Cash & Liquidity Management
Published  6 MIN READ
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Pioneering Social Media for the Financial Community

by Håkan Aldrin, Managing Director, The Benche, and Patrik Havander, Head of Concept and Packaging, SEB Merchant Banking

As the momentum towards better communication, interaction and information sharing accelerates ever more quickly, it seems that few people in today’s business world leave their houses in the morning without a BlackBerry or an iPhone, with an iPad on many people’s Christmas list. However, while smartphones, netbooks or tablets have become essential tools for interacting with a wide range of media and communicating with friends and family worldwide, they are often used for little more than email in their professional role. While a selection of business networking tools exist, such as LinkedIn, in an otherwise increasingly crowded social media marketplace, there remain few opportunities for the financial community to meet, share and learn with like-minded professionals. Recognising this gap, and anticipating the growing importance of collaborative web tools for professional interaction in the future, SEB first launched an independent, online community forum for trade professionals in November 2008, named the Benche (www.thebenche.com) which has since been extended to cash management and custody.

A commitment to collaboration and co-operation

Our customers tell us that one of the benefits of working with SEB is our ability and willingness to facilitate co-operation and collaboration with other corporates, so they can share views and experiences and discuss approaches to evolving challenges. While this remains pivotal to the way that we work with our customers, it is not always easy for finance professionals located in different parts of the world and with full diaries to attend meetings and seminars. We also needed to find an effective way of supporting an increasingly global client base. For example, although most of our clients are headquartered in the Nordics and Baltics, their activities span the globe. No bank can have expert individuals sitting alongside every customer with comprehensive knowledge of every market.

Although the Benche is facilitated by SEB, it is ultimately owned by the membership, who are responsible for driving content, instigating dialogue and defining the future evolution of the site.