All Together Now

Fides Changing Bank Connectivity for Good

“Fides offers a level of enrichment that other multibank providers just cannot deliver. We can send them one format and they can configure that format in a way that it is tailored for each of our banks. They proactively come up with solutions and ideas that allow us to reach all of our banks even in the most complex countries. They are definitely the authority on bank connectivity and communications.” So says Michele Mayer, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer of real estate investment trust company, W.P. Carey.

It’s the kind of ringing customer endorsement that money can’t buy. It’s also the kind of statement that makes TMI Awards judges pay attention. As 2020’s winner in the Best Bank Connectivity category, it’s apparent that Fides Treasury Services has the products to sustain such welcome remarks.

With Fides bank connectivity solutions, treasurers eliminate hours of manual spreadsheet work and worries around file formatting, multiple data sources, and regulatory compliance. Fides Account Reporting System (ARS) for payments, and Fides Electronic File Transfer (EFT) for bank messaging, can both be managed by Fides, integrated with a TMS or ERP front-end, or accessed online as part of the vendor’s SaaS Fides Multibanking Suite.

As Emma Vacas, Treasury Director, Seaboard Corporation, explains, “Fides allows for centralisation, security, and standardisation of file transmission processes independent of the ERP that issues the files, which streamlines processes and reduces risk”. She continues: “A key benefit of using Fides is that the structure provides one connectivity channel with access to banks around the world. This provides flexibility and global reach that otherwise would not exist.”

Covering every possibility

Fides offers virtually every payment and messaging format that a company would need to use and is equipped to implement any additional formats required. For bank reporting, messages can be converted and made available in a variety of standard formats, with the full suite of payment formats on tap.

The vendor runs a broad range of validation checks over all payment and statement types, to ensure the highest level of data integrity and security. All data contained within the Fides application is fully encrypted, whether at rest or in transit. Token support, file control, IP filtering, and digital signing for external transactions are additional data security measures. Fides also offers extensive sanction screening support for messages sent through its servers.

In addition to the critical multi-bank account statement, payment workflow and reporting capabilities Fides provides for treasury and finance teams, in the forthcoming year the vendor plans to expand its ecosystem of client offerings through what it describes as “carefully curated complementary financial solutions” from its partners. This ecosystem of solutions will be offered through the Fides Multibanking Suite.

By all accounts

Fides ARS enables clients to view overall liquidity and account statements quickly and easily from their banks, at any time. Fides ARS improves upon the outdated process of manually collecting account data from a client’s banks by consolidating all account information, including balances, transactions, and booking texts, and providing it centrally through a set of user-friendly dashboards.

The process involves converting all messages into a standardised format, verifying the account statements, allowing the customer to choose a preferred format and providing options for downloading data.

Transfer window

Fides EFT simplifies the global transfer of individual and bulk payments to banks and consolidates the financial messaging process, allowing any and all messages to be sent and received by corporates through one portal. Fides EFT serves as a central location to manage, execute, and monitor all payments, providing efficiency and time-savings for companies with multiple banking relationships.

The kind of statistics it attracts are impressive:

Customer connection

With its products and services clearly in alignment, it’s no wonder Fides receives glowing assessments from those that matter most: its customers.

Christian Azzopardi, Group Treasurer and Commercial Finance Manager for Swedish home-furnishings manufacturer, Hästens, said that with Fides, “we get a complete picture of all of our cash globally. It sounds like a given, but unless you have a system like Fides, it is very challenging for a treasurer to know how much cash is available at any given point in time”.

Charline Renard, Treasury Analyst at international building materials company, Etex, also remarked that “it took my predecessor hours to screen through the different bank statements, reconciling partially in Excel and partially in our old TMS. Now, it takes me 15 minutes to reconcile 70 accounts.”

With Fides Treasury Services now on the roster of TMI Awards winners for 2020, in the Best Bank Connectivity category, the firm is able to consolidate is successes at every turn. Andreas Lutz, Fides CEO, is delighted.

“It is an honour to receive this recognition from TMI for our multibank connectivity solutions. With Fides bank connectivity solutions, treasurers eliminate hours of manual spreadsheet work and worries around file formatting, multiple data sources, and regulatory compliance. Our goal is for the Fides Multibanking Suite to become a one-stop shop platform where corporate treasurers, treasury analysts, cash managers, and CFOs can access all the tools they need to manage their day-to-day responsibilities.”