Those companies that have taken the plunge in payments are implementing INNOVATION IN RECEIVABLES solutions such as C2FO, a receivables dis- counting solution and are hoping to use new solutions to eliminate bank payments What are banks doing to meet future experience, is spending time looking at portals. They are also being forced to look innovation expectations from treasury, where friction exists in treasury pro- at FinTech solutions in geographies from particularly as leaps in retail experience cesses and introducing both innovative which their core banks have withdrawn. promise better efficiency, usability and and better solutions to ease the pain. Other treasurers interviewed by EuroFi- lower costs? Bank of America Merrill Hence its new product called Intelligent nance have confirmed that they are Lynch, like other large banks is keenly Receivables which matches incoming actively investigating FinTech solutions looking at AI, robotics and other tech- payments with invoices using AI enabled but that “the issue is how these would nologies as well as participating in block- technology. In partnership with FinTech work for us”. One treasurer believes, chain consortiums to test payment and company High Radius, it takes data from “There is a real revolution in that area. In trade solutions. It is using AI on its own clients and their open items file and the next three years it will change the way internal processes to speed up and deliver receivables position and uses AI to match we do KYC documentation, trade finance better outcomes on repetitive processes all incoming payments again all open and anything where we have to move which in turn will benefit its clients. invoices with a near perfect match rate. money. Where there is a lot of paper work Banks have no choice but to jump on the “We are currently in a period of expo- there is a lot of efficiency to be gained.” innovation bandwagon, and teaming nential growth in technology and new with FinTech companies who have devel- concepts, such as artificial intelligence oped great solutions but don’t have the (AI), have the potential to drive value to customer network to deploy them, is seen clients and make processes more effi- as the way forward to keep relevant and cient,” says Matthew Davies, head of retain customers. Bank of America Mer- GTS EMEA for Bank of America Mer- But there are cautionary tales too. One rill Lynch is active in the R3 blockchain rill Lynch. “For example, banks have treasurer admits: “We have had really consortium, working with Ripple and its been offering receivables matching ser- bad experiences with being the first distributed ledger technology as well as vices for a number of years but these mover. It is difficult. The risk of failure is partnering with Microsoft whose treas- have usually been highly manual to set high. Now we will wait and see.” ury is acting as a guinea pig to test trade up and therefore expensive. By using finance solutions developed on the AI, we can bring a far higher level of As well as a legitimate fear of the bleed- Microsoft Azure blockchain. automation.” Intelligent Receivables is ing edge, treasurers may have another, designed for large or complex compa- less obvious reason for waiting. Asked, There are many areas of treasury ripe for nies that are seeking to reduce costs, “Are you satisfied with the data that you improvement with new technology solu- decrease days-sales-outstanding and are able to get from your current pay- tions and while blockchain solutions are improve cash forecasting. It works by ment processes?”, 67.2% answered yes. getting closer, in the payments arena, identifying payers and associates their This response might be proof that these they are still some time away. The same payments to remittances that are treasurers have put in place the vast can’t be said for the use of AI in received separately in order to match majority of the best practice solutions payments. Frictionless payments, for against open receivables. recommended in modern payments. On example, are an endless source of the other hand, it may reveal a danger- frustration for companies, particularly in ous level of complacency and unsolved determining who’s paying for what. Bank inefficiency. Time will tell. of America Merrill Lynch, as part of its commitment to enhancing customer www.eurofinance.com TREASURY PERSPECTIVES 2017/2018 // 29