What are the best tools and platforms for treasury digital transformation and integration?

While cloud-based platforms offer significant benefits, it's important to be aware of potential downsides. One major concern is data security; despite strong encryption, cloud systems can still be vulnerable to breaches. Additionally, relying on a third-party provider means you're dependent on their uptime and service quality. For example, an outage or service disruption can impact your access to critical financial data. Be cautious about vendor lock-in, as migrating away from a cloud provider can be complex and costly. To mitigate these risks, thoroughly vet your vendor’s security practices, service level agreements, and have a robust backup and recovery plan in place.

Top Tools for Treasury Digital Transformation: - Treasury Management Systems (TMS): Platforms like Kyriba and SAP Treasury streamline cash management and liquidity planning. - ERP Systems: Integration with ERP systems like Oracle and Microsoft Dynamics enhances financial visibility and control. - Bank Connectivity Solutions: Tools like SWIFT and Kyriba’s bank connectivity improve transaction efficiency and security. - Data Analytics Platforms: Solutions like Tableau and Power BI offer advanced reporting and insights for better decision-making. Embracing these tools can modernize treasury operations and drive efficiency!

Cloud-based platforms make Treasury management more accessible to more businesses, including mid-market corporates and SMBs. Modern cloud-based TMSs have better connectivity to ERPs, banks, and other sources and have more user-friendly interfaces leveraging the latest technologies. They can offer modular solutions, take less time to implement than "on-premise", and require little or no IT project. This is essential for new Treasury management software adopters who have not validated its potential benefits. Cloud-based platforms can be more secure than on-premise as security updates can be rolled out faster. Latest encryption and multi-factor authentication technologies are a must to ensure secure access to your financial data.

APIs are essential in modern Treasury management, replacing traditional file transfer methods such as SFTP or EDIs. Modern technologies such as RESTful APIs make two-way connectivity between different systems and services more reliable and secure. Instead of relying on bank files and feeds, modern systems can connect seamlessly to data sources such as your banks and other business systems to both receive and send necessary data and execute instructions such as payment or financial transactions. Good API-driven solutions should have robust security, encrypt sensitive data in transit, and allow users to view full logs for any audit.

So far, AI and ML have been primarily used for data cleaning, new trend detection, and similar, more "routine" tasks. As AI become more capable of reasoning critically, new opportunities will open up to give access to specialist knowledge that was previously the domain of only the most experienced and well-staffed treasury teams. AI can potentially help with research and finding the most appropriate working capital solution for a specific business or guiding less experienced teams in implementing robust risk processes without hiring consultants or part-time experts.

Interfaces are the key element here - it’s important that people are able to access and interact with data on demand and to be able to trigger actions. For that reason, you want your interface connected to data sources and to your trading platforms. That way you have the ability to assess and react to your data. Dashboards can be useful but these are often constructed and then don’t provide the full range of information or actions, so best to allow users to access information quickly and easily and then provide dashboards that address the most common requests. BI tools like Tableau and Power BI if sitting above a TMS work well or it’s quite simple to create a data and orchestration layer in Python - either yourself with an LLM or with IT

Interfaces that are intuitive is paramount! Dashboards should serve its purpose of giving the user important and useful information at "at a glance" while providing links to other frequently used pages within the online portal without being overwhelming. Always inquire about end-user reporting options to ensure your customers has access to information needed without having to contact the bank to compile and distribute outside of the treasury online platform.