Technology is central to this. Used effectively, it can help a company to understand and minimize potential risks, such as the impact of currency risks on the business, while protecting supply chains. It can also be used to generate detailed payments information at critical junctures early in the process. This allows the treasury team to focus on managing — rather than discovering — transaction risk.

However, technology is costly and takes time to implement; therefore companies should educate themselves on the choices available and understand the imperative of strong coordination between their payments bank and technology provider. When adopting new technology, there are two guiding principles: First, it must deliver transparency; second, it must improve the efficiency of payment processes. Companies achieve this best when they review their goals with their workstation provider and payments bank together.

Goal 1: Connectivity