As they evaluate the ways in which payment technologies are evolving, treasury leaders should also be looking at what mechanisms they need to have in place to accelerate and streamline adoption of those solutions. Payments and treasury experts indicate that the following actions will prove helpful on that count:

Focus on the future. In addition to delivering clear benefits to organizations that adopt them, new payment technologies may also introduce more complexity and, therefore, additional operational costs. "So, finance and treasury teams need to be thoughtful about their overall payments strategy," says Elinson, who advises treasury leaders to take stock of their future payments needs. "I'd be willing to bet there are no-regret moves you can make today that will be better for your bottom line, your customers, and your vendors."
Partner with IT and treasury technology vendors. "It will be critical for treasury teams to work more closely with their IT counterparts and for IT teams to learn more about the technology needs of treasury teams," says Prashant Patri, a Deloitte Risk & Financial Advisory principal. "Organizations should also continue to engage with key treasury management system vendors to understand the latest investments and product roadmaps, especially those related to analytical capabilities, which is [currently] a major focus of investments."
Differentiate. While relatively few longer-standing payment rails will be decommissioned anytime soon, treasury functions can manage their network of payment modalities together to improve process efficiency. Doing so will "translate to lower costs, less fraud, and better customer and colleague experience," according to Elinson. Gauchat encourages treasury teams to consider consolidating payment platforms into two general categories: low-value real-time payments (RTP) and high-value RTP.

As the universe of payment solutions grows more innovative and more complex, treasury functions will need to maintain their focus on identifying what options best meet their organization's current and future needs. "With accelerating complexity," Jeffery adds, "most organizations will need to continue to look to both technology and networks to provide simplicity."

See also:

Instant Insights /

Payment Innovations on the Horizon

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