Siemens and Deutsche Bank Co-Create a Virtual Account Structure with a Difference

The roll out of a virtual account structure for a large corporate client has many advantages, especially when the solution adopted has the extra twist that Siemens and Deutsche Bank have just successfully applied. Heiko Nix, Head of Cash Management and Payments, Siemens, and Christof Hofmann, Global Head of Corporate Cash Management, Deutsche Bank, explain.

The virtualisation of an IT infrastructure, where a collection of software components connects to replace the hardware infrastructure, is a mature concept but one that keeps delivering extraordinary benefits. During the past few years virtualisation has become more prevalent in key corporate financial infrastructures, most notably in how bank accounts are used, and TMI has published numerous articles on how this has enhanced treasury operations among the larger corporates.

Essentially, virtualisation of the corporate bank account structure removes the need for most physical accounts. Instead, it connects a theoretically unlimited number of unique alias, or virtual, account numbers to a single (or more if required) traditional physical master bank account.

With flows often possible in both directions, and full visibility over all movements, the usage of virtual account structures helps create the type of real-time transactional infrastructure that even large, complex multi-entity international businesses could only have dreamt of a few years ago.

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