Managing Risk and Supporting Growth in the E-commerce Era

Treasury and Trade Solutions 12 Case Study Treasury’s journey to becoming a strategic business partner This digital native company operating in the travel sector has e-commerce at its core, connecting customers with partners on its online platform. Consequently, Treasury’s integration into the business and its role as a collaborator is more advanced than in some multinational companies. “Treasury works as a partner to support the business’ focus on growth,” says the Deputy Treasurer. “That encompasses credit risk management, FX risk management, efficient use of cash and cash visibility — which are traditional core activities for Treasury.” However, Treasury’s role extends beyond these traditional activities to continually finding new ways to add value and become a strategic business partner. As an example, Treasury plays a key role in enabling the payments and collections network for the e-commerce platform, by always looking for new ways to make it easier, cheaper and quicker for customers and business partners to interact with the company and eliminate points of friction. The team is continually assessing market and regulatory changes in the payments space, including SWIFT gpi and Open Banking developments for potential benefits. “People in the business may be aware of some of these developments, but we can interpret them and translate them into opportunities and risks, and advise on the appropriate response,” says the Deputy Treasurer. For instance, Treasury is engaged in SWIFT gpi initiatives to drive efficiency and a better payment experience for partners on the company’s digital platform. SWIFT gpi is an industry initiative to improve the speed, transparency and end-to-end tracking of cross-border payments across the SWIFT network. Another example is how Treasury is bringing its FX expertise to the business to improve pricing competitiveness and consumer experience on the digital platform. “We identified that FX fees imposed by card schemes were a challenge for customers,” explains the Deputy Treasurer. “The solution, which is still being implemented, enables customers to select their preferred currency for payments. This will improve the customer’s payment experience, increase our ability to offer local payment methods and ultimately grow business activity.” At this company, Treasury’s role as a strategic partner to the business continues to develop and strengthen. Most recently, a new position within Treasury — Treasury Business Partner — has been created. The Treasury Business Partner, who has a broad knowledge of Treasury topics such as cash management and FX, is focused on accelerating Treasury’s connectivity with the business. “The Treasury Business Partner is a quarterback within Treasury. They facilitate a two-way flow of information — from Treasury to the business and finance and vice versa,” says the Deputy Treasurer. “They let people in the business know what we do and how we can help but also bring information on business priorities and new digital initiatives into Treasury, so that we can proactively think about the downstream implications, which may not previously have been considered.” Proactive and continuous communication with the business is key to build the Treasury brand internally. “Be open and honest about what you do in Treasury. We recognised that Treasury’s role was well known within certain teams but there was less awareness in others. To rectify that, we established a dashboard for the entire finance function which we publish on a quarterly basis, highlighting what we do, how we improve for our customers and how we can help.”