The purpose of a corporate treasury department is to be the guardian and anchor of the financial health of the corporation. Or in the long term: “To ensure the survival of the company sustainably.” – see.

This was reflected in a chat with a corporate treasurer last week. Who, when I asked what are you focusing on right now, he said:

1. understanding our liquidity
2. cash flow forecasting in much more detail than we have ever done before, particularly in the short term
3. using the results from these to stress test how we will survive in all sorts of scenarios.

He finished by saying, “It’s simple really. Just scary because no-one really knows how it will turn out.”

Request-To-Pay is great but… and I am looking forward to…

On reading our article on the new Request-To-Pay service that Deutsche Bank is launching and watching our WEBchat his thoughts were:

• This a fantastic service – it so much better and cheaper than cards and it also has irrevocable payment, but:
  • The problem is going to be user acceptance and becoming part of their normal habits
  • Today with the level of fraud and the many new scams, etc. users are very wary of clicking anything new or strange
  • It will take time to establish itself
• However, I am looking forward to linking it with the mobile Apps that enable the user to self-scan the items and then Request-To-Pay could be used to automatically debit them when they have finished shopping.

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CTMfile take: Even in the direst of times, corporate treasurers are not just ensuring their survival, they are also looking for new solutions, new business models.