In today&#8217;s globalized economy, managing treasury across multiple countries and currencies presents numerous challenges. Businesses must implement robust strategies to handle cash flow in diverse environments.



A report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch reveals that 54% of companies operate in foreign markets, with 75% operating in two or more regions. 



Expanding abroad brings new risks, such as exchange rate volatility and customer payment preferences. These risks must be effectively managed to achieve business success.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tips for managing treasury like a global business</h3>



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>Centralize Treasury Function: Establishing a centralized treasury function ensures coordinated activities across countries and effective risk management. MNCs often adopt this approach to strengthen internal controls, enhance cash management efficiency, and utilize internal sources of liquidity.</li>



<li>Utilize Technology: Technology is vital in supporting financial data and reporting. It enables real-time access to reports across geographically dispersed locations. As key members of the strategic management team, treasurers use technology to grasp the link between financial markets and organizational operations. Streamline processes, improve efficiency, and make data-driven decisions by adopting treasury management systems and other technological tools. Integration of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics enhances cash flow forecasting, risk management, and decision-making.</li>



<li>Maintain Strong Banking Relationships: Building and nurturing relationships with banks in each operating country proves essential. These relationships facilitate the negotiation of favourable terms and conditions for banking services, ensure adequate credit facilities, and manage foreign exchange risks. Banks provide valuable resources, and their partnership with treasurers is expected to evolve further as technology advances. Strong bank relationships enable businesses to access liquidity and effectively manage currency risk.</li>



<li>Manage Risk: Fraud and mismanagement pose risks whenever funds move around. Treasury departments dealing with real-time transactions and complex financial instruments must be extra cautious. This challenge intensifies when expanding into developing markets with weak governance. Strengthening treasury governance involves comprehensive reviews of policies and processes, rigorous testing, and thorough training to ensure practical effectiveness.</li>



<li>Manage Working Capital in Developing Markets: To manage working capital effectively in developing markets, one must navigate through complex business culture and handle varying payment terms. These payment terms, which range from 30 days in developed markets to as much as 360 days in some South American and African countries, further complicate the task. The need for automated systems for processing accounts payable and receivable adds to the complexity. In these markets, it is crucial to take a proactive approach to managing working capital. This includes negotiating favourable payment terms with suppliers, implementing efficient cash conversion cycles, and optimizing inventory levels. </li>
</ol>



Globalization and digitalization have blurred time and space boundaries, facilitating the efficient pooling and processing of vast amounts of data. Centralizing treasury functions has emerged as a cost-saving measure for multinational companies. It strengthens internal controls, reduces reliance on external counterparts, and positions treasury as a key driver of the company&#8217;s strategic direction.







By implementing these strategies, businesses can manage treasury as a global business, navigate the challenges of operating across countries and currencies, and ensure long-term success in today&#8217;s interconnected world.

Managing Treasury as a Global Business

API connectivity is transforming treasury operations. These cutting-edge technological solutions offer a low-friction user experience that eliminates automation roadblocks, reduces common issues, and opens up opportunities for greater system flexibility, speed, and expandability. The advantages of connected APIs are impressive: they provide previously unimaginable levels of agility and scalability. Connected APIs are transforming how we manage treasury operations, making them more efficient and effective than ever by streamlining processes and lowering costs.



For instance, we connected a multinational FMCG via APIs to all their banks nationwide. This enables them to access general banking activities and our enhanced invoicing and virtual account management services.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Security and Privacy of Data Exchanged</h5>



When using APIs for treasury management, security and privacy are critical. Ceviant complies with GDPR and NDPR regulations to protect data. Data at rest, as well as systems, applications, and databases, are encrypted. Communication with internal and external services is only possible through whitelisted system IP addresses. Policies for auditing and monitoring are in place to ensure data security.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Emerging Trends in Connected APIs</h5>



Several trends are emerging as the use of connected APIs in finance grows. The increasing use of blockchain technology to secure and streamline cross-border payments is one. Another emerging trend is open banking APIs, which enable businesses to access financial data from multiple sources through a single application programming interface.



Providers of connected APIs for treasury management must adapt to these and other emerging trends to stay ahead of the competition. This calls for an ongoing commitment to R&amp;D and a willingness to collaborate with other financial institutions and service providers to ensure interoperability and compatibility.



Corporate treasury and finance departments require efficient time and resource management. Ceviant&#8217;s SaaS platform meets this need by providing a comprehensive view of bank accounts. Users can use our SaaS platform to perform invoice creation, cash flow management, reconciliation, and settlement. Furthermore, we&#8217;re constantly researching new activities and gathering customer feedback to stay ahead of the curve and provide better daily operations.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Ensuring interoperability and compatibility</h5>



To guarantee our connected APIs&#8217; interoperability and compatibility with other financial institutions and service providers, we maintain a rigorous collaboration process. We assess areas of API integration synergy during technical pre-due diligence. Once the initial check-up is complete, we move to specialised interoperability testing. Upon success, we create a BRD outlining service and operational specs. Each integration is treated as a separate project, with daily stand-ups for updates and enhancements, ensuring constant connectivity and client satisfaction. Our dedication to collaboration and improvement ensures partnership success.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Onboarding and Supporting Clients</h5>



Companies starting with connected APIs will find onboarding daunting. Providers should offer complete documentation, training, and support to make it easier. We assign a dedicated technical team (Developer, Project Manager, and Support Manager) for integration, and have implemented tools to streamline our workflow, including an instant messaging platform for easy communication and a project management system for tracking progress and keeping everyone aligned.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Real-Time Data for Treasury and Payments</h5>



One of the most significant benefits of connected APIs for treasury management is the ability to access real-time cash balance and transaction data. This data can be used to optimise cash flow, improve liquidity management, and reduce risk.



Ceviant offers two ways for corporates to access real-time data and services:



Customers can use Ceviant&#8217;s core-banking system to open accounts and facilitate payments and deposits. Ceviant&#8217;s SaaS products also enable customers to manage their liquidity and financial operations in one platform.



Customers can connect their existing bank accounts via API to access Ceviant&#8217;s services, manage their liquidity, and facilitate treasury activities.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Upcoming Developments and New Features</h5>



As financial technology progresses, treasury management API providers must stay up-to-date with innovations and trends. We are integrating multiple APIs to grant customers access to new payment rails.



Connected APIs are transforming treasury management, allowing companies to access real-time data, streamline processes, and improve efficiency. As this technology evolves, we anticipate more applications like machine learning, blockchain integration, and open-banking APIs. Ceviant is committed to collaboration, innovation, and development to ensure our clients have the latest features and solutions, emphasising interoperability, security, and client support. Connecting APIs will remain a critical part of treasury management&#8217;s future.

Connected APIs and Treasury Management

<h5 class="wp-block-heading">The Way Forward</h5>



Treasury departments are under pressure and must adapt to rapid technological advancement. Managing multiple liquidity pools, streamlining numerous payment types and maximising value are some of the treasury division&#8217;s pressure points. With the rise of APIs and the inevitable shift to a digital-first approach, treasurers need to embrace change. This attitude has been further accelerated by the Covid pandemic and remote working, forcing institutions to reprogramme their business processes and workstreams.



If recent history has taught us anything, businesses must prepare for unforeseen disruption and the ability to manage cash flow and reserves. In a volatile economic landscape, access to real- time data and accurate forecasting is the lifeblood of a business.&nbsp;



Increasingly, treasury departments manage dispersed liquidity pools across multiple jurisdictions and currencies. Yet some treasury functions are becoming more centralised. There is a delicate balance between a consolidated department and a widely distributed cash pool. Get it wrong; profit streams can quickly erode due to forex rate swings. This is particularly prevalent in emerging market economies, where currency swings can be as high as 50%.



However, technology is fighting back, and the horizon is not all doom and gloom. With the impending change within the payment ecosystem (adopting the ISO2022 standard), banks and service suppliers will be able to assist corporates in optimising their data capabilities and payment processes. Furthermore, there are APIs, open banking capability and tools to catalyse growth and change.



So, how do treasury departments evolve to cater to a fast-changing world with the future in mind? The changeover from legacy systems and manual processes to a digital-led solution does not happen overnight. Whatever technology one selects must fit into the requirements of the business units and the company. Ultimately, it is about striving for greater efficiency, automation, transparency and augmenting your cash position and decision-making. If you can achieve this, cost savings kick in, whilst automation unshackles staff to have more time to work on strategic tasks.



One such example is the rise of virtual accounts and their inherent benefits. Virtual accounts are a set of sub-accounts linked to a single ledger account, reducing the requirement for multiple physical bank accounts. They are also multi-industry. Businesses in FMCG, retail, legal, shipping, finance, hospitality, transport or healthcare&nbsp;sector often administer thousands of accounts daily. They need to reconcile accounts, open and close client fund positions and track payments.



By adopting Virtual Account technology, corporates benefit from greater visibility and instant control, translating to quicker reconciliation times, faster customer account management and a streamlined account process. Virtual accounts can also manage single or multiple entity structures and track, report, and settle inter-company loan positions.&nbsp;



At Ceviant, we believe virtual accounts are a game changer for treasurers. Our clients can create and delete them directly from within the Ceviant platform, relieving them from branch visits or contacting an account officer. Consider pairing virtual accounts with instant payment capability and ERP (enterprise resource planning) integration, and one can start to imagine the uplift in productivity instantly. When you overlay a consolidated view of your cash position into an insightful interface, treasurers are empowered in their decision-making process.

Advancing the Treasury function with technology

Looking at the evolution of banking systems in Nigeria, it is clear there are specific services that banks in Nigeria are already offering, such as providing access to accounts and e-wallets. However, beyond creating accounts for customers, banks are often unable to effectively provide innovative value-adding solutions to customers because of a lack of technological expertise. This is exactly where fintechs fit in.



The connection between fintechs and banks is vital because banking customers, both retail and corporate, seek a range of services from their bank accounts. At any point in time a customer knows where their money is but what does that customer want to do with their money? They want to make payments to receive products and services provided to them conveniently, in the comfort of their own home. Similarly, corporate customers want to make multiple payments to multiple individuals, from multiple accounts, in multiple places efficiently and without any hassle.



Fintechs have the solutions that can enable individuals and corporates to transact globally from their bank accounts using multiple connections and access points from a single place.



For example, today if one has an account with a bank which is unable to make payments to a global e-commerce company, they have to rely on a third party that has built a relationship with a bank which can send money to that e- commerce company. These transactions have to be protected and safe, and banks play their role in this process. However, in terms of services that corporates and individuals want to access, it is the innovation that fintechs have introduced, which enables them to conduct multiple types of transactions. Innovative solutions developed by fintechs help customers aggregate all the funds that they have in multiple accounts and multiple places and see them all on a single platform. A fintech is only able to do that because it can integrate into multiple bank accounts and that is what makes open banking today. Today individuals and corporates are able to connect to their banks and easily access all information about their transactions.



This is where we can see value in terms of the connectivity or the relationship between fintechs and banks, which ultimately provides value for the end customer, whether it is an individual or organisation. First and foremost, a bank will have the primary assignment of creating or verifying an identity. However, rather than just facilitating normal debit and credit transactions that usually happen in a bank, there are so many transactional activities that happen today from those accounts which are only possible because of the intervention of fintechs.

Easing Bank Connectivity with Fintech Innovations

There are several challenges for companies in Africa with regard to managing cash but fintech is developing solutions fast to help businesses address these challenges.



There are essentially three categories that one can look at when evaluating companies trying to manage their cash. The first category is the SME or mid-sized company, operating in a single country. These companies, whether in retail or B2B for example, have multiple bank accounts spread across multiple institutions. Principally because banks used to work in silos, they weren’t interconnected. So, if one wanted to buy or sell a product or service, to receive payment one would need an account with each bank.



Now with the proliferation of connectivity, that has allowed people to connect to their bank accounts through online banking. However, it’s still a problem because nothing is centralised so a business owner still has to log in to each individual account and download separate statements to see where their money is. What Ceviant is doing to address that problem is to take away that headache and allow customers to centralise accounts into one location.



In the second category are companies which operate on a regional scale in Africa. Here the problem is magnified because of multiple accounts in multiple countries and in multiple currencies.



And then in the third category, companies which are Pan African or global players, that becomes a far bigger headache. Typically, these companies will already have their own treasury management system, but they won’t necessarily have oversight of what their subsidiaries are doing. And if they do, it’s not going to be in real time. They will be relying on their subsidiary’s CFO or accounts department to acquire that information and then send it upstream.



With such delays in real time visibility, there’s an opportunity where a fintech can support by building rails or connections to the banks, which will then allow customers to see where their money is.



Another challenge we’re seeing is the fast appreciation of currencies. Currently in Nigeria, there have been swings of around 15-30% in the value of the Naira in just one week. The market is extremely volatile.



The same currency volatility is also happening in Ghana, Zambia and in other parts of Africa as well. A CFO or treasurer needs to see information as quickly as possible to be able to make key decisions as to the right time to buy stock or hedge currency risk, thereby reducing exposure. And the only way to do that is to know where the money is, have the ability to move it very quickly, and decide where it needs to be moved to.



In terms of regulation, dealing with anything related to moving money or having any type of access to financial instruments or bank accounts, there needs to be a minimum level of compliance and regulation in some form.



For example, in Nigeria, at Ceviant we have a Payment Solutions Service Provider (“PSSP”), a payment service provider’s license now required by the regulator, the Central Bank of Nigeria (“CBN”). It gives the CBN some degree of comfort that we have a minimum threshold in terms of operations, specifically our technology, processes and, more importantly, our data privacy and security policies.



Reconciling payment of receivables is another area where fintech has an opportunity to improve systems. It’s one thing seeing information, it’s another thing actually knowing that any inflows coming in can reconcile to the accounting system or ERP.



One of the ways fintech is doing that is through virtual accounts. Having the ability to uniquely map individual customers to their own virtual account which is dedicated to them helps eliminate errors caused by manual processes.



In summary, cash management solutions are changing the way companies manage their cash – regardless of their size and complexity. We are seeing it transform businesses throughout Africa and there is a long way to go.



<a href="https://www.ceviant.finance/resources/iso-20022-and-the-future-of-payments"></a>

How treasury fintech is changing the way companies in Africa navigate cash management

The LEI future eliminates unnecessary data duplications for clients and financial institutions.



Legislators have increasingly called for greater transparency in domestic and especially international financial transactions in recent decades. This is due to the need to curb crime, notably terrorist financing and money laundering. The regulatory environment has progressively extended the list of information that must be collected and stored about customers to achieve this.



This has led to a double burden: on the one hand, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations and the related mandatory administration became stricter every year; on the other hand, the democratization of the market also forced traditional institutions to move to a higher level of customer experience.



The market has found the possibility of significant improvement primarily by removing redundant activities in the issuance of legal entity identifiers (LEIs).



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What is the LEI?</h5>



The LEI code stands for Legal Entity Identifier, used to uniquely identify a company, akin to a unique tax number. It is required for all firms that have an investment account whether or not they engage in a single derivative transaction. An LEI code can only be assigned to one company, and if a firm has more than one investment account, it must have only one LEI code.



The LEI code consists of 20 alphanumeric characters (a mixture of numbers and letters), according to The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17442. It can be used worldwide to uniquely identify a legal entity involved in financial transactions, which includes:



<ol class="wp-block-list">
<li>a company;</li>



<li>a bank;</li>



<li>an insurer;</li>



<li>a stock exchange company;</li>



<li>an exchange trader;</li>



<li>investment fund and</li>



<li>pension fund</li>
</ol>



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">LEI on a global level</h5>



The LEI code was designed to improve market-wide transparency by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) in June 2014. The Regulatory Oversight Committee, which represents public authorities worldwide that have joined forces to advance openness in global financial markets, supports and oversees the foundation.



The Global LEI Index is made accessible by GLEIF, the only global online source of open, standardized, and high-quality legal entity reference data. GLEIF makes it possible for consumers and organizations to make better, less expensive, and more responsible business decisions.



Consumers and organizations to make better, less expensive, and more responsible business decisions.



Implementing a new Validation Agent Framework inside the Global LEI System has aided efficiency, a move that may eliminate many of the pain points previously experienced by customers and financial companies during onboardings.



GLEIF oversees a global network of issuing organizations that provide trustworthy services and open, accurate data for unique legal entity identification. The purpose of the LEI initiative&#8217;s backers was to utilize the LEI to promote transparency in the derivatives markets following the financial crisis.



The LEI&#8217;s ability to help existing tedious processes isn&#8217;t limited to KYC. With the growth in fraudulent activities, more regulatory scrutiny, and a more important requirement for precise and trustworthy data for client identification in payment transactions, the LEI has become an essential property for automated transaction due diligence on the flight of a payment



According to the GLEI vision statement, when wholly implemented by market participants, the Global LEI Index will eliminate the time and effort required to maintain entity reference data, allowing market players to save money, simplify and speed processes, and acquire a better understanding of the global marketplace.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Cross-border Payments Task Force and other initiatives</h5>



The BIS, the Bank for International Settlements, has established a special task force to assist Central Banks in managing financial and monetary stability to increase the transparency of international financial flows. The Cross-border Payments Task Force of the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI) was established in December 2021.



Faster, cheaper, more transparent, and inclusive cross-border payments would offer enormous advantages for individuals and economies worldwide, boosting economic growth, international commerce, global development, and financial inclusion while guaranteeing safety and security.



The CPMI saw the LEI&#8217;s potential in achieving its vision and urged its usage in payments throughout the world. The new ISO 20022 standard addresses this need by allowing a dedicated data element in the payload. Starting from November 2022, it will be an international standard for payment communications. Separate parties and systems will be able to interact with each other to accomplish functions by standardizing data formats in payment communications.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Removing unnecessary duplications</h5>



ISO 17442 standard defines the attributes or reference data of legal entities, which are the main elements of identification. The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) code itself is neutral, with no embedded intelligence &#8211; or country code &#8211; that could create unnecessary complexity for users.



ISO 17442 specifies the minimum reference data provided for each LEI. Such data is typically referred to as Level 1 data:



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>The legal name of the legal entity in official records;</li>



<li>The legal entity&#8217;s registered address;</li>



<li>Country of incorporation;</li>



<li>Codes indicating the names of countries and their subgroups;</li>



<li>Date of the first allocation of LEI, date of the last update of the data of LEI, and expiration date, if applicable; and</li>



<li>In addition, clients usually must present many additional papers, including documentation about their legal position and ownership structure.</li>
</ul>



As can be seen above, the information needed to receive the LEI code is nearly identical to the anti-money laundering and KYC data financial institutions must collect. Duplicate proofing is unnecessarily demoralizing from a customer experience point of view. However, it could not be eliminated earlier due to the lack of data reconciliation between banks and other financial institutions and LEI code issuing bodies.



The finance industry is working on programs and tools that enable market players to access the necessary information to overcome duplication. One of the initiatives is Validation Agent Framework.



The LEI future eliminates excessive data repetitions for clients and financial institutions.



In recent decades, legislators have increasingly called for greater transparency in domestic and international financial transactions. This is due to the need to curb crime, notably terrorist financing and money laundering. The regulatory environment has progressively extended the list of information that must be collected and stored about customers to achieve this.



This has led to a double burden: on the one hand, Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations and the related mandatory administration became stricter every year; on the other hand, the democratization of the market also forced traditional institutions to move to a higher level of customer experience.



The market has found the possibility of significant improvement primarily by removing redundant activities in issuing legal entity identifiers (LEIs). &nbsp;



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Applications</h5>



GLEIF has found an opportunity to enhance efficiency by introducing a new operational function inside the Global LEI System: The Validation Agent, to facilitate voluntary adoption and usage of LEIs across a more extensive portfolio of non-regulatory banking business lines. Financial institutions acting as Validation Agents can communicate with Registration Agents on behalf of their clients to ensure that these necessary checks have been completed without the customer having to do anything.



In addition to helping banks and other financial market players save money and improve their data management, the Validation Agent Framework allowed them to expand their usage of the LEI beyond capital markets. This included numerous business lines, resulting in considerable customer onboarding savings. It has also opened the door for financial institutions to make the LEI code and its benefits available to smaller customers.



As of October 2021, the Asian Development Bank estimated the unmet global demand for trade finance at $1.7 trillion. The Validation Agent Framework system allows financial institutions to channel a significant part of this into the LEI.



Validation Agents may use the LEI to automate the connection of entity data from different and external sources. According to a McKinsey analysis, This alone would save the global banking system $2-4 billion each year.



Applications in the domain of sustainable finance are equally intriguing. LEIs can speed data collection, consolidation, and analysis of ESG risks for unlisted private enterprises, where there is less systematic coverage. LEIs are a valuable weapon in the data-gathering armoury since comparable ESG data is still challenging for lenders and investors, primarily private enterprises.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">LEIs in numbers</h5>



The numerous benefits of the system are well understood by financial institutions and, at the same time, increasingly well accepted by customers, as confirmed by the growth figures published for 2022. More than 65,000 new LEIs were granted globally in the first three months of the year, according to GLEIF. The total number of LEIs issued increased by 3.3 per cent, bringing the total number of active LEIs to over two million.



In 2022, for the first time, Indian businesses and organizations must get an LEI. India&#8217;s position among GLEIF&#8217;s top five growth countries for LEI issuance in 2020 and 2021 reflects the ensuing increase in demand for LEIs in recent years. The country&#8217;s yearly issuance increased by 45.6 per cent and 62.4 per cent in those two years, respectively.



GLEIF announced that the total number of LEIs granted across the country had reached 76,432 by 2021. And according to the organization, demand will continue to rise exponentially in 2022 and beyond as more and more entities register for LEIs in response to current and future obligations.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Enhancing the client experience</h5>



Process duplication is an issue that has to be addressed immediately as clients and financial institutions seek to increase revenues while lowering operational expenses. Financial institutions may profit from a substantially simplified and cost-effective LEI issuing process for customers by serving as Validation Agents, resulting in a faster and more rationalized client onboarding experience.



Customers are gravitating toward providers that can offer the fastest and easiest service. It is no different in the financial markets. Here, those financial institutions that are pioneers of digitization can stand out.



At the same time, it pays for customers to prepare for mandatory data transfer as soon as possible because, without it, the business could be hampered or even cease. Companies considering international transactions should start applying for LEI as quickly as possible.

The LEI Future – eliminating data duplication for clients and businesses

Application programming interfaces (APIs) help consolidate enterprise payments and reduce the need for third-party intermediaries.



An application programming interface (API) allows two applications to communicate with each other. They play an increasingly vital role in consolidating disparate computing environments and ease the burden on end-users who would otherwise have to work with multiple apps.



Payment APIs, in particular, has seen widespread adoption in the consumer and corporate worlds, making it easy to send and receive money and manage finances. Corporate treasuries are also beginning to adopt APIs to optimise their payment processes.



APIs are becoming a necessity in enterprise payment optimisation due to the often- convoluted nature of the payments space. Many payment providers specialise in different industries and company sizes, with features and functions varying considerably from one provider to the next.



When determining which technologies and processes to adopt for optimising your enterprise payment processes, there are various approaches you can take. In this article, we will investigate the three main options and learn why APIs present the future of banking.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Manual payment processing and tracking</h5>



Particularly for smaller companies, the traditional approach is to track and process payments directly through their banking institutions. For companies with multiple accounts, this involves logging into each banking portal individually and keeping a manual log of all payments across all accounts in a spreadsheet or accounting app. All the while, finance teams must ensure that the proper accounts have the necessary funds in them so they can pay their vendors on time.



Manually handling payments does offer the benefit of direct control over payment operations. There may also be some small cost savings due to not using any intermediary software for automating or managing payments. Manual payment handling may be satisfactory for small companies with small and uncomplicated supply chains. However, it severely lacks scalability for fast-growing companies and supply chains.



As a business grows, so too does its payment volume. Tasks that previously took just a few hours per week to complete may now require a dedicated full-time employee. The law of diminishing returns kicks in at some point, but the increased workload is not the only problem. In addition to becoming extremely time-consuming, there is also a growing risk of human error. When burdened with growing workloads, staff may miss a significant payment or forget to record a payment. In the worst-case scenarios, finance teams may breach regulatory compliance or be forced to take out a high-interest loan to pay their vendors on time.



In conclusion, manual payment processing may be adequate for very small companies, but it soon becomes practically impossible to manage as your organisation grows.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Billing automation and streamlining platforms</h5>



Another option for handling payment processes is to use a billing automation platform. These platforms cut down on time and errors by essentially automating billing operations. For example, the platform might automatically generate and submit invoices, requiring minimal manual input. It should also collect payments and handle approvals and provisioning. Such platforms typically provide simple self-service portals so that finance teams can manage all their key processes from a single interface. Some may also offer data-driven visual insights to help improve cash flow and make it easy to identify patterns to drive informed decision- making.



Although billing automation and streamlining platforms offer convenience and scalability, they also mean surrendering control. For example, the companies behind them usually hold payments and process them on behalf of your organisation, which will lead to additional charges on top of your bank costs. You will also have to pay for a software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscription. According to Investopedia, automation platforms often costs upwards of $600 per month for the base subscription and overage rates ranging from 0.5 to 0.9%.



Billing automation platforms can be a good choice for businesses that have grown beyond the point where it is practical to handle their payments manually. There has to be a solution that better balances affordability and automation.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Payment processing with open banking APIs</h5>



APIs are software intermediaries that sit between two applications and let them communicate with one another. Cloud service providers most commonly develop them to enhance their interoperability with other industry-leading solutions. In the case of payments processing, APIs can enable a company’s various finance platforms and services to interface with those used by their partners, vendors, and financial institutions.



Open banking is rapidly becoming the gold standard in today’s financial sector. The concept revolves around using publicly available ‘open’ APIs that allow third-party developers to build custom applications around their services. Open banking APIs establish a real-time connection between banking institutions and cash management platforms for corporate treasuries, empowering you to initiate and send payments and beneficiary data directly to your banking institution. Payment requests may be created directly within your cash management platform, with payment processing handled directly at the bank. This effectively eliminates the need for a third-party intermediary.



Payment processing with open banking APIs enables you to access all the automation benefits that billing automation and streamlining platforms have, albeit without having to pay third-party fees. Moreover, you can initiate and track payments via ACH, wire, RTP, and other methods in a single, secure, and centralised cash management platform. This also gives you access to real-time data-driven insights into payment operations that you can use to support continuous improvement and optimisation.



The only real drawback of open banking is that not all banking institutions support it. However, things are changing fast, especially since the concept is only four years old. Today, there are already 63.8 million open banking users in Europe and 5.7 million in the US, and those numbers are growing fast.

Why APIs are essential to enterprise payment optimisation

Streamlining payments into a simple and effective process can often be elusive to corporates. An ineffective payment system leads to inaccurate reporting, loss of valuable time and, ultimately, a distressed treasury department. These potential issues have been further amplified by the current business climate, where erratic supply chains and remote working environments have become the norm rather than an exception.



Domestic and cross border payments are equally important to businesses, but one is often considered more complicated than the other. Coupled with the need to track incoming payments in different currencies from multiple customers can pose real challenges, especially around reconciliation.



Another area of consideration is the distribution and management of hardware tokens to protect payment authorisation and access to sensitives IT. systems. Best practice dictates 2 Factor Authentication Technology (2FA) is used to initiate and authorise transactions. This can prove tricky when teams are spread across different parts of the world.



Ceviant has designed its treasury solution to tackle the problems associated with account reconciliation, payments tracking (inbound and outbound) and managing an enterprise-wide liquidity position. We have created our platform to ensure that making cross-border transactions is just as simple as domestic ones. In addition to that, we manage the entire life cycle of the payment, so that clients no longer need to bother with maintaining supplier or counterparty information or stress about payment timelines, which can vary.



Our ability to integrate with ERP and treasury systems permits us to process payments in a smarter and faster manner. Corporates can close out transactions sooner, with the clearing and settlement cycle working in tandem, all thanks to the revolutionary technology that combines payments with messaging.



To help secure the process, Ceviant uses a combination of soft tokens and secure QR scanning, thereby eliminating the need for additional hardware. Aside from cutting costs, this allows for faster rollout and simplifies end user management.



We also recognise that each business is unique and process rules will differ. Our platform’s flexibility has been designed to put you in control. With our governance rules engine, you can create your own process methodology that covers access rights, roles and responsibilities from reporting all the way through to transaction initiation, authorisation, and execution.



Finally, business leaders need accurate and up to date information in an “easy to digest and distribute” format. Ceviant provides analytics and graphical displays that reflect your cash position on a real time basis. This helps you make decisions faster, with a greater degree of accuracy.



Please contact us as we would love to hear from you and for us to show you how we’re seeking to change the world of treasury payments, one transaction at a time.



—&nbsp;Ceviant Finance

Treasury Payments Reinvented

Some Nigerian banks may resist fintechs because they regard them as competitors who are taking away their customers, but fintechs have a duty to explain to them that this is not the case. Banks have the banking infrastructure which is effectively complemented by fintechs’ IT solutions. Fintechs essentially help deepen the relationships that banks have with their customers by providing complementary services. Fintechs are not banks because they do not hold funds. Customers’ accounts are held in and managed by the banks and the flows through the accounts remain there.



When fintechs connect to banks in Nigeria, that connection is API driven. That means using application programming interfaces to speak to different applications.



Today data is scattered across multiple platforms. A corporate treasurer needs to spend days to reconcile multiple data across various sources. For example, a treasurer may have 15 accounts in 15 different banks, and at any point in time they need to make a decision, underpinned by a view of payables or receivables.



The solution is a single portal that provides treasurers with a single view of what is happening across multiple accounts. It would help them effectively respond to issues and reduce time required for the completion of their tasks such as sourcing data, reconciling multiple accounts and producing instant reports. This is exactly where fintechs can help banks add value for their corporate treasury customers.



Ceviant has created an interface that helps finance professionals handle multiple tasks using the accounts they have created with their banks. When a corporate signs up for Ceviant services, for example, and a bank fears that it might lose its customer, we explain to the bank that this is not how it works. It would even be worse for a bank if it does not integrate because when a corporate feels comfortable on our platform and sees other banks that are already connected to the platform, it may be discouraged by its bank’s lack of connectivity to the platform. In other words, banks can this way drive away their corporate clients that already have accounts with them. We also explain to corporates that we don’t have a connection to their bank accounts, it is the corporates that have the connection to their bank accounts using our platform.



Any bank that is already connected therefore becomes a bank of choice. Once a client is on the platform, it is able to perform various banking and payments transactions on the same platform. That means a corporate treasurer does not need to log out and then open a new bank’s online system that is not on the platform. It is therefore logical and beneficial for a bank that is not connected to the platform to join, so that its own customers could also use the platform and still enjoy banking with their bank.



It will take time for banks to adopt the system but it is important to realise that there is not any competition between banks and fintechs but rather collaboration to deliver innovative digital solutions to customers.

Banks and Fintechs: Collaboration Not Competition

Open banking is the name for the practice that offers third-party financial service providers open access to financial data via the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). It essentially makes it possible for the consumer to access information from disparate bank accounts in the same place through a third-party application. It is currently one of the hottest trends in fintech and, like it or not, it is here to stay. Two big initiatives in the Europe and the UK, the PSD2 and the UK Open Banking framework, have paved the way in the last few years. Banks in these regions are now mandated to give fintech companies the ability to look into client accounts and initiate payments. This has changed the landscape as it means that customers are no longer just the client of a bank for life. Small players can now provide value added services on top of banking. Open banking initiatives are now cropping up throughout the EMEA region, creating standards which banks must comply with. The future of banking is open.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Challenges</h2>



There is still work to be done. Firstly, regulators need to ensure there is compliance with these new frameworks among the key players. All industry stakeholders need to be involved and provide data in the same way for open banking to progress. Financial standards and messaging are constantly changing, and all parties need to be in compliant with the most recent versions such as ISO 20022 for there to be a level playing field. The next main hurdle is technology. When picking their open banking providers, major payments institutions like HMRC make their choice based on the quality of the tech. All fintech players should be able to do effectively the same thing in terms of services offered, but the differentiators come down to factors like output, downtime and how the system performs when dealing with high throughput volumes of data. Security is also a major concern. Open banking providers need to ensure that stringent cybersecurity is constantly in place and under review so that it evolves over time. Applications need to be built from the ground up with security in mind. User education is also highly important. You can have the most advanced security system in the world, but if bad actors get hold of private keys, the whole system can be compromised. It is therefore essential that users are taught to recognise phishing and social engineering scams. Providers should be disseminating information on these risks regularly and widely.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Opportunity in Africa</h2>



The pandemic has caused a huge increase in digital channels across Africa, and open banking is a beneficiary of this. Both Mastercard and Visa announced during the pandemic that digital web transactions such as e-commerce have overtaken physical sales for the first time in history. Africa also leapfrogged the traditional landline telephone networks, instead going straight to mobile when building its telecoms infrastructure. This encouraged far more innovation in mobile out of necessity. This, coupled with poor physical infrastructure like roads and rail, resulted in a proliferation of mobile banking channels and means that the continent is at the forefront of global mobile banking innovation and the thirst for financial inclusion. Companies like Safaricom’s M-Pesa have benefitted greatly from this and control a large part of the economies in their respective markets. Open banking is a facilitator of this system as it allows you to open accounts and make transactions all from one app on your phone. Nigeria, one of Ceviant’s primary markets, has 22 money deposit banks and a potential bank population of around 150 million users and approximately 100 million mobile banking users. This represents massive market potential. In terms of regulation, Nigeria is far ahead of other African nations. In May 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) published a set of draft operational guidelines for open banking in the country, which has taken the best elements of the UK’s framework and tailored them to the needs of the Nigerian market. For example, it standardises and codifies the use of virtual accounts and is designed around API consumers and providers, both of which will be individually licensed. Both propositions will reduce compliance concerns for fintechs operating via the open banking model in Nigeria and open the door for world-leading innovation. To ensure consumer data is protected, CBN’s draft guidelines also prioritise consumer consent at the important stages of data exchanges, such as when sharing with non-Nigerian companies. The CBN is now in the process of taking feedback from industry stakeholders, use it to update and amend these guidelines, and eventually publish a final version. There is currently no timeline for this publication, but the current draft is a very encouraging step and bodes well for Nigeria’s banking industry, especially for the 38 million Nigerian adults who have no formal access to financial services.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Ceviant’s offering</h2>



At Ceviant, we are taking open banking to a new level by leveraging it to benefit corporates and SMEs. Previously, only large companies had the resources to build technology to easily access to their financial data. However, using open banking APIs, our platform lets smaller finance teams access multiple banking platforms and all necessary financial data at the click of a button. We also go beyond simple open banking by offering value added services like liquidity management and trade finance within one platform. Treasurers can now see all their different account balances in all different currencies all in one place, making it far simpler to plan and avoid financial hurdles.

The Future of Banking is Open Test

In 2016, companies could not track real-time payment processes when sending to or receiving money from a counterparty in other countries. However, six years later, with the launch of Swift&#8217;s Global Payments Innovation (GPI), this gap was filled.&nbsp;



SWIFT GPI is now the new standard in global payments, allowing financial institutions and corporations to securely transfer funds between accounts in any part of the world, with full visibility into where a payment is at any given moment, all enabled through user-friendly digital tools.



Since its inception in 2017, gpi has seen rapid adoption for cross-border payments. At the same time, strong growth in its use for domestic payments and for increasingly lower value transactions proves the service is well-matched to the needs of the future.



Four specific goals were established for the gpi initiative:



Increasing payment speed with communication improvements and higher standards for banks to ensure quicker payments through the SWIFT gpi network.



Providing end-to-end tracking with a Unique End-to-End Transaction Reference (UETR), which can be used to check the location of funds in real-time.



Improving transparency of fees and charges with full visibility on processing fees and times to enable better decision-making and bank routing.



Maintaining consistent data records with gpi&#8217;s guarantee that remittance data is unaltered during the payment journey, allowing comfortable reconciliation of payments with invoices or orders.



Today, SWIFT gpi is being used by over 4,200 financial institutions worldwide, including Ceviant. It supports more than 150 currencies across more than 200 countries, with 44% of payments being credited within five minutes and nearly 100% being credited within 24 hours.&nbsp;



The SWIFT gpi initiative is revolutionizing the way cross-border payments are made, delivering a faster, more fluid, transparent, and secure customer payment experience. At Ceviant, we are committed to helping our customers make the most of this technology and have implemented GPI to offer them specific monitoring and reporting solutions.&nbsp;



We are providing our corporate customers with a secure, user-friendly and cost-free GPI Tracker which allows them to share a link with their beneficiaries that enables them to track payments in real-time without needing authentication. This will allow beneficiaries to keep track of payments at any time while still protecting sensitive data.&nbsp;



<figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://images.prismic.io/ceviant/38dc6594-e1c0-435a-87c0-ca63db1e7b41_Tracker.png?auto=compress,format" alt=""/></figure>



The gpi tracker eliminates the need for disorganized screenshots or unreadable notices by enabling real-time visibility on the progress of payments. This ease of access can help speed up processes and quickly resolve transactions. Moreover, it will become the go-to standard for treasurers looking to improve their partners&#8217; international payment experience and transaction fluidity.



Our corporate customers benefit from numerous benefits when they use Ceviant&#8217;s Swift GPI solution, including faster payments (75% credited within 6 hours), end-to-end tracking, and fee and FX transparency. These three advantages, along with others, enable us to provide an excellent payment experience, with our customers reaping the benefits of a swift, secure, and transparent international payment process.



SWIFT gpi is not only enhancing the customer experience and operational efficiency, but is also in line with Ceviant&#8217;s digital solutions goals and regulators&#8217; objectives of reducing friction in international payments, as well as increasing transparency.



At Ceviant, we understand the value of time for our corporate customers and prioritize their need for near instantaneous payment transfers for their customers. Our Swift Global Payments Innovation (GPI) solution eliminates cross-border complexities, allowing for faster payments and more efficient cash flow management and budgeting. With our user-friendly, secure, cost-free GPI Tracker, businesses can easily keep track of their payments in real-time, while still protecting sensitive data. Get started at <a href="http://www.ceviant.co">ceviant.co</a>.

Making International Payments Easier, Faster and More Secure with SWIFT GPI

Modern law firms are increasingly turning to technology to improve their cash management and overall financial stability. Cash management is an essential component of running any law firm. Unfortunately, it is often a time-consuming and error-prone process. From tracking accounts receivables to manually processing payments, to meeting regulatory compliance requirements, the daily operations of a law firm can present unique cash management challenges.



In this article, we will explore how Ceviant assist law firms streamline their cash management operations and improve their overall financial stability. We will examine the common pain points that law firms face in their cash management operations and how Ceviant&#8217;s solutions can help mitigate them. From managing multiple bank accounts and receivables to handling supplier payments and establishing escrow accounts, Ceviant offers a range of solutions tailored to the unique needs of legal professionals. With Ceviant, law firms can improve their cash management, make informed decisions to protect and grow their liquidity, and ultimately, run their business more efficiently and effectively.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Pain point #1</h5>



Multiple Bank Accounts: Client fund segregation and tracking retainer fees across multiple clients can be time-consuming and costly for law firms. This can lead to lost revenue, inefficiencies, and expensive and burdensome individual bank account setup.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Ceviant’s Solution</h5>



Virtual accounts: Ceviant offers Virtual Accounts to easily manage client and vendor payments. Through the use of unique pay-in account numbers, payments are mapped directly to client accounts in your ERP for real-time reconciliation. There are no monthly fees and accounts can be created quickly and efficiently for each customer.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Pain point #2</h5>



Managing Receivables: Errors in account information, client reference numbers, name spellings, and amounts can cause confusion and delays. Reliance on external data sources, such as bank tellers and reference data, can lead to the need for manual tracing of funds and disruptions in system reconciliation.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Ceviant’s solution&nbsp;</h5>



Smart API connectivity: With Ceviant, you can access real-time data and multi-bank account positions through its bank-connected API platform, streamlining the reconciliation process. Ceviant also enables instant cash movement utilizing bank payment rails, providing flexibility and convenience.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Pain point #3</h5>



Supplier payments: Payment complexity increases exponentially when dealing with multiple clients, suppliers, and other payments for legal services for specific projects—it&#8217;s easy to become overwhelmed. Ceviant offers the perfect solution to help your organization keep track and simplify the process.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Ceviant’s Solution</h5>



Ceviant&#8217;s API platform allows for seamless integration with your ERP or other back-end systems, providing real-time data within seconds, eliminating the need for manual uploads. This allows for faster decision-making and improved accuracy by delivering the necessary information directly to the teams that need it.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Pain point #4</h5>



Escrow accounts: Legal firms often handle real estate transactions, client funds, and other financial transactions that require the use of escrow services and project-specific accounts. Timely establishment of these accounts is crucial as any delay can negatively impact the firm, the client, and the transaction itself. With Ceviant, legal firms can quickly and easily establish project-specific accounts, ensuring smooth and efficient handling of financial transactions.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Ceviant’s Solution</h5>



Third Party Managed accounts: Ceviant offers Third Party Managed Accounts (TPMA) to help law firms effectively manage client funds, such as trust accounts or escrow accounts. By utilizing a third-party financial institution, rather than managing the accounts in-house, it ensures proper handling and oversight of client funds, providing an added layer of protection for clients&#8217; financial assets. TPMA also offers transparency and record keeping for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Commonly used for transactions such as real estate closings, personal injury settlements, and other financial transactions that involve a transfer of funds, TPMA through Ceviant can help law firms to manage these financial transactions with ease and efficiency.



Overall, Ceviant provides law firms with the tools they need to effectively manage their cash flow, improve working capital, manage billing and collections, comply with regulations, forecast for the future, and improve profitability.



Discover how Ceviant can help your law firm streamline cash management and improve financial stability. Contact us today to learn more. www.ceviant.co and hello@ceviant.co

Efficient Cash Management for Law Firms with Ceviant

Financial market infrastructures such as SWIFT, The Clearing House, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, and the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) have communicated plans to migrate to ISO 20022 between 2022 and 2025.



ISO 20022 is a standard for electronic data interchange between financial institutions, developed and maintained by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It defines a common language for financial transactions, allowing different systems to exchange information in a consistent and standardized way. It is used in a wide range of financial services, including payment systems, securities trading, and foreign exchange. It is designed to be flexible and adaptable to new technologies and changing business requirements, making it a popular choice for implementing new payment systems and initiatives.



Many major financial market infrastructures (FMIs) around the world have already begun the process of migrating to ISO 20022 or have completed the migration. Some examples include:



The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has implemented ISO 20022 for its cross-border payment system, known as the SWIFT global payment innovation (gpi) service.



The European Central Bank (ECB) has implemented ISO 20022 for its TARGET2-Securities (T2S) platform, which is used for the settlement of securities transactions in Europe.



The Bank of England has implemented ISO 20022 for the CHAPS and CREST systems, which are used for the settlement of high-value and securities transactions in the UK.



The US Federal Reserve has implemented ISO 20022 for its Fedwire Funds Service and its National Settlement Service.



The Hong Kong Monetary Authority has implemented ISO 20022 for its Faster Payment System (FPS), which is used for real-time retail payments in Hong Kong.



Many other FMIs around the world are also in the process of migrating to ISO 20022 or have announced plans to do so in the future. It is likely that the adoption of this new standard will continue to grow in the coming years as more FMIs recognize the benefits of the standard.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">How does ISO 20022 benefit corporate treasurers?</h5>



ISO 20022 can benefit corporate treasurers in several ways:



Improved efficiency and automation: ISO 20022-compliant messages can be processed automatically by financial systems, reducing the need for manual intervention and increasing the speed and accuracy of financial transactions.



Upgraded data quality and accuracy: ISO 20022 messages contain detailed, standardized information that can help to reduce errors and improve data quality.



Increased visibility and control: ISO 20022 provides a consistent and standardized way to exchange financial information, which can help corporate treasurers to better track and manage their financial activities.



Enhanced security: ISO 20022 messages can be encrypted and authenticated, providing an additional layer of security for financial transactions.



Greater flexibility: ISO 20022 is designed to be flexible and adaptable to new technologies and changing business requirements, making it a good choice for implementing new payment systems and initiatives.



Overall, ISO 20022 can help corporate treasurers to streamline their financial processes, improve the accuracy and quality of their financial data, and gain greater visibility and control over their financial activities.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">Key Impacts to Consider</h5>



There are several key impacts that corporations should consider when implementing ISO 20022:



Cost: Implementing ISO 20022 may require significant investments in new systems and infrastructure, as well as training and other resources. Corporations should carefully assess the costs and benefits of implementing it to ensure that it is a cost-effective solution.



Complexity: A new global standard can be complex to implement, especially for corporations with large and diverse operations. It may be necessary to make significant changes to existing systems and processes in order to fully implement ISO 20022.



Compatibility: Corporations should ensure that their systems and processes are compatible with ISO 20022, including any third-party systems that they rely on. This may require testing and validation to ensure that everything works together as intended.



Resource requirements: Implementing ISO 20022 may require a significant investment in resources, including personnel, training, and infrastructure. Corporations should be prepared to allocate the necessary resources in order to successfully implement it.



Regulatory compliance: ISO 20022 may be required by regulators in certain situations, such as for cross-border payments or for certain types of financial transactions. Corporations should be aware of any regulatory requirements and ensure that they are compliant with them.



ISO 20022 is a game-changing standard that is transforming the way payments are made and processed. Its benefits for both financial institutions and corporates include increased efficiency, reduced costs, and the ability to exchange structured data. It is likely to become the standard for financial messaging in the future. Corporate treasurers will need to understand how it affects their work. While implementing the standard may present challenges, its long-term benefits make it a valuable investment for any organization.

ISO 20022 and the future of payments

Cybersecurity is one of the most common issues confronting corporate treasurers around the world. The AFP Payments Fraud Survey, underwritten by J.P. Morgan, surveyed nearly 700 treasury and finance professionals in 2018 and discovered that<a href="https://www.jpmorgan.com/content/dam/jpm/commercial-banking/documents/fraud-protection/afp-survey-2018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> 78% were victims of fraud in 2017</a>. Because of the high volume of funds managed by the department, hackers and cybercriminals regard corporate treasury as a prime target.



These attacks have become more common and sophisticated in recent years, stealing not only company funds but also sensitive data or, in extreme cases, shutting down a company&#8217;s financial system for ransom or to promote a geopolitical agenda.



Companies are more vulnerable than ever before as a result of increased digitization and reliance on a wide range of IT systems. This has resulted in changes in business models and methods of work. The global pandemic has led to a rise in remote working, which has increased the risk of cyberattacks for companies because more people are now working from home or in environments that are not best suited to best-in-class cybersecurity software or protection. Treasurers are now exposed to greater risk and must exercise greater caution when initiating payments and managing data flow.



Treasurers must consider new and improved methods to keep their company safe from hackers as the digital age evolves. A good first step is to adopt a defense-in-depth cyber security posture, which involves deploying cyber security controls at different stages of operations based on the risk assessment. Besides this, at Ceviant, we carry out Penetration Test (PENTEST) on all internal and external infrastructure that supports our treasury applications. PENTEST simulates real-life attack scenarios and attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in our infrastructure and applications; as a result, security controls are implemented to reduce the risk of cyber-attacks.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">How can Fintech support treasury and finance departments tackle cybercrime?</h5>



In-depth risk management and regulatory compliance are key to tackling security threats. The issue of security is a shared concern across all sectors and must be addressed as early as possible. Treasurers and corporates are increasingly mindful of the systems they integrate with and of the vendors they work with. A lot of these solutions are provided by Fintech companies. It, therefore, helps for FinTech&#8217;s to implement and comply with requirements provided by standard organizations and regulators. A series of ongoing network security and data security audits are necessary for the maintenance of licenses and certifications. This helps reassure treasurers that are skeptical about adopting technology because of the fear of security.



There are also other regulators and regulatory requirements like obtaining a license which involves a series of audits



Therefore, it is important for fintechs to demonstrate that their networks are fraud-proof and compliant while showcasing what they have been able to achieve in terms of security and adopting global standards.



Today, there are numerous ISO certification standards including :



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>ISO 27001:2022 – Information Security Management Systems Certification</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>ISO 22301: 2019- Business Continuity Management System Certification</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>ISO 27701:2019&#8211; Privacy Information Management Systems Certification</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>ISO 20000-1&#8211; IT Service Management Systems Certification</li>
</ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>ISO 28000:2007- Supply Chain Security Management Systems Certification</li>
</ul>



These standards specify guidelines that companies need to adopt to ensure security of financial information and data while conducting transactions across multiple payment rails.



<h5 class="wp-block-heading">What sectors are more prone to cybercrime?</h5>



According to Verizon&#8217;s 2019 Data Breach Investigation Report, 43% of cyber-attacks were directed toward small businesses. The most common attack vectors to small businesses are phishing and malware.



According to IBM Security, the healthcare sector has had the highest average cost of a breach for 12 years consecutively. Between 2017 and 2019, more than 90% of all healthcare organizations have reported at least one security breach which can manifest in a denial of service, malicious code, ransomed data, and more.



The energy and infrastructure sectors are also highly targeted. S&amp;P Global Platts, the energy and infrastructure sector emerged as the biggest target for hackers and cyberattacks, accounting for a third of all incidents in 2017. In 2021, an attack by hackers on Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest single exporter of crude oil, involved a data leak and an attempt to extort $50 million from the state-controlled oil producer.



With attacks on the rise, what can treasuries do to stay secure?



The key is to remain compliant with regulation and robust internal control policies. It is important for corporate treasurers to ensure their controls, systems and processes are fully aligned with industry regulations and standards. If controls are inadequate, greater risks and the possibility of fraudulent activity can arise.



Finance and treasury departments must invest in robust treasury technology to minimize the risk of cybercrime. A treasury management system (TMS) is a key tool in the treasury department’s world, and essential to managing the company’s cash positions and risk management.



If a company is not running a fully functional, regulated and compliant TMS, with updated security and infrastructure, there is a strong chance that the system is at greater risk of being exploited.



Cyber-criminals usually target software vulnerabilities, which makes older versions far more vulnerable to cyber-threats. We work with our clients not only to integrate their treasury and finance management solution on our secure and highly regulated platform, but also educate them to strengthen their internal systems to enable comprehensive protection.

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