacing manual tasks, yet it’s surprising that a sizeable number of businesses still haven’t made the switch. Accessing account statements or processing cheques manually is not an optimal use of time for treasury teams. It adds to their load for no reason, time which could be utilized in strategic initiatives.This could be better used in strategic initiatives to grow the firm.

Limited visibility

Between managing accounts, data entry and checking balances; cash visibility goes for a toss. Other treasury management efforts like cash forecasting or cash positioning require the team to burn the midnight oil. Manually processing data can lead to error-prone or outdated data, which doesn’t give the true picture of the company’s balances. Surely, there is a better way to do things?

Unsecure data sharing

Keeping data safe is a priority for any business. As the money center of the business, any treasury related activity needs safeguarding. Encrypting data transfers is key to keeping fraudulent activities at bay. Treasury-specific threats include payment fraud, supplier fraud, business email compromise, imposter fraud, rogue treasurers, ransomware, account takeover, and fake invoices and purchase orders.

Complicated bank account structures

Generally, businesses have multiple bank accounts through which transactions are made. Given an enterprise’s operations in different geographies, payments are often in different currencies and follow different regulations. The mode of business transaction may also differ as they could be over a wire transfer, cash, cheque or any other way.

Although there are different options available in the market, a cloud-driven Treasury Management System (TMS) solution is the best bet for a treasury team to unify critical transactional data with seamless bank connectivity.

Save time with automation

Opting for an appropriate bank connectivity tool can help the treasury department save precious time and focus on strategic decision making. For instance, accessing 30 banks on various banking platforms at least thrice a week can take up half a working day with multiple log-ins, downloads and consolidation of all the data into one place. Ideally, all this work should be automated simply because it can be. There is no real need for human intervention.

Real-time visibility into company’s financial health

Since data is automated and it’s also possible to run analysis and get reports via the cloud solution, it becomes easier to see the bigger picture of a company’s financial health. This critical data is necessary to forge ahead in terms of cash forecasting, liquidity management, cash visibility and more.

Data is protected

By automating data transfers, fraudulent activity becomes unlikely. Since the data isn’t collected manually, it reduces the chance of hampering the company’s payment data before sending it to the bank partners.

Managing complexities

Juggling 19 banks, 100 accounts, 20 currencies, 22 entities in 30 currencies for financial services just became a cinch. Since all banks are able to ‘talk to’ each other regardless of mode, regulation, channel, format- treasurers don’t have to be overburdened with these processes. With multi-bank connectivity, these complexities can be managed with ease.

As a treasurer, it’s essential to smoothen processes wherever possible so that time can be dedicated towards core treasury activities. Though bank connectivity might seem like a small tool, it can prove to be extremely helpful in the long run, especially when it comes to reducing manual work needed from treasury teams. For better global bank connectivity, it is possible to switch to a cloud-based bank connectivity solution that will provide better performance and security for your organization. Download the bank connectivity e-book.