Room for Manoeuvre - Optimising Working Capital with Receivables Finance

Increased pressure from investors and consumers is driving corporates to hold their suppliers increasingly accountable to sustainable and ethical standards. However, technological innovations are making sustainable SCF more of a tangible reality for treasury professionals in all areas of the industry.

There's never been a more exciting time to be in global trade. While the headlines continue to be dominated by geopolitical challenges, positive forces are setting the scene for a promising 2019 and beyond.

Working capital conversations between banks and corporates have typically focused on individual bank products, rather than the specific needs and challenges of the corporate – leaving opportunities and efficiencies on the table. But that’s all changing now, as Adeline de Metz, UniCredit, explains.

A lasting partnership between Bahrain-headquartered AIG and BNP Paribas has kick-started a number of long-term digitisation and automation initiatives, resulting in improved finance and treasury processes.

Technologies such as artificial intelligence have the potential to make it easier for treasurers to gain visibility and control over their cash. But simply investing in these technologies is not enough to achieve working capital efficiencies.

Treasury and supply chain disruption caused by external factors is nothing new, but recent developments may be making it the new normal. Therefore, the ability to switch technology and supply chains to new locations/suppliers with the minimum of upheaval is becoming a business imperative. This applies not just to the physical supply chain but also the financial one that underpins it, which presents corporate treasuries with significant additional challenges.