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Technology

Risk ManagementTechnology
May 21, 2020

Aligning Risks to Inculcate Risk Awareness

How one company’s ERM team is raising risk awareness and its own profile by organizing the firm’s sprawling risks.Sometimes the best way to add importance to your function is to look to the top. To management, that is. This was what one company’s enterprise risk management team did to accomplish two things: help organize the company’s risks and add a level of seriousness to the function itself.The head of this ERM team recently described, at NeuGroup’s Corporate ERM Group’s annual meeting,…
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BankingTechnology
May 19, 2020

Pandemic Raises the Stakes for Banks to Double Down on Digital

Digital banking is speeding up, and banks not getting ahead of the trend will be left behind. Now is the time for all good bankers to embrace digital banking—or risk being left behind as the pandemic accelerates a trend that was gaining momentum well before the arrival of COVID-19. Engaging with digital now is also smart because the barrier to entry is relatively small and the returns can be significant. Those were among the insights from a presentation at a…
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TechnologyTreasury Management
May 19, 2020

Lessons Learned From a Major Treasury Integration and Enhancement

Consultants and lots of testing may pay off for corporates picking a single TMS following an acquistion.  The merger of two large technology companies resulted in a highly ambitious integration and upgrade of numerous treasury functions and systems, and provided lessons for one NeuGroup member about setting realistic goals and the value of rigorous testing. TMS timing. The member, who worked through many long days during the process, walked peers through the decision-making and implementation steps. The acquired company went live on…
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TechnologyTreasury Management
May 14, 2020

Treasurers Are Making the Most of Zoom and Microsoft Teams

The buzz: Zoom’s security improves, Teams may help IT governance, and more access to Bloomberg. Virtual meetings have been a godsend to corporate treasury executives sheltering in place, despite occasional glitches. In a recent Zoom meeting, NeuGroup members exchanged valuable tips about making their virtual interactions more efficient and effective. Kudos for Teams. A few participants using Microsoft Teams while working from home heaped praise on the solution. Responding to requests to elaborate, one member called it “absolutely superb for team working,”…
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BankingTechnology
May 12, 2020

Pandemic Pushes Some Companies Away From Checks, Toward Real-Time Payments

U.S. Bank sees more clients opting for RTP in a bid to gain control and improve forecasting.The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be persuading more companies to consider abandoning paper checks and start using electronic payment rails to pay bills — even though many corporate treasurers do not view speed as a major incentive to switch. That insight emerged during a presentation by U.S. Bank at a recent NeuGroup meeting it sponsored.  Old, suboptimal habits in the US. Here’s some context for where…
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BankingTechnology
May 12, 2020

The Challenges for Corporates of Nonbank Payments

Treasurers in Asia discuss why regulation, technology and business models complicate nonbank payments in the B2C space. The brave new world of nonbank payments presents both challenges and opportunities for finance teams at multinationals that have to collect cash from open platforms, a topic that garnered attention at a recent meeting of NeuGroup treasurers in Asia. Key issues. In the business-to-consumer (B2C) arena, the widespread use of tech intermediaries such as PayPal, WeChat and Alipay poses a problem for corporates because these…
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Capital MarketsFXTechnology
April 2, 2020

Using Bloomberg for “Nuisance” Trades

Avoiding the time-intensive process of requesting trades in a centralized structure, local cash managers speed the process with online access to Bloomberg. During a recent NeuGroup virtual meeting of FX managers, one member said he has started to use Bloomberg for local affiliates’ “nuisance trades.” These are foreign currency-denominated accounts payable under a certain USD-equivalent threshold. Local freedom. The member noted his company’s corporate treasury manages FX worldwide, so they were happy to find that local cash managers are able…
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BankingCOVID-19TechnologyTreasury Management
April 2, 2020

Supply Chain Finance Not Immune from Pandemic Pain Felt by Banks

Higher funding costs for banks amid COVID-19 mean wider spreads in SCF market.  An assistant treasurer at a major consumer goods company learned from supply-chain-finance (SCF) vendors that banks financing SCF assets have asked for wider spreads to compensate for their own higher funding costs, at least temporarily. The banks had agreed to a fixed spread that was still attractive in early March but, in the midst of the coronavirus economic meltdown, is much less so today. “It isn’t as…
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Cash & Working CapitalTechnology
February 20, 2020

Mining Merchant Services for Today’s Gold: Data

Founder’s Edition by Joseph Neu The drive to access and leverage data from credit card and other transactions is transforming merchant services. Merchant services are fast becoming a key value driver for transaction banks, fintechs and other financial services institutions. The key reason is the importance of capturing data at the point of sale, along with facilitating frictionless transactions. What takes place under the heading of merchant services is worth your attention because: It’s the beginning of the data-rich order-to-cash…
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BankingCash & Working CapitalTechnology
February 13, 2020

Making Bank on Receivables

Founder’s Edition by Joseph Neu Investor demand for receivables-backed securities presents opportunities for banks that harness data, technology. Last week, I noted how supply chain finance (reverse factoring et al) was raising concerns with accountants, rating agencies and regulators because it allows unscrupulous firms to potentially extend payables to fund their working capital without considering it to be debt. This week I focus on the positive sides of trade finance and, especially, supply chain finance: Thinking about receivables plus data…
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