Foreign Exchange
Published  9 MIN READ

Transactional FX: Maximising Efficiencies and Unlocking Cash Management Opportunities

As the speed of global commerce increases, and the desire for transparency across all areas of business intensifies, more treasury teams are discovering the benefits of automating their transactional foreign exchange (FX) workflows. In this article, two senior leaders from Barclays Corporate Banking explain the drivers behind the rise – and democratisation – of transactional FX solutions, with a strategic eye on the cash management implications of this trend.

“Great things are achieved through lots of tiny, unglamorous milestones.” This quote from Professor Michael Bliss, a distinguished Canadian historian known for telling the complete story behind the discovery of insulin, was not originally intended for the ears of a corporate treasury audience. Yet the sentiment closely echoes the thoughts of Gibran Maqsood, Director, Transactional FX Sales, Europe, on the topic of transactional foreign exchange (FX).

Gibran Maqsood
Director, Transactional FX Sales, Europe, Barclays Corporate Banking

“There are two broad areas within FX that concern treasury. First, there is the strategic or discretionary side which involves hedging – often very significant – currency exposures. Then there is the day-to-day, far less ‘glamorous’ aspect of international payments and receipts, which can be called systematic or transactional FX,” Maqsood explains. “While the latter typically involves relatively low-value transactions, the cumulative effect on both cash- and risk management can be significant. And in today’s operating environment, treasurers have a great opportunity to review and optimise their transactional FX processes.”