Introducing the Winners – 2018 Awards for Innovation and Excellence

Bank Awards

There was a hot contest this year between Citi and HSBC, with both banks taking away a clutch of awards. Citi was recognised for its Cash & Liquidity Management capabilities in the Middle East & Africa where the bank has continued to support clients with best-in-class solutions and delivered innovation through digital tools leveraging application programming interfaces (APIs) and robotic process automation (RPA). Citi has also entered into innovative strategic partnerships with selected fintechs to help clients achieve efficiencies in areas such as payments. 

Citi was also awarded Best Bank for Financial Supply Chain in Europe, the Middle East & Africa and South America. In all three geographies, the bank has consistently invested and innovated to develop its supply chain finance (SCF) capabilities, facilitating standardisation, automation and efficiency for clients. Moreover, Citi® Supplier Finance, the bank’s global SCF platform, provides clients with enhanced visibility and control and offers several market-leading digital tools, including a Resource Centre, to support, engage and service buyers and suppliers throughout their SCF journey.

Meanwhile, HSBC was recognised as the Best Bank for Cash & Liquidity Management in Asia Pacific and North America, also taking away the Global award in that category. Major achievements in Asia Pacific included the roll-out of the bank’s Liquidity Management Portal, mobile payments and collections innovations in a number of countries, and the introduction of the bank’s new Digital Accounts Reconciliation Tool (DART). In North America, and indeed globally, the bank continues to invest significantly in helping its clients to embrace digitisation, drawing on breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, APIs and biometrics. The bank has also been collaborating with fintechs, regulators, and banking peers worldwide to create a new innovation ecosystem – and the judges were delighted to recognise this forward-thinking approach. 

HSBC also took away Financial Supply Chain awards for the bank’s work in China, Asia Pacific and North America. Across all three geographies, the judges were impressed with the bank’s commitment to digital innovation. In China, the bank’s notable achievements included the roll-out of the HSBC Integrated Electronic Commercial Draft System (ECDS) Solution, which is an end-to-end working capital solution combined with cash management. In Asia Pacific, HSBC’s Innovation teams are working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and a consortium of banks to investigate the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to address potential business needs in the trade finance space. And in North America, collaboration with fintechs is driving yet further financial supply chain excellence for the bank’s clients, through digital innovation.

Deutsche Bank was once again named as the Best Bank for Cash & Liquidity Management in Europe. Innovation, user experience, network, and security continue to be the key areas of strategic focus for the bank. The judges were particularly impressed by the bank’s fresh approach to the use of digital signatures to accelerate account opening for clients. The panel also appreciated Deutsche Bank’s efforts to promote SWIFT’s gpi initiative across Europe, going above and beyond to help corporate treasurers reap the benefits. 

The China and South America Cash & Liquidity awards were won by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. 2018 marked the bank’s 46th year in China and the bank continued to deliver outstanding service with innovations and enhancements in a number of areas, including mobile channels and automated, paperless workflows. The panel’s decision was also influenced by the fact that the bank remains a key thought leader, delivering innovative treasury solutions for clients within the country’s regulatory framework. Meanwhile, in Latin America, the bank has introduced a number of leading-edge solutions, ranging from Electronic Boleto Presentment and Payment in Brazil to Mexico-US cross-border sweeps with Mexico SPID (the USD interbank payment system implemented by Banxico for domestic USD payments). Together with the bank’s consistently high service levels, the judges felt that these were undeniably award-winning innovations.

This year’s award for Cash & Liquidity Management in Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) was scooped by UniCredit. The bank is at the forefront of innovation in instant and faster payments and has championed initiatives such as SEPA Instant Credit Transfers (SCT Inst) and SWIFT gpi across the CEE region. The judges applauded the bank’s efforts to not only promote SCT Inst, but also to improve it on behalf of clients, gathering feedback and working with the relevant partners to deliver enhancements to the service.

Staying in Central & Eastern Europe, this year’s award for the best Financial Supply Chain bank in the region went to ING. The bank recently executed one of the first real trade transactions based on blockchain technology and continues to partner with a number of trade finance fintechs, other financial institutions and corporates, to develop platform-based solutions for clients across the CEE region and beyond. The extremely positive feedback from ING’s clients using its SCF solutions in the region was another factor supporting the judges’ decision.

BNP Paribas was named as the Global Bank of the Year in the Financial Supply Chain category. The bank’s clients continue to benefit from a wide range of innovative financial supply chain services and tailor-made solutions designed to help increase liquidity, manage risk and optimise working capital management. The judges praised the fact that BNP Paribas operates clients’ supply chain management programmes on an in-house state-of-the-art web-based platform, Connexis Supply Chain. However, it was the bank’s innovative spirit, as demonstrated by its involvement in cutting-edge initiatives such as the Trado project and the Trade Information Network, that ultimately made up the judges’ minds. 

J.P. Morgan Asset Management (JPMAM) retained its Global title as the Best Money Market Funds (MMFs) Provider. With a reputation for risk management, investment performance and first-class service, JPMAM is now the world’s largest institutional MMFs provider. Both JPMAM’s investment into its client technology offering and the expert guidance and counsel it has provided to corporate treasurers around regulatory reform were key factors in the judges’ decision-making process. 

Technology Awards

In June 2018, Hanse Orga rebranded to Serrala. The new mark brings together the best of seven existing brands: Hanse Orga, cogon, SymQ, Dolphin Enterprise Solutions, e5 Solutions, Tembit Software and SOPLEX Consult. The judges were delighted to recognise the company’s new cloud-based payments solution, Alevate Payments, as the Best Accounts Payable solution – especially since it included innovative features for automated fraud prevention and compliance checks. The panel was equally impressed with Serrala’s new Managed Services SmartEye Cloud and awarded it Best Accounts Receivable solution. Launched in 2018, this new managed service processes all remittance advice data automatically in the cloud and then feeds it back directly into the corporate’s SAP ERP systems for cash application, eliminating the manual work involved in remittance advice handling.

SWIFT was the hands-down winner of the Best Bank Connectivity award, having worked tirelessly throughout 2018 to grow initiatives such as SWIFT gpi, as well as instant payments. Over the last 12 months, SWIFT’s gpi service continued to radically transform correspondent banking. With the support of hundreds of financial institutions, including the world’s 60 biggest banks, it is now being used to send hundreds of billions in payments every day – more than half (55%) of SWIFT’s cross-border traffic. The judges could not fail to be impressed with this progress. Elsewhere, SWIFT’s work on an API blueprint for the financial sector was another contributing factor towards this well-deserved award win.

The Best Cash & Treasury Management Solution was awarded to BELLIN for its impressive BELLIN Connect mobile app, in combination with its tm5 TMS, delivering real-time liquidity management for corporates, wherever they are. BELLIN’s tm5 offers cash flow transparency, cash positioning, forecasting and control. As the new mobile sidekick to BELLIN’s tm5, the BELLIN Connect app expands and maximises efficiency and security while making location dependency a thing of the past. The judging panel was especially impressed with the optional two-factor authentication support provided in the new app that enables payment approvals and push notifications when users log in to tm5, providing an extra layer of security for sensitive financial information.

GTreasury, meanwhile, took home the award for Best Customer Experience, thanks to its single SaaS solution for treasury and risk management, which delivers on design, function and service. This innovation began in April 2018 when the company acquired Visual Risk, a leading risk management and hedge accounting solutions provider based in Sydney. Integrating capabilities from two best-in-class systems using the same Microsoft technology stack, GTreasury now offers a single SaaS solution for any combination of cash management, payments, financial instruments, accounting, banking, risk management, and hedge accounting. The judges praised the fact that GTreasury acts as a digital backbone for treasury, connecting different parts of the enterprise for the free flow of data and intelligence. The system’s modular design and the GTreasury’s team deep expertise were additional deciding factors.

The Best Emerging Technology Solution was awarded to FinMetrics, for its FinBoard Treasury platform. FinBoard is essentially a financial dashboarding layer that can be implemented on top of a company’s existing system(s) to quickly respond to new regulatory and managerial needs, without any disruption. The tool was recently deployed by RTL Group to achieve the enhancement, integration, and automation of reporting, as well as the improvement of internal controls and treasury dashboarding. The benefits that the solution has delivered to RTL, not least the time savings, together with the knowledge of the FinMetrics team, made FinBoard a clear winner. 

HSBC was awarded the Best Mobile Technology Solution for its leading-edge work around biometric security measures for its mobile channels. In February 2018, the bank launched Face ID for iPhone users of the HSBCnet Mobile app. Face ID works by analysing more than 30,000 reference points on a user’s face to create a 3D ‘depth map’. It then connects the bank’s mobile API securely to the phone’s software to authenticate the user. This reduces the chance of a mistaken identity to less than one-in-a-million. Since September 2018, the bank has also been rolling out fingerprint recognition for corporate customers who use an Android device. Not only have these developments sped up the log-in process for users, the judges were impressed by the fact that data privacy and security lie at the heart of these mobile innovations. The nomination also highlighted testimonials from clients such as Grifols who explained how the app improves operational efficiency and supports the smooth running of their business. 

The award for Best Portal Technology Solution went once again to DBS Bank for its Treasury Prism offering. Using Treasury Prism, treasurers can model various cash management solutions and quantify the underlying benefits and costs. They can also explore the whole range of potential solutions available and analyse opportunities that maximise value for their enterprise. Where this online treasury and cash management simulation platform really stands out is the delivery of instant regulatory insights based on the structures in question, thereby helping treasurers to determine whether there is a need to change existing practices. In the judges’ opinion, Treasury Prism continues to push the boundaries of portal technology. 

This year, the Best Risk Management Solution went to a fintech: Kantox. The judges were highly impressed with Kantox’s original Dynamic Hedging solution since it is fundamentally changing the way transactional FX risk is managed. However, they were truly won over by the enhancements that Kantox made in 2018 with Dynamic Hedging Analytics – a live, data-rich dashboard where data is visually represented, removing the need for manual analysis. Turn to page 22 to read about this award-winning solution in more detail.

Citi won the Best Solution Innovation award for its Citi® Payment Outlier Detection tool. This is an innovative payment review tool that uses advanced analytics and new technologies including machine learning and big data. The service proactively identifies outlier payments, or payments that don’t conform to traditional payments’ behaviour, and enables clients to take action with these payments on Citi’s electronic banking and connectivity platforms, CitiDirect BE® and CitiConnect®. In the judges’ view, Citi® Payment Outlier Detection deserved the award not only because Citi is (we believe) the first global bank to create this type of capability for its clients, but also because the solution addresses a growing pain point for corporate treasurers, while delivering numerous efficiency and control benefits. 

Last but by no means least, the Best Trade Finance Solution award went to BNP Paribas for its innovative partnership with fintech firm, Cashforce. This collaboration will enable the Bank to enhance client journeys within cash management and trade finance. The Cashforce platform is being made available to clients through CENTRIC, BNP Paribas’ integrated digital banking platform that gives corporate clients instant access to the spectrum of BNP Paribas’ online financial services. The judges were excited to see BNP Paribas’ high level of commitment to this partnership, including a significant investment in Cashforce, and believed that this collaboration will enhance corporates’ trade finance experience.

The final word

As this year’s award winners demonstrate, the world of treasury never stands still. Innovation is happening across all geographies, driven by the desire to leverage new technologies and new partnerships to deliver a better customer experience. We would like to thank all of this year’s many entrants to the TMI awards and offer our congratulations to our worthy winners. Well done!   

Introducing the Winners...

How to win a TMI award in 2019

Many people ask at this time of year how their organisation can win a TMI award next time around. So, here are a few tips:

Nominations for the 2019 TMI Awards will open in April 2019. Email [email protected] if you wish to be notified, or visit www.TMI-Awards.com.