By standardizing bank clearingsystems across Europe, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) has enabled companies tostreamline and standardize their payments processes. Many companies met theSEPA compliance deadline last year, then turned their attention to centralization of cash management andbank account rationalization.

Cash management banks with a big presence in Europe report thatcustomers are frequently asking about virtual accounts and on-behalf-of structures. They also say many companies arealready seeing big efficiency gains in the routine, traditionallylabor-intensive processes around transaction reconciliations.

Treasury & Risk recently sat down withMartin Runow, head of cash management corporate, Americas, forDeutsche Bank, to discuss the impact SEPA is already having oncorporate reconciliations and how that ties in with the strategictreasury initiatives that many multinational businesses areconsidering.