The Treasurer asked four treasury leaders around the globe about what lies ahead in this new digital world
I’m the group treasurer for Mantrac Group, an authorised Caterpillar dealer, selling across three continents with revenues close to $2bn. I head the treasury, trade finance and insurance departments. My main responsibilities involve raising debt, cash/liquidity management, risk management, customer financing and treasury operations. Prior to Mantrac, I was head of treasury at RB covering 60-plus countries across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Responsibilities included all areas of international treasury and risk management. I am a Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers (ACT).
I’m hoping technology continues to have a positive impact within the treasury department and the wider business. As more firms continue to work in the ‘new normal’, with a mixture of home and office working, processes that require manual intervention now should become more automated.
With new tech like machine learning and robotic process automation technology, we can transfer a lot of heavy lifting to computers, leaving treasury professionals with more time to make strategic decisions. I’d like to see focus on reducing paper-based instruments, especially cheques, which we still widely use in the Middle East and Africa, particularly with government spend and post-dated cheques to secure collections.
The experience of implementing technology is vital, as it demonstrates a good understanding of how these solutions work and how it touches various areas of the organisation
Trade finance is also very document-heavy, particularly with the Middle East being a key trading hub. Within our personal lives, app usage is a key component of organising and accessing data – treasury management systems (TMSs) have already started following suit, with apps to approve payments or view dashboards. This could go further, perhaps with banks and fintechs using app-based technology for know-your-client updates or sharing company information with multiple banks. We have already seen solutions like DocuSign helping multinational companies where signatories are based in multiple locations, but in the UAE particularly, not all banks accept this, so hopefully this will change in the short term.
Technology has accelerated change and eased discussions around the implementation of tech, which is fantastic. As our business and environment changed, so did the ways of working and the impact on treasury processes.
For example, during COVID-19 some African jurisdictions stopped clearing cheques, so it meant people moved to mobile money and eWallets to make payments. As a treasury function, we had to make sure the payment acceptance infrastructure continued to operate efficiently, not just in the major cities but also in remote locations.
As a company we implemented many cloud-based solutions, with virtual software implementations over Teams as business travel was prohibited. COVID-19 also accelerated the move to shared service centre models as many operations were previously managed remotely, so allowing an easier transition to low-cost jurisdictions.
When hiring new talent for my team, I’m looking at digital prerequisites such as TMS experience, strong analytical skills (Excel, Power BI, PowerPoint, Visio, etc) and vast e-banking experience, plus the use of other platforms such as 360T and FXall and banking tools (supply chain finance portals, trade platforms).
Additionally, depending on the position, the experience of implementing technology is vital, as it demonstrates a good understanding of how these solutions work and how it touches various areas of the organisation. More recently skills such as coding or creating bespoke solutions is much more relevant, particularly with junior staff; it can be a huge benefit to the company if bespoke solutions can be developed and created in-house.
My career started in the City of London working in HypoVereinsbank, then UBS, and I was first introduced to treasury when I started working for Cargill in 2008. From there I moved to a wealth-management company, then to aviation and now the real estate sector.
In my current role working for Logicor, I am leading the implementation of a best-in-class liquidity solution and banking platform with a vastly rationalised account structure. The result of the project will be a truly leading-edge virtual bank account structure.
There is an increasing emphasis on the treasury team to have systems in place to provide real-time solutions and real-time insight. Technology is key to this – meaningful data will ensure that treasurers can concentrate on the strategic issues and leave the repetitive, simpler tasks to be undertaken through automated processes.
TMS systems need to deliver best-market practice processes as standard. Currently, different providers have different processes, so it will be important to have a standardised practice that will simplify the processes – I see this as a key requirement for the future.
When looking to the future, I think we are moving to a fully automated world.
In terms of how this will affect my company, we are already asking our stakeholders to update their technology, and this will lead to liquidity being automated and guaranteed, automation of simple and repetitive tasks, simplification of complex tasks, integration of systems and data, embedded controls, frequent and relevant information, and more responsive and greater consistency of data across geographies.
There is an increasing emphasis on the treasury team to have systems in place to provide real-time solutions and real-time insight
Remote working is highly dependent on the infrastructure. The pandemic was a catalyst that pushed the evolution of remote access forward by several years. Connectivity, cybersecurity and governance are some of the many aspects that we had to go through in an exceptionally short time.
Even before the pandemic, cloud-based applications were becoming the industry standard over client-hosted systems. This, in a way, allowed an easier and quicker transition. I remember in the past when we used to exercise disaster recovery drills! We rarely used laptops, and remote access to the company’s server was like cracking a safe. Once we moved to using cloud-based systems through laptops, the geographical location became less important.
Communication was a challenge and real-time face-to-face interaction remains vastly superior to messaging. Although the infrastructure for virtual meetings existed for years, the applications available weren’t necessarily adequate. As we came to learn later, it is actually a rather effective and extremely efficient tool of communication. It is true to say that it will not entirely replace real-life interaction, but I argue that some topics would be more suited for the virtual medium, for example, when reviewing technical data where the participants can interrogate the data on their own terminals independently of the presenter.
When looking at recruitment, I think treasury requires mind agility and conceptual thinking. I view it as a craft rather than a science. There are many technical skills required to execute the wide range of tasks and interactions with other departments. However, new recruits will need to have the right attitude to learning and above all, a curious mind that has affinity to change.
Data and systems literacy are very important to the job, which I often find more than satisfactory among new graduates. Finally, one has to keep in mind that individual qualities have to be complementary and as a manager you need to put together a diverse team that complements each other in skill and temperament.
I was born in Botswana and completed my Bachelor in Economics at the University of Botswana. I have taken a number of postgraduate qualifications including the Certificate in Treasury Fundamentals (ACT), and I am a member of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants and of the ACT.
I am currently employed by First National Bank Botswana as an operations manager. My responsibilities include facilitating the management of cash centre processes and ensuring adherence to quality standards in the centre. I also manage and control all administration, cash management and logistics, cash product and solutions, and risk-related activities.
Emerging technologies, such as industrial robots, artificial intelligence and machine learning, are advancing at a rapid pace. These developments can improve the speed, quality and cost of goods and services. Within my firm, technological automation and digitisation are key target areas, which will drive operational efficiency and effectiveness. This will greatly improve customer service by significantly reducing the turnaround times for services.
From 31 December 2023, all banks in Botswana will cease to accept cheques for deposit and/or encashment. People will therefore need to move to the use of EFT, SWIFT, ATM Visa card, eWallet, cash and digital currency. This will mean the wide use of online platforms for transactions that require high technological advancement on the side of banks as financial service providers.
I would expect my team to have data-analysis skills, advanced computer skills, robotics, financial engineering and business intelligence skills
Flexible work or remote working environments have impacted the selection of remote work collaborations, leading to a significant rise in the use of applications like Microsoft Teams, Zoom and any other desk and remote communication networks. Physical meetings have reduced in frequency due to effective online collaborations being as efficient but less costly, as no transportation and office accommodation costs are incurred.
During the pandemic there was an immediate need for everyone to be able to work from home – this included having the right equipment and the right technological (cloud) solutions. The use of this technology had to be adopted quickly. In addition to adapting to this new way of working, we also had to sharpen our skills in the use of Teams and Zoom for communication, presentations and information sharing.
I think even as we move back to a hybrid working environment, the skills we have learnt will continue to be useful and the ways of working we have adopted will become part of our working routine.
When looking at treasury skills, I would expect my team to have data-analysis skills, advanced computer skills, robotics, financial engineering and business intelligence skills. From a team dynamics point of view, I can see the advantage of hiring someone with coding skills, as this would help with our goal of automating our processes, data mining and data-analysis activities.
A key aspect of treasury is being able to obtain business intelligence reports to make informed decisions based on advanced analysis, and having people with complex analytical skills in my team would support this.
I am a former international banker who decided to switch careers about 15 years ago to work in higher education. I now work at the School of Business and Management of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, teaching finance courses to undergraduate and postgraduate students; I also hold several administrative roles for the school. Currently I am executive director, careers development and corporate outreach, and I am also the co-director of our new BSc in Sustainable and Green Finance, the first degree programme in Asia focused on this major growth area.
Before joining academia, I worked for 20 years in international debt markets, arranging large debt financing transactions in Europe (Paris, London), the Americas (US) and Asia (Hong Kong), covering every debt instrument from plain vanilla commercial paper to highly structured project finance.
At the pace of change we are experiencing, it is hard to predict the landscape in the coming years, but let me whip out my crystal ball. Current trends show a high pace of digitisation across all industries, which is likely to continue despite hiccups in the supply chain of the electronics industry. Expect more data collection through electronification – think radio-frequency identification chips and drone imagery – which will of course require data analytics and serious technological infrastructure upgrades.
If we assume that the data collected can be usefully analysed, this could lead to real-time data feeds and real-time cash-flow observations. Another important area to watch out for is quantum computing with all the implications it entails for a massive change in tech infrastructure and cybersecurity.
We are experiencing a tsunami of data collection, but that is useless without analysis
For us in higher education in Hong Kong, the switch to remote teaching and working was prompted by the 2019 student protests. In line with a lot of other companies, we tested a variety of systems before investing in the Zoom platform and monitoring the implementation to prevent Zoom-bombing and other issues. From an educational perspective, we also invested in hardware to support our online teaching. For example, we invested in a digital classroom, and we equipped our classrooms with audio and video equipment to provide high-quality sound and video to the students.
Regarding the skills needed to work in treasury, my own view is that, even more than coding/programming, treasury will need data analysts. I think that is the most critical stumbling block. We are experiencing a tsunami of data collection, but that is useless without analysis.
Of course, a basic understanding of some coding language will be useful. I would watch out for the quantum computing space – this has the potential to completely revolutionise technology.
More information on the ACT’s Future Leaders in Treasury group can be found at treasurers.org/futureleaders
This article was taken from Issue 3, 2022 of The Treasurer magazine. For more great insights, log in to view the full issue or sign up for eAffiliate membership