by Helen Sanders, Editor
Over the sixteen years that TMI has presented its annual Awards for Innovation and Excellence, the awards have become an essential validation of the effort, innovation and achievement of banks, vendors and corporate treasuries globally. 2014 marked the next step in the evolution of our awards programme, by introducing a submissions process to add further auditability and confidence in the way that awards are made. In addition to the published list of award winners, we are delighted to outline below some of the reasons for recognising each award winner in the bank, technology and consultancy categories. Corporate awards are covered in a separate feature.
We have not announced awards in every category, preferring instead to offer awards only where the judges felt that the range and quality of awards was sufficiently high. We would like to offer our sincerest congratulations to all our award winners, and wish both award winners, and all those who submitted such high quality nominations, another highly successful year in 2015.
Bank Awards: Cash & Liquidity Management
These awards recognise depth of coverage, account opening and management services and liquidity management tools such as cash pooling. This was inevitably a hotly contested award, with strong entries across all regions. In the regional categories, Bank of America Merrill Lynch won both the North America and South America awards. Judges were particularly impressed by the degree of integration between liquidity and investment solutions. Furthermore, customers noted the degree to which Bank of America Merrill Lynch had been proactive in providing education and support on the impact of new regulations such as Basel III and the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR). In South America, successful solutions such as Brazil Auto-Invest (automated sweep into certificates of deposit), digital signatures in Brazil and cross-currency cash concentration in Mexico demonstrate a high degree of commitment to automation and efficiency in the region. The Auto-Invest is an early innovation that supports corporate liquidity and investment objectives whilst allowing banks to comply with LCR requirements.
Citi was successful in winning the Cash & Liquidity Awards in Middle East & North Africa (MENA) and sub-Saharan Africa. In MENA, the award was given on the basis of Citi’s regional coverage, and combination of both global connectivity, analytics and mobile solutions together with market-specific product innovation, such as prepaid and commercial/ virtual card solutions. In sub-Saharan Africa, Citi is driving the digital agenda in areas such as mobile banking and connectivity, together with significant success in supporting companies to optimise cash and liquidity through efficient liquidity solutions, such as cross-border interest optimisation.
In Europe, Nordea won the Cash & Liquidity award for the Nordic countries based on its innovative approach to solving customers’ liquidity challenges through investment in technology, skills and understanding of customers’ strategic as well as operational needs.
In Western Europe, the region in which we received the most nominations, Deutsche Bank was successful as a result of the depth, quality and innovation of its solutions, including the flagship Autobahn App Market, and the satisfaction expressed by customers. The award reflects not only the quality of experience amongst European companies, but also that of US and Asian multinationals doing business in the region. Similarly, Deutsche Bank’s success in winning the Cash & Liquidity award in both India and ASEAN reflects the growing success of its strategy to address the cash and liquidity management needs of both foreign and local corporations in these regions.
Societe Generale was successful in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) as a result of its breadth of coverage and commitment to providing customers with solutions that support industry best practices whilst meeting in-country specificities, such as dedicated, secure electronic banking services.
HSBC was recognised for innovation and excellence in China and Asia Pacific. The bank continues to be a leader in leveraging RMB liberalisation, with a series of ‘firsts’, including the first foreign bank to announce RMB cross-border two-way sweeping in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. The bank launched a series of new initiatives in 2014, including expanding its global liquidity solutions platform to enable tools that offer particular value to customers in these regions, including multi-bank cash concentration, and advanced intercompany solutions, complementing existing capabilities in domestic and cross-border cash concentration, single and multi-currency notional pooling and cross-border interest enhancement.
Despite the very high quality of submissions by a number of banks and their customers, the decision was finally taken to offer the Global award for Cash & Liquidity management to Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Judges were impressed by the depth of coverage in countries in which it has a direct presence, but also the quality of its partnerships, such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank in the UAE, offering customers a consistently high quality experience across regions. The bank has been proactive in educating and promoting discussion amongst customers on emerging issues such as LCR, and continues to invest in both global and regional solutions across its footprint, such as in Brazil and China.
Payments and Collections
This year, we made the decision to offer a separate award for Payments & Collections to reflect some of the specific initiatives in these areas in which banks and their corporate customers are investing. These include payment and collection factories, including payments/collections on behalf of group companies (POBO and COBO). In addition, the awards recognise banking innovation in areas such as mobile banking and card solutions. In the future, we may combine these awards with Cash & Liquidity.[[[PAGE]]]
Once again, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was successful in North America, for many of the same reasons as the Cash & Liquidity award. In addition, customers particularly noted the quality and convenience of the bank’s card solutions and solutions to automate bill processing and payment. In South America, nominations for Citi were particularly impressive, reflecting significant investment in enhancements to its regional payment capabilities, and integration with its supplier finance platform, now available in 19 countries in the region. Solutions such as Transfer Banamex, an innovative mobile banking solution that was originally designed for transactions between consumers, has been transformed into a cashless payments and collections solution for both corporations and public sector organisations, such as for social benefits disbursements.
In the Middle East, we were delighted to offer the award to Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, due to the quality of customers’ experiences in implementing automated payment solutions that recognise the specific payment and collection culture in the region whilst supporting global best practices. In sub-Saharan Africa, Ecobank was recognised not only for its depth of coverage across 34 countries, but its commitment to achieving a ‘one bank, one platform’ model which has historically been a very challenging undertaking given the complexity and diversity of markets across the continent, and different cultures and languages.
In the Nordics, Nordea was again the winning bank, with a comprehensive range of domestic and cross-border payment and collection solutions, with particular expertise in understanding and addressing the needs of Nordic businesses both in their home markets and beyond. In Western Europe, despite the range of excellent contenders, BNP Paribas was a clear winner. In particular, the bank has leveraged the opportunities that SEPA has presented to establish a leadership position in supporting payment and collection factories, including on a payments/collections-on-behalf-of basis (POBO and COBO) across the region. In addition, the bank continues to play an essential role in supporting and providing expertise in local payment and collection practices in each country in which it operates.
Central & Eastern Europe was again a hotly contested award which we were pleased to offer to ING. New solutions such as virtual accounts and eInvoicing are proving highly successful in meeting the efficiency and control objectives of customers in the region. ING also demonstrated an impressive commitment to expanding its depth of presence in key CEE markets, such as Poland where the bank now has 300 branches. In addition, the bank was able to show how it had successfully created sophisticated bespoke payment and collection solutions for customers.
In Asia Pacific, we also received a large number of nominations. ANZ’s customers were keen to point out the quality and scope of the bank’s payment and collection solutions, particularly in Australasia, while Standard Chartered’s customers specifically noted the depth and breadth of solutions, and particular expertise that the bank offers in ASEAN. In India, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was recognised for its successful implementation of integrated payments and collections solutions, including host-to-host and web-based bank connectivity, to meet customers’ specific domestic and international needs. This includes supporting non-standard iDOC formats, trade transactions, payroll processing and sweep funding. Receivables solutions include virtual accounts and rapid cheque collection and processing, supported with straight-through reconciliation and detailed, timely reporting. Customers noted in particular the quality of implementation support they received.
HSBC was again successful in winning the Payments & Collections award in China, based on its leading role with corporations and regulators in driving and harnessing new opportunities created through the government’s liberalisation programme. During 2014, HSBC was a pioneer of cross-border payment, collection and netting solutions, including POBO and ROBO, and supporting CNAPS 2, enabling customers to extend the use of international best practices and standards in China.
Last, but by no means least, the Global award for Payments & Collections was offered to BNP Paribas. This reflected the bank’s ability to support customers’ domestic and cross-border payment and collection requirements globally, whether centralised or in-country, with a combination of both comprehensive global solutions and highly bespoke capabilities to meet the specific nature of each customer and each market. In China, India and North America, as well as the bank’s ‘home’ markets in Europe, BNP Paribas’ depth of presence, expertise and local, regional and global solutions continue to make a significant impression on its customers and support their strategic and operational objectives.
Financial Supply Chain Management
The Financial Supply Chain Management awards were presented to banks based on the scope of trade finance, alternative financing and working capital optimisation solutions. This included the quality of customer support and success of onboarding processes for supplier financing programmes.
Deutsche Bank was successful in North America, with a variety of innovative financial supply chain solutions, supported by depth and breadth of the Autobahn App Market. Nordea wins a Nordic ‘hat trick’, having won all three bank awards, this time based on its commitment to supporting the trade finance needs of customers in the bank’s home markets as they expand their activities in emerging markets in particular. ING won the award for Western Europe, supporting over 60 supply chain finance programmes, almost half of which were launched in 2014, with continued investment in countries such as France, Germany, Spain and Turkey. Customers remarked on the support that ING offered in implementing these programmes, such as expert onboarding processes, which resulted in high levels of supplier adoption. In Central & Eastern Europe, UniCredit was recognised for its strength of client support and confidence in the bank’s solutions in this area, as the bank’s unique Gateway Throughout Europe guide published in association with TMI in September 2014 testifies.
In Asia Pacific, Bank of America Merrill Lynch was successful, again based on the quality of nominations by its customers, who articulated the bank’s ability to understand their complex supply chain requirements and tailoring solutions, such as supply chain financing programmes, accordingly. Similarly, Standard Chartered was nominated by customers who work with the bank in China. Customers commented on the combination of the bank’s expertise, the comprehensive nature of its solutions, and its ability to tailor solutions to customer needs, leveraging new opportunities for working capital optimisation and risk management in China as the process of regulatory change unfolds.
The Global award was ultimately given to Bank of America Merrill Lynch based on the strength of nominations for the bank in every region, and the convergence of treasury and trade expertise to offer comprehensive, integrated solutions. For example, the bank has advanced its paper-to-electronic and working capital offering by successfully demonstrating how supply chain finance can operate in conjunction with the use of cards and ACH payments to help clients manage their full spectrum of working capital activities more efficiently. New functionality offered during 2014 include comprehensive payables file automation covering all treasury payables, including supply chain finance, through CashPro Connect Payments®, the bank’s integrated file access solution. All invoice details relating to supply chain finance transactions are automatically loaded into Trade Pro (the bank’s electronic trade finance portal) for review/approval for discounting, while card, ACH and cheque payments are routed through the respective settlement platforms. Other new capabilities include automated transaction configuration for high-volume importers, whether they use letters of credit or open account.[[[PAGE]]]
Money Market Funds
Despite the uncertainty created by regulatory change and the prolonged low interest rate environment, money market funds remain a valuable cash investment instrument for corporate treasurers. In Europe, J.P. Morgan Asset Management, the largest provider of constant net asset value (NAV) funds in the region, won this year’s award, with assets of $130bn and a 17% market share. Given the challenging interest rate conditions in Europe, J.P. Morgan Asset Management Flex Distribution share class is increasingly valued by customers, one of the first asset managers to offer this solution.
In North America, Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management (Deutsche AWM), one of the top two non-US asset managers in the United States, was recognised for consistently strong fund performance (such as the Deutsche Daily Asset Fund) and commitment to innovation. For example, with new SEC regulations for Rule 2a7 funds taking effect over the coming months, Deutsche AWM developed the first and currently only floating net asset value 2a-7 money market fund with T+0 liquidity in the domestic market, setting the standard for adapting to the requirements of floating NAV prime funds.
In Asia, HSBC Global Asset Management (HSBC GAM) won the Money Market Fund award, reflecting the strength and consistency of its investment processes across both core and emerging markets. In addition to its international funds in USD, EUR, GBP and CAD, HSBC GAM offers domestic funds in China, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan, providing a valuable means for companies with entities located in these countries to manage liquidity.
Treasury Technology
For the first time, we opened our Awards for Innovation and Excellence in Treasury Technology to banks as well as technology vendors to recognise the complementary role that these organisations play in supporting treasurers’ efficiency, control, analytical and reporting requirements.
Bottomline Technologies won the Cash Management award, recognising the success of its cloud-based platform in achieving cash visibility and managing working capital, and the strength of client partnerships. Bank of America Merrill Lynch was awarded the accolade for its Card Solution, specifically the Bank of America Travel Controller, a virtual solution for the business travel industry to increase control of business travel spend, improve automation in expense processing, matching and accounting, obtain richer data to identify spending patterns and negotiate better terms with preferred suppliers, and enhance risk management.
SunGard was successful in both the Treasury Management System and Solution Innovation (vendor) categories, recognising Quantum Six, its web-based treasury & risk management platform that leverages the latest in cloud technology to offer sophisticated cash management, extensive analytics, and embedded risk modelling, all built on a platform designed for adaptability and mobility. The award was given on the basis of positive customer experiences in upgrading to the new version, and seamless transition to cloud-based technology. SAP won the ERP award, with more than 2,000 clients using its cash and treasury-related modules, supported by SAP’s financial supply chain management suite, including credit, collections and dispute management.
Reval was successful in winning the Risk Management and best Customer Experience awards, recognising the depth of risk management and hedge accounting functionality its TRM (Treasury and Risk Management) software-as-a-service (SaaS) based solution, and long-term customer satisfaction with the solution. The Risk Management award recognises developments that have been made during 2014, including enhancements to its dashboard for-real time, integrated views of exposures, derivatives and cash positions, and developments to meet the requirements of Dodd-Frank and EMIR trade capture and trade repository reporting. Finally, MyTreasury won the Electronic Trading Portal award, servicing over $55bn of assets invested by 436 platform users globally over 120 banks and 27 different currencies.
On the bank technology side, the accolade for Treasury Analytics technology was awarded to Citi based on the success of the bank’s Treasury Diagnostics Benchmarking Service, which provides independent benchmarking of treasury practices, and the TreasuryVision Global Liquidity Portal dashboard. This offers tools such as cash flow forecasting and positioning; counterparty risk management and intercompany lending, and intercompany lending across multiple currencies, entities and geographies.
BNP Paribas was recognised for SWIFT Connectivity, specifically the bank’s leading position in SWIFT for Corporates for both treasury and payment factories/shared service centres, and the way in which SWIFT has been integrated into its corporate digital bank concept. Standard Chartered won the award for Mobile Treasury Solutions, a particularly hard-won category, recognising its Straight2Bank Wallet mobile wallet solution used by corporates, NGOs and state enterprises in countries such as Kenya. The award reflects the valuable contribution that mobile wallet solutions, developed by banks such as Standard Chartered, are playing in promoting financial inclusion, allowing instant access to funds, and enhancing security by replacing cash.
Winner of the Solution Innovation (bank) award was Commerzbank. Specifically, the award recognises the bank’s innovative, secure payment transaction solution, Global Payment Plus (GPP). This online, multi-banking application supports treasurers’ global cash visibility and payment requirements by providing information on all of their global bank accounts in the relevant national format (both Commerzbank and third party bank accounts) and supporting efficient, centralised cross-border payments. In doing so, GPP offers both convenience and control, with ‘anytime, anywhere’ access together with the use of a USB-accessed electronic signature.[[[PAGE]]]
Treasury Consultancy
In the final category, Treasury Consultancy, PwC won in a landslide victory, with a record number of nominations by customers. In particular, customers were impressed by PwC’s expertise in treasury and treasury technology within the wider business context, thoroughness of process, innovative ideas and commitment to promoting and enhancing best practices across the treasury profession.
The year ahead
We have been overwhelmed by the positive response that the new awards programme has received, reflected in the range and quality of nominations received across all categories. Whenever launching a major new initiative, there are invariably lessons that can be learnt and improvements made for future years. We therefore welcome feedback that will help us to shape the 2015 awards. For example, we anticipate that while the process will follow a similar pattern to 2014, we expect to rationalise the total number of awards to simplify the process for those submitting awards nominations.
Once again, our congratulations to all of the award winners, and thanks to all who submitted nominations. We wish you a happy, healthy and successful 2015, and look forward to hearing about your achievements in your award submissions later this year.
