And treasurers have faced unparalleled tests, especially those in high growth U.S. companies.
The operational disruption and economic downturn caused by the pandemic has changed the way that treasury works and the pressures that treasurers face. Payments were rewired, forecasting was overhauled, liquidity management was stretched, funding was elevated.
Treasury’s biggest challenge may lie ahead: helping their business manage international growth through recovery.
That was the focus of a recent two-day virtual event organized by EuroFinance and sponsored in part by Transcard. The virtual event focused on hot topics such as payments, cash flow, forex, and risk.
The virtual event brought together 700 leaders in corporate treasury, representing more than 350 companies from across 47 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Portugal, Germany, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Malaysia, Israel, and Singapore.
Many of the attendees were looking for ways to sharpen blunted treasury tools. On their minds:
Technology unquestionably saved the treasury community in the past year.
Without technology, treasurers could not have carried on through the lockdowns.
As treasurers prepare for the recovery, they must determine how technology can continue to transform the business and their profession.
The pandemic changed everything. Nothing is certain. Old certainties have crumbled.
Consider the way that businesses make and receive payments.
Real Time Payments (RTP) are now a reality.
“RTP is making the vision of a hyper-connected, always-on payment environment a reality,”
Transcard CEO Greg Bloh told attendees of a session, “Payments: Real Time is Now.”
Bloh and panelists from BNY Mellon and Microsoft explored the latest advances in RTP, the benefits of RTP for corporate treasurers, and the future impacts of RTP to the global marketplace.
RTP offers tantalizing benefits across the commerce lifecycle, Bloh explained during the session.
“Evolving messaging standards are driving growth in Real Time Payment solutions,”
Bloh told attendees.
“By posting more payments data directly to an ERP, without the need for human operator intervention, corporate buyers and suppliers can achieve tremendous operational efficiencies.”
RTP is another powerful tool that treasurers can use to contribute to business growth and value.
Each of these benefits RTP can help treasurers contribute to corporate goals.
The treasury function is evolving, in a world of greater financial complexity. RTP is one example of treasury’s evolution.