A new era for Cash Management – 2024 trends

The world of cash management is going through both rapid and substantial changes. SEB’s experts Harri Rantanen, Business Developer and Malin Rössel, Head of Cash Management Sales Sweden & Global CM Sales Coordinator, give us the low-down of what trends can be expected to shake things up within treasury.

Better use of structured data paves way for enhanced cash management  

Harri Rantanen sees several data driven trends, that will make everyday life easier for corporate treasury departments. 

1. Global harmonisation of payments with ISO 20022

   The same development that took place in EU with SEPA – a harmonised payment standard across countries – is soon to happen on a global scale. November 2025 has been set as the deadline for banks to migrate to ISO 20022 in all payment and account reporting messaging between banks.
   
   Before SEPA, there was a multitude of different local clearing mechanisms and market practices in the EUR denominated cash management. To make for example salary payments in different EUR countries, you would need to have an account in every single country. 
   This made payment and reconciliation process work quite tedious for corporates. But all of that is history now – and next we’re looking at similar harmonisation benefits to occur on a global scale, Harri Rantanen says.
      

2. Availability of APIs making way for new possibilities

   When the EU’s PSD2 regulation came into effect in 2019, it was in part a move towards open banking – financial data being shared between banks and third-party providers through application programming interfaces (APIs). This has resulted in a variety of practical tools being developed by third parties, which is a trend that will continue. As the globally active, multi-banking large corporations are needing APIs beyond PSD2 scope, the open banking requirement has been a key need from their banks, SEB included. 
   
   With corporates getting a better, real-time overview of their accounts in different banks in their Treasury Management Systems, it also becomes easier for treasury departments to predict the future financial status of different parts of the organisation. This is, of course, at the heart of the treasury function: to serve the company’s own business development.
   
   

3. Real-time and virtual cash management gives a better overview

   The possibilities within real-time cash management are huge which, of course, ties in with API connectivity. Added with virtual cash management it allows companies to make its own multi-banking dashboards – or virtual account structures. This comes with several benefits, some of which are:

    

   • Making it easier to get an instant overview of complex business projects, given that customised account structures can be designed for these.
   • Increasing the possibility to keep track of cash flows without delay, with the move away from batch-based to event-based cash management processes.
   • Facilitating the follow up on liquidity positions in different banks and currencies, since these can easily be viewed simultaneously.

    

4. Automation – less manual work needed  

   Automation is growing, too – i.e. programming ERP systems to act in a certain way, in specific situations. It can, for example, be automatic currency exchange when a currency deposit reaches a certain level or automatic reconciliation of everyday transactions.
   
   

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Demands and opportunities facing treasury functions  

Malin Rössel highlights what it takes to make a treasury department fit for the future.

1. An increased responsibility for the treasury function

   Corporate treasury is moving away from being a business support function to becoming a strategic function. There are several new areas of responsibility surfacing, within compliance, sustainability, IT, and programming. In part this has to do with legal and reporting requirements. In part with the technical developments that Harri talked about, within for example automation.
   This levels up the demands regarding both competence and IT infrastructure at treasury departments, to be able to ensure that a corporation is fit for the future, Malin Rössel says.
   
   

2.  Cyber security and fraud prevention a growing concern

   Treasurers also increasingly need to be able to tackle financial crime and fraud attempts. Faster moving payments entails many possibilities, but also risks. More automatic checks need to be built into the systems. 
   As a bank, we strive to provide seamless integration with corporations’ ERP- and TMS-systems, so they are able to reap all the benefits that come with, for example, APIs and automation, Malin Rössel concludes.