Best Emerging Technology Solution - WINNER
Siemens Capital
By integrating blockchain-powered deposit accounts and open-banking APIs into a streamlined virtual account structure, Siemens Capital has enabled 24/7 liquidity management, real-time cash visibility, and automation at scale. The Siemens Capital treasury team, under the leadership of President and CEO Nicola Bates, has played a pivotal role in this transformation, pioneering the innovative Siemens Cash Management infrastructure that underpins this technological leap.
Managing cash as part of a global business is a challenge that involves immense complexity. Siemens Capital Company (Siemens Capital), faced the burden of maintaining more than 100 bank accounts, managing cross-border payments, and ensuring real-time visibility into liquidity. Seeing an opportunity for improvement, Bates transformed the treasury set-up into a streamlined, always-on system powered by blockchain technology and open-banking APIs.
The cornerstone of the Siemens Capital’s transformation focused on creating a future-ready treasury structure. At the heart of this transformation lies the adoption of an on-behalf-of-payment (POBO) and collection (COBO) structure, fortified by an in-house bank (IHB) and a sophisticated multi-entity virtual account management (VAM) model. This innovative approach consolidated the existing complex banking network of more than 100 bank accounts into a single physical account, with the legal entities holding dedicated virtual accounts.
This structure simplifies payment processes and automates collections, providing real-time cash consolidation and visibility into balances and transactions through open-banking APIs linked to Siemens’ IHB system finavigate®. Instead of relying on Swift messages or bank portals, the team now has instant access to account balances and transactions. This transparency enables quicker decision-making and more precise cash flow management.
Blockchain revolution
But Siemens Capital didn’t stop there. By linking this set-up to J.P. Morgan’s KINEXYS (formerly ONYX) blockchain deposit accounts, Siemens added the capability for 24/7 cross-border payments. Using blockchain, the treasury team can transfer liquidity instantly, even outside banking hours and cut-off times, ensuring seamless global operations.
“The blockchain deposit accounts have redefined how we think about liquidity management,” says Bates. “For the first time, we’re no longer bound by the traditional constraints of time zones and banking hours.”
Outcomes that set a new standard
This treasury transformation is more than a technology upgrade; it’s a comprehensive redesign of cash management practices which has simplified all cash management processes and improved efficiency across the board, including:
- 24/7 liquidity management and real-time cash visibility. Blockchain-powered deposit accounts enable instant cross-border payments, ensuring funds are always available. APIs provide live updates on balances and transactions, replacing outdated systems.
- 80% automation. The end-to-end cash allocation process is now highly efficient and largely hands-off. Virtual account numbers preselect open items, ensuring over 80% of incoming cash is automatically applied to relevant accounts.
- 70% reduction in workload. The virtual account structure simplified account management and eased compliance burdens, such as Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements.
- 50% cost savings in bank fees. Centralisation and streamlined processes significantly reduced overhead costs.
Future-ready treasury
By embracing technologies that others are still learning about, Siemens Capital has shown itself to be an emerging technology pioneer. And this project has helped created an ‘always-on’ treasury of tomorrow – that prioritises agility, resilience, and innovation. It is a deserving winner of TMI’s Best Emerging Technology Solution Award 2025. Reflecting on the project, Bates adds: “This transformation has shown us what’s possible when technology meets a clear purpose, brought to life through the dedication and creativity of the entire team. We’re more efficient, more connected, and better prepared for the future.”
