Joseph Giarraputo, Founder and Editorial Director of Global Finance, talks to Melvyn Low, Group Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking at OCBC, about the importance of democratizing digital solutions for cash management and the innovative tools the Singapore-based bank has developed to support its customers’ 24/7 banking needs. 

OCBC, one of the largest financial services groups in Southeast Asia by assets, has helped transform its cash management and payments systems through the use of Application Programming Interface (API) integrations, tokenization, QR codes and other digital technology. A combination of many different APls called microservicessupplies the critical infrastructure behind OCBC’s Velocity e-banking system, enabling seamless integration across different financial ecosystems.

Tokenization plays a critical role in the bank’s digital processes. Using the Velocity platform, the bank’s accounts are tokenized and embedded into QR codes, enabling customers to make instant payments via mobile phones. Business accounts have also evolved, with customers able to generate tokenized account numbers that add precision to transaction reconciliations. 

OCBC is the first bank in the market to create virtual accounts that can handle both collections and payments, providing customers with additional account management controls. 

The bank’s OneCollect platform allows businesses to facilitate instant settlements with dynamic QR codes with embedded payment details. QR codes are also powering domestic point-of-sale systems for a range of retail businesses and food and beverage vendors, generating physical and digital invoices, and implementing cross-border payment solutions.

Low explains how OCBC has used these advanced financial tools to help dramatically reduce transaction costs for its customers, improve liquidity management, and enhance working capital efficiency.

“In the old world, all of these technologies were only available to the largest multinationals because they had the most expensive and comprehensive ERP platforms that could connect,” says Low. “Today, even a simple blockchain could connect to a large system through APIs in a very efficient and cost-effective way.”

In today’s fast-paced and rapidly-changing world, it has become more important than ever for businesses to be agile and adapt to shifting market conditions and dynamics.

Supply chain financing is a case in point. Greater flexibility in payment terms and solutions has become increasingly important for buyers navigating challenges from widespread global disruption in recent years.

Yet, this is often easier said than done. Resilient financing solutions with a global reach typically involve a complex financing structure, multiple local IT providers as well as accounting and, most importantly, procurement teams involved. This takes time to set up and can make it difficult for both banks and non-bank payment providers to offer immediate results and flexibility in the financing solution.

Orbian’s response has been to pioneer Payment with Terms, a solution focused on improving balance sheets without involving procurement or suppliers.

In short, Payment with Terms enables providers to pay suppliers on the due date and offers buyers a payment term to pay for the Orbian service. This protects the buyer’s liquidity while improving working capital – and without involving the supplier.

A key differentiator for such a solution is giving global businesses the predictability they want in their cash flow planning.

Historically, the cash flow impact of a supply chain finance program was forecast by estimating how the procurement team negotiates payment terms with certain suppliers to achieve specific objectives in terms of working capital. However, this often leads to incorrect forecasting as changing market conditions, supplier dynamics, customer demand or simply missing resources in procurement can make it difficult for buyers to predict outcomes.

Payment with Terms as a solution takes the supplier and procurement process out of the equation and instead puts the buyer’s treasury team in control.

If the treasury team is in control of the volume that runs through the Payment with Terms solutions, rather than seeking approval from a supplier or calling on the procurement team to renegotiate payment terms, then a buyer can benefit from greater predictability in working capital.

Digitalisation can also play a key role in creating more predictability in financing. Orbian achieves this by partnering with a data analytics platform to use artificial intelligence (AI) to predict the outcome of a supplier/buyer negotiation before it happens.

Based on data for payment terms a certain supplier or a peer supplier has accepted in the market when dealing with different buyers, AI can recommend to a buyer the best ways to approach that same supplier. As a result, the outcome becomes much more predictable.

Two longer term benefits materialise when payment solutions are more flexible and predictable.

Firstly, a particular supply chain finance programme that is more flexible is better equipped to master challenges. It should hence grow bigger and last longer. Secondly, perhaps more importantly, there will be less resistance to creating a new programme.

Setting up new programmes is typically difficult given the need for multiple stakeholders, and procurement, treasury and IT teams all need to agree. There is a significant undeniable benefit from a solution that allows a treasurer to meet working capital requirements while giving the procurement team more time and specific guidance to negotiate with suppliers.

Joseph Giarraputo, the Founder and Editorial Director of Global Finance, talks to Isaac Kamuta, Group Head: Payments, Cash Management & Client Access at Ecobank, about its suite of payment solutions to help customers optimise cash flow, improve efficiencies, and maintain their competitive edge.

Ecobank, which was named by Global Finance as the best bank for payments and cash management in Africa, provides a seamless Pan African payments gateway that’s meant to streamline cross-border transactions and minimise costs. Operating in 33 African countries, as well as several international locations, Ecobank’s unified network facilitates instant payments domestically while providing access to key global markets.

Watch more to find out how Ecobank’s focus on intra-African payments is helping to promote longtime goals of fostering trade, investment, and development across the continent.

During Sibos 2024, Kapital Bank CEO Farid Huseynov shared insights with Transaction Banking Editor Gilly Wright on the bank’s journey to becoming a leader in digital transformation and innovation. Kapital Bank’s focus on customer-centricity drives its adoption of technologies like AI and big data analytics to anticipate customer needs, personalize services, and enhance user experiences. The bank’s flagship Birbank mobile app exemplifies this, serving over 3 million users monthly with continuous improvements based on customer feedback.

Huseynov also emphasized Kapital Bank’s role in fostering a broader financial ecosystem that integrates banking with beyond-banking solutions. The bank actively supports startups and partners with universities to cultivate innovation both externally and within its workforce, through initiatives like the Kickbox Project.

The conversation also highlighted Kapital Bank’s commitment to sustainability through its ESG strategy, which includes reducing paper use, planting trees, and supporting community-driven CSR efforts via the Red Hearts Foundation. As a major sponsor of international innovation summits, Kapital Bank blends technological leadership with a focus on societal impact.

Huseynov’s insights at SIBOS 2024 underscored how Kapital Bank is shaping the future of banking while addressing the evolving demands of customers and global challenges.

Joseph Giarraputo, the Founder and Editorial Director of Global Finance, talks to Andreas Burner, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Product Management at SmartStream, about the increasing role AI is playing in the financial services sector.

SmartStream, which has been recognized by Global Finance as an innovator in providing transaction management solutions for the past four years, takes a holistic view of AI, by working closely with end users and developers to create successful applications that prove their business case. 

Explore further to find out about why SmartStream views transparency as the key to ensuring that AI apps address their clients’ operational, security, and regulatory concerns.