- Sophie Michel
- Head of Channels and e-Banking and Steven Lenaerts, Head of Product Management Global Channels, BNP Paribas Cash Management
A joint interview with Sophie Michel, Head of Channels and e-Banking and Steven Lenaerts, Head of Product Management Global Channels, BNP Paribas Cash Management
Sophie Michel and Steven Lenaerts are cash management and e-banking experts with BNP Paribas Cash Management. Here they share with Katia Fau, Senior Business Reporter with BNP Paribas Cash Management, their views on what digital transformation entails as well as its impact on cash management processes and, more broadly, on financial strategies.
We are seeing a great deal of innovation in cash management – to what extent do you think it’s reasonable to describe this as a ‘digital transformation’?
Sophie Michel
Cash management is the bank’s primary transactional activity, and it is digital by nature. Long before the growth of web-based technology, we were developing paperless methods for managing customer relations. Furthermore, what were referred to for a long time as ‘new communication technologies’ have given us both the ability to create a more interactive experience for users, and the opportunity to increase the value of customer communication by offering services tailored to each of our connectivity channels. For example, mobile technology means we can offer personal digital signatures in a more convenient way when validating transactions. Consequently, digital technology is integral to our business, and as we continue to find innovative ways of delivering our solutions and services, we contribute further to the digital transformation that is undoubtedly taking place.
What does digitisation bring to cash management today?
Sophie Michel
Payments and collections, as well as the associated reporting processes, are already dematerialised wherever possible. So far, digitisation has allowed us to build scalability, security, efficiency and reliability, but increasingly it is enabling us to move from transactional and reporting into the domain of the management processes associated with what we do.
Steven Lenaerts
eBAM (Electronic Bank Account Management) is a good illustration of this. As the opportunities for digitisation have increased, we needed to decide in which processes digital innovation would offer the greatest value to customers. We did a great deal of analysis with our customers, who emphasised that account administration is amongst their most important new priorities, particularly for companies operating in several countries. We have therefore been investing heavily in this, with the first eBAM solution that we are launching aimed at these multinational companies. In particular, the solution gives treasurers and finance managers real-time visibility of user permissions i.e., who is able to do what across all their accounts. It also enables the paperless management of authorised signatories and the proxies associated with these. As well as simplification and automation, our eBAM solution also enhances security in the bank account management process.
Speed, efficiency... is digitisation a panacea for cash management?
Sophie Michel
Not on its own, no, as other factors obviously have an influence: business organisation, financial, regulatory and security-related aspects, amongst others. For example, globalisation is affecting businesses of all sizes. As corporations expand across multiple jurisdictions, regulatory compliance in each of these markets becomes increasingly complex.
The phenomenal digital expansion that we are witnessing is also creating new security challenges, however, which leads to a dichotomy. Although the benefits of cash management digitisation are clearly apparent and quantifiable, this needs to be balanced with appropriate internal controls and external security.
Steven Lenaerts
Treasurers need to produce reliable and consolidated data, and treasury reporting must be complete, consistent and timely, including compliance with requirements that may vary from one country to another. As a result, the treasury environment has never been so complex. At the same time, treasurers have key operational and strategic objectives on which they need to focus.
Can digitisation offset this increased complexity?
Steven Lenaerts
Digitisation is not a type of switch that is turned on or off: effective digitisation relies on the right technology, processes and a range of other factors. For example, the use of recognised industry standards such as XML formats is a prerequisite, as is an extensive knowledge of the regulatory requirements of each country, such as the use of personal digital signatures.
It’s important to remember that digital innovation does not happen in a vacuum, nor does it rely on a single participant: instead, it requires collaboration across the cash management community: banks, treasurers, financial directors, software publishers, and the new players in the digital economy.
Sophie Michel
Additionally, while digitisation means greater simplicity, it also lets us reinvent the customer experience to make it more intuitive, therefore adding more ‘softer’ but no less important benefits, like user satisfaction or even enjoyment.[[[PAGE]]]
Is this not what digital transformation is all about: putting the customer at the heart of every cash management process?
Sophie Michel
Absolutely, and we see this as much more of a fundamental shift than a temporary trend. Our corporate customers are creating a new experience for their own customers through innovative business models, so they naturally expect the same proactive approach from their bank.
Digital innovation has become integral to our business culture, and it will ultimately transform all aspects of the customer experience
It is important to remember that the digital transformation process has long been under way at BNP Paribas Cash Management. Digital innovation has become integral to our business culture, and it will ultimately transform all aspects of the customer experience, from the services we offer to how we manage customer relationships.
Where will this take you?
Sophie Michel
Today, our ambition is to continue facilitating change at an operational level by dematerialising key processes whilst making a stronger contribution to the strategic function that treasury fulfils. In other words, digital technology can and must continue to improve efficiency, but we also see it as a means to improve the service we provide and a new way of conveying advice and expertise to our customers.
Steven Lenaert
We are already committed to this approach through a variety of new tools designed to support our advisory function, including the availability of online financial information, tutorials (like the Massive Open Online Course [MOOC] created as part of the implementation of SEPA) and knowledge-sharing tools like the Atlas for iPad and online, Trade Solutions or the Currency Guide. These are concrete and practical solutions that make whole sections of our international cash management expertise available to our customers. They are just a taste of the digital services that we intend to continue developing in order to bring greater benefits to our customers in terms of managing and analysing their business.
So you don’t see the digital wave losing momentum?
Steven Lenaerts
Certainly, the increasing numbers of compliance-related requirements, as well as the growing threat caused by online fraud, demand extra care and greater expertise. In the long run though, the advantages of digitisation will far outweigh the investment needed to ensure compliance and protect critical data.
Sophie Michel
As a bank, we have a dual role: on one hand, we need to support the digitisation of core processes to ensure that transactions are performed in complete safety and compliance. On the other hand, we need to leverage our services and expertise, based on a new kind of customer experience, to help corporates face the challenges of a fast changing world.
BNP Paribas Atlas and Currency Guides, as well as links to websites dedicated to cash management and trade solutions, can be found online by visiting the BNP Paribas Treasury Leader microsite.
Or visit the webpages direct using the following links:
